Corporate Liability For Human Rights Abuses Goes On Trial

The extent of corporate liability for alleged human rights abuses committed abroad under the Alien Tort Claims Act is currently being tested in the Northern District of Alabama. The plaintiffs in Estate of Rodriquez v. Drummond Company, Inc., No. CV-02-0665-W (N.D. Ala. 2002), allege that Alabama-based mining company Drummond Ltd. ("Drummond") was complicit in the murders of three union leaders at a Drummond-owned coal mine in Columbia. After surviving first a motion to dismiss, and later a motion for summary judgment, the parties began trial on July 9, 2007, to determine whether Drummond aided and abetted the murders of three union leaders by Columbian paramilitaries. As discussed more fully below, the case presents a unique opportunity to test the extent of corporate liability under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), a federal statute originally passed in 1789, which provides a private right of action to aliens for violations of international law. Significantly, the Drummond case is the very first ATCA case to proceed to trial.

ATCA Background

First enacted as part of the Federal Judiciary Act, the ATCA provides original jurisdiction to the federal district courts for any civil action: (1) brought by an alien; (2) claiming damages sounding only in tort; and (3) resulting from a violation of international law.1 Although the ATCA's original purpose is somewhat unclear, the conventional belief is that the statute was enacted to open the newly created federal court system to foreign nationals. The ATCA was not utilized until approximately twenty-five years ago, when two Paraguayan nationals successfully utilized the ATCA to sue a former Paraguayan official for damages arising from the torture and murder of their son in Paraguay.2

Since then, similar cases have been brought against foreign officials alleging war crimes, genocide, murder, and other human rights abuses, but this trend has been controversial. There has been debate whether the ATCA provides relief for claims beyond those contemplated at the time of the statute's passage; namely: piracy, offenses against foreign ambassadors, and violations of safe conducts. There has also been significant debate whether ATCA claims, which typically involve evidence and witnesses residing in foreign countries, belong in American courts.

In June 2004, in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, 542 U.S. 692 (2004), the United States Supreme Court confirmed that the ATCA provided a statutory right of action for aliens beyond those originally contemplated in 1789. The Court held that actionable violations under the ATCA must "rest on a norm of...