We’re taking on bad actors that target our communities thinking we won’t notice or push back. Informed by consumer insights and strengthened through partnerships, OCJ works across policy and advocacy, community engagement, and the law, to put people first toward a more just and equitable Oregon.
Collective actions—like the landmark legal case that led to our creation—are crucial tools in the fight for consumer justice. We all have a role to play. See what’s possible when we exercise our rights together:
The power of collective action is at our core.
In 2015, an Oregon law ruled that unclaimed funds from class action lawsuits—sometimes in the tens of millions of dollars—should go back to the people, not the corporations who caused them harm. This change made the legal principle of Cy Pres (pronounced: SIGH-PRAY) the law. Before this happened, companies that lost class action lawsuits were allowed to keep unclaimed settlement money as their own.
In 2019, the first application of this new Oregon law was for the class action lawsuit, Scharfstein v. BP West Coast Products LLC. According to the law, half of the unclaimed settlement funds went to fund legal services for low-income Oregonians. Under the Cy Pres court order, the remaining half was directed to establish Oregon Consumer Justice, a new, statewide nonprofit solely focusing on protecting and expanding Oregon consumers' rights. Three founding board members were named to lead its design: Judge Henry Kantor, Justin Baxter, and Emily Reiman.
For us, putting people first is true inside and outside our organization. We are committed to a human-centered culture that supports and values team members as human beings and in their roles to achieve our mission.
Our Vision
We envision a vibrant Oregon where all people live with dignity and abundance and experience health, joy, and economic opportunity.
Our Mission
Oregon Consumer Justice (OCJ) organizes, advocates, and supports litigation to advance a justice movement that puts people first, ensuring all have the freedom to thrive and equitably share in our abundance of resources. For too long, flawed systems and economic policies that favor profits over people have stood in the way of this reality, with communities of color often experiencing the most significant harm. Strengthened through responsive and reciprocal community relationships, OCJ is building a future where financial and business transactions can be relied upon as safe and where all Oregonians know and have recourse to exercise their consumer rights.
At OCJ, we value equity, abundance, interconnection, integrity, trust, and courage. We define these fundamental beliefs as follows:
Our Guiding Principles
These principles serve as the foundation for our work and reflect our values, regardless of changes in goals, strategies, or activities. They serve as a shared acknowledgment of how we approach our work.
- We know that inequities based on social, racial, gender, ability, economic, and environmental characteristics are baked into every social, political, and economic system. While recognizing that we must work within oppressive and harmful systems, we are committed to the work required to achieve equity.
- We recognize that we are surrounded by abundance and work to ensure all Oregonians can share in this abundance.
- We center people and communities most impacted by predatory practices. We trust the wisdom of communities and elevate and support community leaders and community-led strategies to access power and resources.
- We recognize that trust is earned. We strive to build authentic relationships with partners and communities. We commit to working to address the inevitable conflicts that will arise in justice work.
- We focus our efforts throughout all of Oregon. We are accountable for our outcomes and aspire to be an example to other states and nationally.
- We reimagine what’s possible, disrupt harmful business practices to hold bad actors and flawed systems accountable, and build consumer power.
Relationships will make the difference as we work to center consumers in policy and legal conversations.
I'm excited and glad to see an organization taking a lead on these [consumer law] issues locally and am hopeful for more opportunities to learn/work together with OCJ and other attorneys in the field.
We're committed to financial integrity by continuously improving our transparency and accountability. Get informed about OCJ’s funding and financial management.
