Silverman & Sullivan: DC Court of Appeals Abandons Article III Standing for Consumer Advocacy Groups
“[P]ublic interest organizations bringing suit [for the purpose of promoting interests or rights of consumers are] free from any requirement to demonstrate their own Article III standing.” With that statement in Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Hormel Foods Corp., 2021 WL 3921512 (D.C. Sept. 2, 2021), the D.C. Court of Appeals opened the courthouse doors to organizations using District of Columbia’s consumer law to sue without alleging anyone experienced an actual injury. As a result, companies that sell goods or services in the District of Columbia should brace themselves for a surge of litigation by advocacy groups, some of which have extreme agendas that do not align with consumer interests.
