Greenpeace must pay the oil company that operates the Dakota Access Pipeline $667 million in damages for defaming it, a North Dakota jury decided. The lawsuit against Greenpeace centered on the organization’s involvement in the protests over the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Scott Segal, head of Bracewell’s Policy Resolution Group told the Washington Post that Greenpeace’s claim that the protests are protected direct action “comes with direct consequences” when infrastructure and businesses are damaged.
“It is clear that Greenpeace took great liberties in what it told the public about the project,” Segal said. “As a result, the jury just reminded Greenpeace that ‘free speech’ doesn’t include a free pass to defame, disrupt, and destroy.”
