High court to reconsider whether domestic companies can be sued over slavery overseas

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Thursday to hear two cases deciding whether two corporations can be sued for allegedly funding slavery on cocoa farms in West Africa under the Alien Tort Statute.

The high court will now reconsider 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rulings that allowed lawsuits against Cargill Inc. and Nestle USA Inc. to proceed. Nestle USA Inc. v. Doe I et al., 19-416; Cargill Inc. v. Doe I et al., 19-453 (S Ct., writ petitions accepted July 2, 2020).

In July 2019, the 9th Circuit decided against hearing the corporations' motion to rehear the three-judge panel ruling en banc over the strong objections of judges appointed by Republican presidents.

9th Circuit Judge Mark J. Bennett, an appointee of President Donald Trump, wrote the panel ignored a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said the statute, known as ATS, should be "narrowly construed" and foreclosed corporate defendants from facing liability. Jesner v. Arab Bank PLC, 138 S. Ct. 1386, 1410 (2018).

The high court, Bennett wrote, "has made it equally clear that the ATS reaches only domestic conduct -- where a claim 'seek[s] relief for violations of the law of nations occurring outside the United States,' the claim is 'barred.'"

Bennett was in the minority on the 9th Circuit. Senior 9th Circuit Judge Dorothy W. Nelson, in the panel decision, wrote the plaintiffs "raise sufficiently specific allegations regarding Cargill's involvement in farms that rely on child slavery."

The Nestle case is a closer call are less clear but sufficient to allow plaintiffs' attorneys a final chance to replead the claims, the panel ruled. Nelson's opinion reversed a district judge's opinion.

The Trump administration, which was asked to weigh in by the high court, said a writ should be granted in the Cargill case.