On behalf of the Avaaz Foundation (“Avaaz”), a global civic movement, ECBAWM has filed a motion in New York County Supreme Court in Manhattan seeking to quash a sweeping document subpoena from Monsanto Company, the multinational agrochemical and biotech company. The subpoena seeks documents reflecting Avaaz’s multi-year effort to persuade governments worldwide to ban the chemical agent glyphosate, which is believed to be the world’s most widely-used herbicide. Glyphosate is the active agent in Roundup®, a Monsanto product. In 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer issued a public evaluation concluding that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic in humans.” Avaaz, with over 46 million members and staff in 23 countries, has been described by The Guardian as “the globe’s largest and most powerful online activist network,” and the campaign against glyphosate is just one of Avaaz’s many member-driven campaigns.

The Monsanto subpoena – which was issued in January 2018 as part of a personal injury case in which agricultural workers are suing Monsanto over claims that they contracted cancer after exposure to Roundup® – seeks to compel the production of virtually every document in Avaaz’s possession concerning its political activities around glyphosate and Monsanto. If enforced, the subpoena would require the turnover of Avaaz’s confidential internal communications and deliberations, campaign plans, research and source material, and even member and donor information. ECBAWM’s filing argues that the subpoena violates the First Amendment of the Constitution and New York’s Reporter’s Shield law; calls for the production of documents that are irrelevant to the underlying personal injury case; and imposes an undue burden on Avaaz. The Guardian, Eco Watch, and other media outlets have reported on the case.

Avaaz is represented in this matter by ECBAWM attorneys Andrew G. Celli, Jr. and Douglas E. Lieb.