WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – An anti-pesticides group wants its lawsuit against Exxon over climate change to be heard somewhere else than federal court.
Beyond Pesticides on Aug. 5 filed a motion to remand its case back to District of Columbia Superior Court, about a month after Exxon transferred the case to D.C. federal court.
Beyond Pesticides rejects Exxon’s reasons for removal – that diversity jurisdiction exists and that the case is subject to the Class Action Fairness Act.
The group says it is a private attorney general lawsuit, not a class action, despite purporting to represent itself and “the general public of the District of Columbia.”
“In short, ExxonMobil’s removal of this case lacks any reasonable basis,” attorneys for the group wrote.
“ExxonMobil’s arguments ignore the settled law of this Court, which has uniformly found that similar false-advertising cases – arising under the (D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act) and seeking only injunctive and declaratory relief – must be remanded.”
The group claims Exxon lied about investing in clean energy. It claims Exxon is wrong to claim its clean energy activities are a significant proportion of its business.