Alien Tort Statute -- 2021



Nestle, USA, Inc. v. Doe   (U.S. Supreme Court)

Scope of Alien Tort Statute

The NAM filed amicus briefs urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review and reverse a 9th Circuit decision that imposed overbroad civil liability on food producers under the U.S. Alien Tort Statute. The ATS is an 18th century law that allows non-U.S. citizens to file lawsuits in U.S. federal courts for certain violations of international law connected to U.S.-based conduct. In recent years, human rights roups have used the statute as a tool to bring attention to their causes by targeting name brand companies doing business in developing countries who have taken no part in the targeted practices.

In this case, plaintiffs alleged that the food producers violated the Alien Tort Statute by purchasing cocoa from African farmers alleged to have mistreated their workers. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the plaintiffs should be allowed to pursue their claims against the food producers for “aiding and abetting” the alleged violations. The Ninth Circuit’s interpretation of the ATS would open the floodgates to potential claims against manufacturers doing business with foreign suppliers in troubled regions of the globe.

The NAM’s amicus briefs—filed in support of certiorari and later on the merits—highlighted how the Ninth Circuit’s decision deepens a circuit split on the scope of the Alien Tort Statute and discourages U.S. business operations and investment in developing countries. The NAM also urged the Court to adopt a bright-line rule that would bar ATS claims unless the conduct that occurred in the U.S. is itself a tort “committed in violation of the law of nations,” not a routine, lawful activity such as operational and financial decision-making. On June 17, 2021, while declining to adopt a bright-line rule, the Court ruled 8-1 that general corporate activity is insufficient to support a domestic application of the ATS.


Related Documents:
Opinion  (June 17, 2021)
NAM brief  (September 8, 2020)
NAM brief  (October 31, 2019)