Fourth Circuit Holds That Climate Change Lawsuit Belongs in State Court

Jones Day recently reported on the Fourth Circuit's decision in Mayor and City Council of Baltimore v. BP P.L.C., et al., holding that the court lacked jurisdiction to review seven of the eight removal theories offered and rejecting the eighth theory—federal officer removal—on the grounds that the companies' contracts with the federal government were insufficient to constitute truly "acting-under" a federal officer or were otherwise "insufficiently related" to the acts alleged in the complaint. The companies filed a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari with the United States Supreme Court, seeking review of whether a court of appeals has jurisdiction to review any issue encompassed in a district court's order remanding a removed case to state court where the removal arguments were premised in part on the federal-officer removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1442, or the civil-rights removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1443. Multiple states and industry groups have filed amicus briefs in support of the Petition. Baltimore has until June 29, 2020, to respond to the Petition.