Exxon Suit Targeting Activist Climate Proposals Moves Ahead (3)

Exxon Mobil Corp. can proceed with its lawsuit against Arjuna Capital even after the activist investor group withdrew a shareholder proposal the company opposed, a federal judge ruled.

The Houston-based oil giant filed the suit in a novel move to use the courts to keep environmental and social investor bids out of annual meetings. It’s part of a broader corporate pushback to the power wielded by the US Securities & Exchange Commission in the vetting of shareholder proposals.

Wednesday’s ruling by a judge in Fort Worth, Texas, will allow Exxon to pursue claims that Arjuna abused the shareholder vote process ...