Greenpeace Files Lawsuit against Corporate Spies

On Monday, Greenpeace filed a lawsuit against two
major chemical companies, their PR firms and several individuals for
activities that amount to corporate espionage. Chemical companies Dow
Chemical and Sasol (formerly CONDEA Vista), through the PR firms
Dezenhall Resources (Nichols Dezenhall at the time) and Ketchum, hired
private investigators from the firm Beckett Brown International (BBI) to
spy on Greenpeace from 1998 to 2000. The suit charges the defendants
stole thousands of documents, intercepted phone call detail records
(CDRs), trespassed and conducted unlawful surveillance and theft of
confidential information related to Greenpeace's public interest work.

"The message of this lawsuit is: when companies engage in espionage,
they will be discovered and exposed. These unacceptable and
underhanded tactics interfered with valuable work we were undertaking
to protect public health and expose environmental crimes," said
Greenpeace USA Executive Director Phil Radford.

The complaint
charges that the chemical companies, PR firms and individuals "conspired
to and did surveil, infiltrate and steal confidential information with
the intention of preempting, blunting or thwarting" Greenpeace's
environmental campaigns.

At the time, Greenpeace was working with
communities threatened by dioxin and other chemical pollutants,
including Lake Charles, Louisiana. In that community, a local citizens'
group was infiltrated by an operative of BBI, a firm composed of former
secret service agents and police officers.

BBI and the public
relations firms expanded their espionage to Greenpeace's office in
Washington, DC where, for two years, they stole thousands of
confidential documents and pursued other methods of intrusion and
surveillance. Greenpeace launched an investigation into these
activities after being contacted by a journalist in 2008.

Since
2008, Greenpeace has uncovered additional documents showing the nature
of the espionage and the identities of many of participants, including
work orders, billing worksheets, checks, and invoices.

To read the complaint filed in DC Federal Court, and access supporting documents go to www.spygate.org