Keller Rohrback LLP Announces Nearly $50M in Damages Awarded to Seven Labor Day 2020 Fire Survivors

Fourth Jury Verdict Brings Total Awards to About $270M for 44 Plaintiffs, with Eight More Trials Scheduled in 2025

A fourth jury in Portland, Oregon has awarded approximately $50 million in compensation to 7 individual wildfire survivors, continuing the wave of jury verdicts awarding millions of dollars in damages to survivors against PacifiCorp for its role in the devastating 2020 Labor Day fires. The verdict includes an award to one business (for a total of eight plaintiffs). This verdict follows a historic jury verdict in 2023 that held PacifiCorp liable for causing the fires to a class of thousands of Oregonians who suffered losses. The sole question in this and subsequent trials is the damages to survivors, where verdicts to date are now nearly $270 million. Eight more trials are scheduled in the months ahead in 2025.

On average, the individual plaintiffs were awarded more than $7 million each. Under the law, the individuals are awarded economic damages (which are doubled) and noneconomic damages, which the 2023 verdict automatically increases by 25% for punitive damages against PacifiCorp. The plaintiffs are:

• Greg Denton lost his family home, which on the stand he described building alongside his grandfather. He described the loss as “heartbreaking.”
• Lisa Dillingham also suffered the total loss of her home and testified about the pain of losing her family’s beloved pet.
• Wayne Michele, in his mid-80s, barely escaped with his wife as they fled through a quarter-mile wall of flames, narrowly surviving the inferno that claimed their home and possessions.
• Ron Ross and his wife, Sharon, lost their home and everything in it to the Echo Mountain Complex fire.
• Misti Rooney faced a terrifying evacuation when the single exit to her neighborhood was blocked by a fallen tree. Her neighbor used heavy equipment to move boulders that allowed her to evacuate.
• Mike Sims and his daughter Stacy evacuated just as the South Obenchain fire raged through the hills surrounding them. They escaped with their seven horses, but the fire destroyed their home, a dozen acres of old growth trees, and the custom horse barn that was Mike’s pride and joy.
• Judith Coates lost her home of over 15 years and was forced to flee the fire quickly, leaving behind her three cats, and losing her beloved garden and koi pond. She has been displaced ever since.
• DDD’s LLC is the owner of several rental properties and recovered its economic damages of $210,000; it is not entitled to noneconomic damages under the law.

“These juries have repeatedly confirmed what we’ve known all along: PacifiCorp put profits over safety, and entire communities paid the price,” said Nicholas Rosinia of Edelson PC. “Survivors shouldn’t have to go through these trials just to get accountability. This is what happens when a utility refuses to do the right thing, which we’re unfortunately seeing more and more of across the country.”

“This jury’s verdict is another important step in holding PacifiCorp accountable,” said Matthew Preusch of Keller Rohrback LLP. “It’s past time for PacifiCorp to step up and compensate all the impacted Oregonians for the enduring harm it has caused.”

“It is extremely gratifying to see these victims of PacifiCorp’s fires finally receive justice after a five-year battle,” said Tim DeJong of Stoll Berne. "PacifiCorp changed their lives forever. Our clients were forced to rebuild their lives without a single dollar from PacifiCorp. We will continue to fight for our fellow Oregonians as long as it takes until everyone is compensated for what PacifiCorp put them through.”

The latest decision follows three previous verdicts in favor of wildfire survivors, with juries so far awarding about $270 million to 44 individuals. Overall, there are over 2,500 members of the class who, under the classwide finding of liability, are entitled to damages.

The next trial is set to begin on March 24, 2025, where nine more survivors will take the stand to share their stories and seek justice for their losses. Seven additional trials are scheduled after that throughout this year.

About the Firms

KELLER ROHRBACK, with offices in Seattle, Denver, Portland, Phoenix, Oakland, Missoula, New York, and Santa Barbara, serves as lead and co-lead counsel in class actions throughout the country. The team of environmental litigators has a long history of successful representation in a wide range of important environmental litigation. The firm has helped protect people and the environment across the country, with judgments and settlements on behalf of clients exceeding $93 billion dollars.

EDELSON PC is a nationally recognized leader in high-stakes plaintiff's litigation, including class actions, mass torts, and government enforcement actions. The firm is litigating wildfire cases in Oregon, Colorado, and now in Los Angeles arising from the Eaton Fire. As lead counsel, the firm has recovered over $5 billion in settlements and judgments as lead counsel, with its overall settlements and judgments surpassing $45 billion. Edelson PC has offices in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boulder, and Washington, D.C.

STOLL BERNE, based in Portland, Oregon, represents plaintiffs nationwide in complex environmental, securities and other class action lawsuits. Recently, Stoll Berne represented the State of Oregon in obtaining a $698 million settlement in a PCB contamination lawsuit against Monsanto.

John Coletti of PAULSON COLETTI TRIAL ATTORNEYS PC and Wm. Keith Dozier of WKD LAW led this damages trial.

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