Wildfire survivors are asking Oregon’s highest court to reverse a decision that could imperil their case against utility giant PacifiCorp.
They’ve been seeking payments from PacifiCorp over its role sparking massive wildfires in 2020, and had been awarded more than $1 billion in damages. But those payouts have been on hold since last month and could be canceled altogether after a panel of judges found a procedural flaw in the class action lawsuit.
Now attorneys representing wildfire survivors are petitioning the Oregon Supreme Court to reverse the panel’s opinion, based on concerns first raised by the Oregon Journalism Project about one judge on that panel, Anna Joyce.
Joyce, who led the three-judge Oregon Appeals Court panel when it issued its decision last month, previously represented PacifiCorp as a private attorney.
A petition, filed Wednesday by attorneys representing wildfire survivors, highlights Joyce’s history. It raises “appearance-of-justice” concerns and cites the Oregon Journalism Project article.
If the Oregon Supreme Court doesn’t take up the petition, last month’s decision will stand. All wildfire survivors in the 2023 class action lawsuit, including the initial 17 plaintiffs, would have to go back to court to prove PacifiCorp’s liability.
But if the state Supreme Court does agree to consider the petition, it could decide the fate of this years-long lawsuit about who should pay for wildfires.
“PacifiCorp is confident the Oregon Supreme Court will quickly recognize the unanimous decision of the Oregon Court of Appeals should stand,” a PacifiCorp spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson added that Joyce’s past work with PacifiCorp “has no bearing on this case.”
Power lines and liability
Over the 2020 Labor Day weekend, PacifiCorp managers left electrical lines charged despite forecast hurricane-force winds, resulting in downed live wires in wooded areas. More than 2,000 fires burned across Oregon that weekend, destroying more than 3,000 buildings and killing 11 people.
In 2023, a court decision allowed more than 2,000 people harmed by four wildfires to bring cases against PacifiCorp. The fires included the 242 Fire near Chiloquin, the Echo Mountain Complex Fire near Lincoln City, the South Obenchain Fire near Eagle Point, and the Santiam Canyon Fire in Marion County.
So far, about 170 people have gone to trial and won more than $1 billion in damages.
Last month’s appeals court decision reversed those damages trials and stalled payments. PacifiCorp is now demanding payment from wildfire survivors for its legal expenses, amounting to about $6 million, according to the petition filed Wednesday.
Many of the wildfire survivors are seniors and struggle with serious health conditions, the petition says. More than 50 of them have died while waiting for legal proceedings to conclude.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
