ESG Pressure Raises Ante on Board Duty Breach Claims in Delaware

The ESG movement is reverberating through Delaware courts as judges allow more plaintiffs to move forward with claims that boards or corporate officers breached their duty of care.

A handful of recent rulings from the Delaware Chancery Court and others—involving companies including Boeing Co. and ice cream maker Blue Bell Creameries LP—point to a changing tenor on director liability in the state preferred by companies for resolving litigation.

Plaintiffs bringing so-called Caremark claims, which allege failure of board oversight, are finding greater success pressing their arguments at a time of growing shareholder and public scrutiny of corporate citizenship. That’s forcing ...