Drummond Company, Inc. v. Collingsworth et al

On May 20, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a civil RICO lawsuit filed by Drummond Company, Inc. against human rights attorney Terrence P. Collingsworth and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights. Drummond alleged that defendants conducted a decades-long extortionate scheme by filing baseless lawsuits under the Alien Tort Statute, fabricating evidence tying the coal company to paramilitary murders in Colombia, and using third-party litigation funding to coerce massive settlements. The defendants countered that their actions were legitimate petitioning activity protected by the First Amendment. The court agreed, granting the defendants’ anti-SLAPP motion and dismissing the complaint with prejudice.

The court granted the defendants’ special motion to dismiss under the D.C. Anti-SLAPP Act, ruling that the challenged litigation activity was immune under the Noerr-Pennington doctrine and that Drummond failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success on its RICO claims. The case was dismissed with prejudice.

Whether the defendants’ filing and prosecution of human rights lawsuits constituted lawful petitioning protected by the First Amendment and anti-SLAPP laws, or an illegal extortionate racketeering enterprise under RICO.

The ruling reaffirms strong First Amendment protections for human rights attorneys pursuing transnational corporate accountability, making it more difficult for corporations to use RICO countersuits to intimidate advocates. It underscores the tension between anti-SLAPP shields and allegations of litigation fraud, and may deter similar retaliatory litigation by multinational enterprises facing human rights claims.