Arjuna didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Exxon sued the adviser in January, sidestepping the usual process of asking the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for permission to leave certain shareholder proposals off of corporate ballots.
Experts have said that the decision to bypass the SEC likely reflected growing corporate frustration with the agency’s greenlighting in recent years of a number of shareholder proposals targeting environmental and social issues like climate change and abortion.
Exxon continues to push for a court ruling that climate proposals like the one put forth by Arjuna violate SEC rules against shareholder proposals that target the day-to-day functioning of a business, despite the fact that the adviser withdrew the proposal after being sued.
Judge Pittman refused an earlier request by Arjuna to dismiss the lawsuit after promising not to resubmit a similar proposal in the future, saying that the promise was “not an enforceable contract.”
Exxon is represented by Mark W. Rasmussen, Jonathan D. Guynn, Noel J. Francisco, Brett A. Shumate and Megan Lacy Owen of Jones Day, Gregg J. Costa and David Woodcock of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Ralph H. Duggins and Scott Fredricks of Cantey Hanger LLP.
