Logging Company Makes Last-Ditch Legal Effort Against Greenpeace

by Rodrigo Estrada

March 28, 2018

Canadian logging company Resolute Forest Products has filed its response [1] to motions to dismiss [2] presented by defendants, including Greenpeace, in a multi-million dollar racketeering lawsuit in California. [3] The case is a repackaged version [4] of the claims against forests defenders and environmental organizations that District Judge Jon S. Tigar from from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed in October, 2017.

Greenpeace USA General Counsel Tom Wetterer said:

“This multi-million dollar lawsuit has the sole purpose of silencing those who have raised their concerns about Resolute’s environmental practices in the boreal forest. The logging company keeps on repeating the same allegations that have already been dismissed, maybe in the mistaken belief that repetition will provide the legal merits that the case has always lacked. We remain confident that this repackaged version of the case will ultimately meet the same fate of its unsuccessful predecessor.”

“Resolute’s management continues to waste the court’s time, its shareholders’ money, and other valuable resources that would be better used elsewhere — like in the implementation of solutions that protect forests, respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and stabilize jobs in local communities.”

Notes to editors:

[1] Click here to access the response filed by Resolute Forest Products to the defendants’ motions to dismiss, or copy the following link to your browser: https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/RFP-Response-to-MTD-2018.pdf

 

[2] Click here to access the motion to dismiss filed by Greenpeace, Inc., Greenpeace International and their staff, or copy the following link to your browser: http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/Global/canada/file/2018/MotiontoDismissAmendedComplaintGreenpeaceDefendants.pdf

Click here to access the motion to dismiss filed by Greenpeace Fund, or copy the following link to your browser: http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/Global/canada/file/2018/MotionToDismissAmendedComplaintGreenpeaceFund.pdf

 

[3] On May 31, 2016 Resolute Forest Products filed a CAD$300 million lawsuit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) in the United States District Court for Southern Georgia, against Greenpeace International, Greenpeace, Inc., Greenpeace Fund, Inc., Stand.earth (formerly ForestEthics), and five individual staff members of these independent organizations. The case was transferred to Northern California on May 16, 2017 when Resolute failed to demonstrate that the case should be heard in Georgia. On October 16, 2017 the U.S. District Court for Northern California dismissed all of the company’s claims. On November 6, 2017 Resolute’s lawyers filed a repackaged version of the same meritless claims against Greenpeace, Inc., Greenpeace Fund, Greenpeace International, Stand.earth and the individual defendants in the same court.

This is Resolute’s second lawsuit against Greenpeace. In 2013, the company filed a CAD$7 million defamation case against Greenpeace Canada and two staff members in Ontario, which is still pending. Click here for more information about the existing legal cases between Resolute Forest Products and Greenpeace, or copy this to your browser: http://www.greenpeace.org/resolutelawsuits/

 

[4] Click here to access the amended complaint filed by Resolute Forest Products, or copy the following link to your browser: http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/Global/canada/file/2017/10/20171108-PACER-0185-Amended-Complaint.pdf

 

Media contact:

Rodrigo Estrada, [email protected], 202-478-6632

Rodrigo Estrada

By Rodrigo Estrada

Rodrigo Estrada is an expert on legal communication. He is the global communications manager of the climate justice and liability project. Currently at Greenpeace Canada, Rodrigo has appeared in a wide range of international outlets such as CNN, Bloomberg, Vice, and many more.

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