Charges allege John Meyer persisted ‘without a basis in fact or law,’ fabricated video material, misused social media in Big Sky lawsuits
By Jack Reaney SENIOR EDITOR
On Feb. 9, the Montana Office of Disciplinary Counsel filed professional misconduct charges against John Meyer, a Bozeman-based lawyer and executive director of Cottonwood Environmental Law Center, for his “extensive” and “relentless” environmental litigation involving various entities in the Big Sky area.
Pamela Bucy, chief disciplinary counsel for the ODC—a regulatory department established by the Montana Supreme Court—filed the charges, which compel Meyer to participate in a hearing in the coming six to 12 months as part of an administrative process, unless he reaches a settlement with the ODC. Penalties could include “appropriate” sanctions based on the rules Meyer is accused of violating, from public admonition or censure, to the highest punishment, disbarment, although Bucy believes it’s unlikely based on Meyer’s lack of prior discipline.
“We received grievances, or complaints, so that’s why Mr. Meyer got investigated… And this is the result of that investigation,” Bucy told EBS in a phone call.
Whether or not Meyer and the ODC reach terms for a settlement, Bucy’s office will submit a recommended penalty. In the Montana Supreme Court, a commission of attorneys, and laypersons similar to a jury will hear the case and issue a final decision including potential penalties.
Charges include Meyer’s alleged violations of rules that state a lawyer shall not engage in: “dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation” and other prejudicial actions; offering evidence “that the lawyer knows to be false”; falsifying or altering evidence; making public “extrajudicial” statements by means of public communication that have “substantial likelihood” of influencing the outcome of court proceedings; and “making a false statement of material fact or law to a third person in the course of representing a client,” according to citations listed in the Feb. 9 filing.
EBS reached out to Meyer for comment via email. His response solely discussed a 2018 personal injury lawsuit involving Big Sky Resort following a 2015 ski accident, which was mentioned briefly in two paragraphs in Bucy’s 23-page complaint.
“This is an excellent opportunity to educate Montanans and the Montana Supreme Court about Big Sky Resort’s abusive litigation strategies,” Meyer stated via email, claiming that the resort sued him personally and “demanded” a $50,000 settlement. “… When I wouldn’t pay Big Sky $50,000 to drop the case, it tried to depose me immediately before my wedding and said if I didn’t like it I should drop my case. The Court said Big Sky’s lawsuit against me bordered on frivolous.”
Meyer’s response to EBS did not discuss the disciplinary matters at hand.
Big Sky Resort issued a statement to EBS in response to Meyer’s statement, noting that it took less than 30 minutes for a federal jury to unanimously reject Meyer’s personal injury claims against the resort.
“More importantly, the ethical complaint against Mr. Meyer has nothing to do with his personal injury lawsuit against Big Sky, as is clear from the complaint,” resort representatives stated on Feb. 13.
Social media violations, ‘false’ video evidence, ‘often-shifting’ claims
Bucy’s filing included various Cottonwood lawsuits in which ODC investigation found Meyer violated conduct standards.
One lengthy lawsuit involving the Big Sky County Water and Sewer District concluded in July 2025 with sanctions against Cottonwood after multiple appeals of the initial April 2022 finding. During appeal, Cottonwood claimed that BSCWSD had used hidden spreadsheet tabs to conceal crucial data regarding treated wastewater: “The Court also identified that [Meyer] himself, contrary to his later assertions, admitted that he had in fact received the ‘hidden’ information 10 months prior to the April trial,” Bucy’s filing stated, also noting Meyer’s argument centered around “often-shifting claims.”
After the initial jury verdict in 2022, “[Meyer] remained unwilling to accept the judgment and instead, accused the opposing parties and counsel of presenting false evidence and requested a new trial on those grounds,” Bucy’s filing stated. “[Meyer’s] theories were repeatedly rejected, yet he continued to pursue them, without a basis in fact or law, and in spite of verifiable evidence.”
Another lawsuit named the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the Yellowstone Club as defendants, alleging that DEQ failed to consider the possible impacts of pharmaceuticals in reclaimed water used for snowmaking. The court did not grant an injunction as requested by Cottonwood, and found Cottonwood’s pharmaceutical allegations to be “a speculative proposition” in a January 2023 ruling.
Bucy’s list continued: a December 2022 complaint by Cottonwood pursued an injunction to effectively create a moratorium on Big Sky development, and also prevent Big Sky Resort from irrigating its golf course with treated wastewater—which the court later found that the resort does lawfully. In June 2023, the court denied the injunction, noting Cottonwood had “already lost on virtually identical claims in federal court.”
In another lawsuit, recently dismissed, Cottonwood alleged Yellowstone Club violated the Clean Water Act through golf course irrigation. A federal jury disagreed. Furthermore, Bucy noted Meyer’s “extrajudicial statements” including his use of social media platforms to “improperly influence the jury pool,” in violation of a January 2025 order “limiting the statements [Meyer] and Cottonwood could make related to expert testimony, their reports and opinions, and the evidence in the case.”
The court found on Oct. 1, 2025, that Meyer again used social media to influence the potential jury pool. Separately, he also used social media to claim that BSCWSD staff committed a crime, despite no official criminal investigation taking place.
“Despite numerous rulings to the contrary, [Meyer] continued to post inflammatory and inaccurate information on his social media indicating that Big Sky District was criminally polluting the Gallatin River,” Bucy’s ruling stated.
In another violation, Meyer allegedly used deceptive video editing to support his claims against the Spanish Peaks Mountain Club.
After Cottonwood reached a settlement with Spanish Peaks in September 2022, Meyer shared an email with SPMC’s legal counsel, accusing SPMC of discharging sewage into a creek. The email included a video link that showed, according to Meyer, SPMC using spray irrigation equipment in an unlawful manner.
“[Meyer] did not disclose that the video had been edited to splice together footage from different days to make it appear as if Spanish Peaks was using irrigation equipment and spraying reclaimed water into a flowing creek on a rainy day,” Bucy’s filing stated, adding that video logs proved the video was inaccurate.
Still, Meyer copied federal and state officials on the letter with the video link, and used the fabricated footage as a basis to file another lawsuit, despite having already settled with SPMC on the issue and “knowing the video was edited,” Bucy’s filing stated. “[Meyer] failed to inform federal or state officials or the U.S. District Court that the video had been edited and was a false portrayal of his claims.”
Finally, Bucy noted that Meyer’s racketeering lawsuit against various Big Sky entities had “no evidence” as ruled by the court—still, Meyer took the chance to post on social media about Cottonwood’s intention to “hold the 1% accountable.” He named defendants and alleged, “they’ve created a scheme—a racket—to dispose of treated sewage unlawfully so that they can continue to develop unnecessary, multi-million dollar vacation houses… We have alleged they are lying to the jury, they are lying to the court, they have lied to the EPA, the Montana DEQ.”
Bucy called Meyer’s actions “relentless” against Big Sky’s water and sewer district, citing the millions of dollars in cost to the local district’s ratepayers: $3.4 million with burden affecting roughly 3,500 Big Sky ratepayers, equivalent to roughly $1,000 per customer.
“[Meyer] continued needlessly and repeatedly pursuing the same rejected and disproven claim against the Defendants in different forums,” Bucy’s filing stated, noting the journey has been “costly both financially and emotionally to all parties.”
Not backing down
On Feb. 12, two days after Meyer filed an official acknowledgement to his professional misconduct charges, he sent a promotional email to Cottonwood supporters with the subject line, “Dismantling the Big Sky Machine,” again accusing BSCWSD of “fraudulent data” and describing its version of its accomplishments regulating “billionaire behavior in Big Sky.”
Meyer mentioned the recent failed lawsuit against Yellowstone Club, saying Cottonwood “left it all on the field” and needs more resources to operate effectively—the “small and scrappy” nonprofit firm can’t cover next month’s rent and can’t pay its two employees’ salaries, according to the email.
“Call it bravery, call it stupidity, call it whatever you want,” Meyer wrote. “At the end of the day, Cottonwood is the only group working in the legal system to hold current polluters in Big Sky accountable.”
Four times in the email, a big green button rallies support: “DONATE.”
