Oregon Consumer Justice

Oregon Consumer Justice is a non-profit organization committed to ensuring that all people in Oregon experience a safe and fair marketplace. We advance the rights of consumers through advocacy, research, education, and engagement. We work to bring consumer justice into balance for all Oregonians.

Our Story

A Cy Pres award distributes unclaimed class action settlement money to a charitable organization and is how OCJ came to be.

In March 2015, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed her first bill into law. Prior to House Bill 2700, companies that lost class action lawsuits were allowed to keep unclaimed settlement money as their own. Bill 2700 changed that in mandating unclaimed funds be used to the benefit of consumers, not the corporations that harmed them.

The law was applied for the first time in 2019 in class action lawsuit Scharfstein v. BP West Coast Products LLC. Judge Jerome LaBarre directed that unclaimed funds from the class action lawsuit be used to establish a consumer advocacy non-profit organization.

Launched in 2020, Oregon Consumer Justice (OCJ) is a new nonprofit organization committed to ensuring that all people in Oregon experience a safe and fair marketplace, especially those historically excluded from participation. We advance the rights of consumers through advocacy, research, education, and engagement, and work to bring consumer justice into balance for all Oregonians. We strategically focus on opportunities to: 

• balance the system by advocating for laws that fill in gaps and address consumer needs.
• share information and learning to facilitate awareness and understanding with partners and policymakers to achieve more equitable outcomes. 
• build and strengthen actionable pathways so that everyone can access the resources they need. 

These are just some of the spaces where Oregonians experience unfair business practices: payday loans, debt collection and credit reporting, deceptive student loan services, hidden banking and credit fees, mortgage, housing, insurance and construction fraud, imposter scams, illegal towing, misrepresented medical and travel services, telecom monopolies and other antitrust violations, securities and brokerage account misconduct, dishonest auto sales, repairs and financing. 

The need for consumer justice is everywhere - and the majority of need isn’t being met. OCJ wants to change that by building an equitable and sustainable ecosystem that works for every Oregonian; one that puts people first, makes sure that every financial and business transaction is fair and safe, and that consumers have recourse when their rights are violated. 

OCJ Operating Principles

• Purpose-Driven
• Consumer-Centered
• Equity and Justice 
• Respect and Compassion
• Collaboration & Intersectional Inclusion
• Solutions-Orientation (Social Impact/Entrepreneurship & Innovation)
• Open to Learning and Growth Mindset

OCJ is an equal opportunity employer. We endeavor to celebrate the diversity and lived experiences of all members of our nation and community without regard to race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, disability, veteran status, or record of arrest or conviction.