In Short - The Situation: In the last month, two courts in the Ninth Circuit allowed human rights focused cases to proceed beyond the pleading stage. These cases seek to impose liability on U.S.-based companies for alleged...more
International corporates are coming under growing pressure from claimants seeking to hold them liable for acts committed overseas, often by subsidiaries or suppliers. Claimant firms in the U.S. and the UK are finding...more
Courts and legislatures both in the United States and abroad continue to prioritize the eradication of labor trafficking in corporate supply chains, including those in the health care industry. For example, in the United...more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently handed down its decision on the scope of the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), following an appeal by Nestle USA, Inc., the U.S. affiliate of Swiss-based Nestle (Nestle USA), and Cargill, Inc....more
On June 17, the U.S. Supreme Court held that U.S. corporations are not liable for alleged abuses against non-U.S. citizens in foreign countries merely because general operational decisions made in the United States...more
In a decision issued June 17, the US Supreme Court further limited the ability of plaintiffs to seek redress in US courts for human rights abuses that occur overseas, but did not go as far in restricting those suits as some...more
In Nestle, six citizens of Mali claimed they were trafficked into and enslaved on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast. Pursuant to the ATS, these former child slaves sought to impose liability upon Nestle, Cargill, and other U.S....more
A recent Supreme Court decision declines to apply the ATS to general corporate activity in the United States to reach violations of international law alleged to occur in other countries. The Alien Tort Statute (ATS) requires...more
Key Takeaways - In its just-issued opinion in Nestle USA, Inc. v. Doe, No. 19-416, slip op. (2021), the Supreme Court reaffirmed its holding from Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., 569 U. S. 108 (2013), that the Alien Tort...more
On June 17, 2021, the Supreme Court held in Nestle USA, Inc. v. Doe I, that a plaintiff seeking domestic application of the Alien Tort Statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1350 (“ATS”), must demonstrate that the facts giving rise to the...more
In this episode, recorded on Sept. 14, Akin Gump Supreme Court and appellate practice co-head Pratik Shah returns to review the 2019 Supreme Court Term and preview the big cases and topics in the October 2020 Term. Among...more
Key Takeaways - Slave, forced, and child labor is a modern-day reality impacting some 40 million people throughout the world, by some estimates. Such practices are—and have always been—repugnant, and certainly have no place...more
Courts and legislatures both in the United States and abroad continue to prioritize the eradication of labor trafficking in corporate supply chains. Labor trafficking litigation in the United States remains widespread and...more
Legislatures and courts, both in the United States and abroad, are working toward the eradication of labor trafficking in corporate supply chains. In the United States, consumers have sued manufacturers for failing to...more
Legal developments in the field of international law continue to be dynamic and expanding, through national legislation, common law and transnational tort suits, new soft law instruments and drafting exercises, institutional...more
ATS Applies to Alleged Child Slavery in the Ivory Coast Supported by Decisions Made in the US - Doe v. Nestle, S.A., US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, October 30, 2018....more
On Tuesday, October 23, 2018, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an important opinion reviving a decade-old Alien Tort Claims Act (ATS) suit based on alleged aiding and abetting slave labor in cocoa farms on the Ivory...more
Welcome to the second edition of BHR 360, our bi-annual Business and Human Rights newsletter. In the last edition, we looked at key BHR trends and what to watch out for in 2018. In this edition, we look back on a year full of...more
On 17 May 2018, an unprecedented round table took place to discuss the “French duty of vigilance and civil liability in human rights matters” at our Paris office. ...more
On April 24, 2018, in a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that foreign corporations cannot be sued in the United States under the Alien Tort Statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1350 ("ATS"). ...more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently held in Jesner v. Arab Bank, PLC that foreign corporations cannot be sued under the Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”). This statute, enacted by the first Congress in 1789, is a jurisdictional statute...more
In Jesner v. Arab Bank, PLC, 584 U.S. ___, 2018 WL 1914663 (U.S. Apr. 24, 2018) (Kennedy, J.), the Supreme Court of the United States held that foreign corporations may not be sued under the Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”), 28...more
• The Supreme Court in Jesner v. Arab Bank ruled 5-4 that suits against foreign corporations under the ATS are barred, answering a question left unresolved in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. • Although the decision...more
Resolving a circuit split, the U.S. Supreme Court held Tuesday that common law liability under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) does not extend to foreign corporations. Jesner v. Arab Bank, PLC, No. 16-499, 2018 WL 1914663...more
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has ruled in the case of Jesner v Arab Bank. On a 5:4 majority, the court ruled that foreign corporations are excluded from the scope of the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). ...more