Major ESG-related lawsuits mount up in the US

By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

Hello!

Today's newsletter focuses on the theme of governance as we take a look at the major legal cases taking place in the United States.

The majority of the cases cover themes such as climate change, gender-affirming treatment, abortion restrictions and book bans.

It's a broad spectrum, but it looks like a lot has been going on in the courts that cover environment, social and governance themes over the last few days, so let's dive right in.

And if you want more legal news in your inbox, then be sure to sign up here for the Daily Docket.

Let's start in order with the environment case.

Also on my radar today:

Advocates gather in a church near the U.S. Supreme Court after a ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. Washington, D.C., U.S. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon

A group of young activists filed a lawsuit directly with the Montana Supreme Court to protect their landmark climate change case win that found the state violated the rights of young people by prohibiting consideration of climate impacts when issuing permits for coal mining, natural gas extraction and other fossil fuel projects.

The lawsuit challenges recent amendments to the Montana Environmental Policy Act and Montana Clean Air Act, which aim to exclude consideration of climate change from permitting for new fossil fuel projects.

The amendments also prevent Montana from regulating greenhouse gases more strictly than existing federal regulations.

The youth activists, represented by the nonprofit Our Children's Trust, claim that the new amendments directly contradict that court ruling, which found the state constitution guarantees a right to a stable climate and are asking the court to declare the new laws unconstitutional and to enjoin their enforcement.

Over to the social-themed lawsuits in Texas, where the State has accused two doctors of fraudulently billing Medicaid for gender-affirming treatment they provided to transgender minors in violation of state law, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office announced.

It marks the first time that a U.S. state has brought healthcare fraud allegations against medical providers for administering treatment such as hormone therapy to minors, Paxton's office said in a release.

Texas and Florida have launched the latest lawsuit seeking to restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone, following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recent approval of a new generic version.

The states' Republican attorneys general argue that the FDA has failed to thoroughly evaluate the drug's safety and effectiveness since its initial approval in 2000 and disregarded the risks to the women who take it.

And finally, on to lawsuits that cover governance as the U.S. Supreme Court opted not to hear an appeal by a group of residents of a rural Texas county of a judicial decision allowing local officials to remove 17 books that these officials deemed objectionable from public libraries.

The justices let stand a lower court's decision allowing the removal of books including ones dealing with themes of race and LGBT identity, from its public library system.

There has been a surge in book banning in public schools and public libraries in many locations around the United States, driven by conservative groups and new state laws limiting what kinds of books children can access.

Click here to read the full in-depth Reuters story on the book ban.

In keeping with the law and governance theme, today's 'Talking Points' showcases stories highlighting a wave of government crackdowns – from Kenya's data-protection battles to Australia's push for tighter safeguards for teens online.

People gather near a General Services Administration parking lot to prevent ICE leaving for an immigration raid. Manhattan, New York City, U.S. REUTERS/David Dee Delgado

Port workers from the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) participate in a strike in the Virginia International Gateway in Portsmouth, Virginia, US. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

Today's spotlight highlights a very tricky subject, but one that a lot of us have been grappling with this year – job losses.

My esteemed colleague and author of Reuters On The Money newsletter Lauren Young is starting a new column series focusing on the things to do as soon as you get laid off. Click here to read the debut article.

Feel free to get in touch with her if you'd like to share your experience or would like to have an interview with her at onthemoney@thomsonreuters.com.

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