Facts

Tiangang Sun sued China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. Ltd., also known as Sinopec, based on events that occurred in the People's Republic of China.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Sun is an entrepreneur, who became involved with various energy and natural gas projects. Sun had a 20-year exclusivity contract to transport oil extracted from the Tahe Oil Field, but Sinopec later acquired the Oil Field and terminated Sun's contract. Sun attempted to sue Sinopec in China for breach of contract, but alleged that Sinopec then fabricated false criminal charges against him to prevent the lawsuit. Sun claimed that Sinopec did so with the collusion of various government and private coconspirators. Sun claimed that he was then detained for five years and suffered human rights violations.

In November 2012, Sun was allowed to leave Hong Kong and travel to the United States. After arriving, he contemplated filing another lawsuit, but claimed the defendants again began to engage in illegal activity to prevent him from doing so.

On July 24, 2013, Sun filed suit against Sinopec and others.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Defendants filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that Sun had failed to properly serve notice on them and that dismissal was required under the Alien Tort Statute.

Result

The court agreed with defendants and granted its motion to dismiss.