Pursuing human rights cases against corporations through common law

Image Source: asifahmed081.blogspot.com

If even a single state court will expand its common law to include the activities of an entity overseas, then corporations may have to face various human rights claims indefinitely. This possibility comes as a potential problem for many companies in spite of the fact that human rights activists may no longer rely on the Alien Tort Statute to pursue cases with multinational corporations.

While the Supreme Court questioned the viability of suits for alleged human rights violations pursued through the Alien Tort Statute in its decision on April 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently held that cases could further develop with common-law claims.

Image Source: laborrightsblog.typepad.com

There are still ways for corporations to defend themselves against such suits, however. Courts can dismiss cases if there is another forum in which the case could be filed – one that is convenient for both the parties and witnesses. Furthermore, under Section 403 of the Restatement (Third) of Foreign Relations Law of the United States, courts should decline to exercise jurisdiction over a case overseas if doing so would be deemed unreasonable, which is determined by the link of the activity to the territory of the regulating state. With this, corporations can argue that the link of the alleged wrongdoing to the regulating state is weak, especially because it is filed by citizens who do not reside in the overseas territory in question.

Image Source: csrandthelaw.com

Evan Granowitz is an attorney at Wolf Group LA. Follow this Twitter account for more links to noteworthy developments that affect corporate litigation.