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Keywords

plaintiffappealhuman rightsdisplacement

plaintiffdefendantjurisdictionliabilityappealdiscriminationcorporationwar crimesvicarious liabilitycrimes against humanity

Related Cases

Sarei v. Rio Tinto, PLC

Facts

The plaintiffs, residents of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, alleged that Rio Tinto's mining operations led to severe environmental damage and human rights violations, including displacement of villages and complicity in a civil war. The district court found that the plaintiffs had stated cognizable ATS claims but dismissed the case as presenting nonjusticiable political questions. The appellate court found that the district court did not properly analyze the exhaustion requirement for ATS claims.

Bougainville is an island in the South Pacific located just off the main island of PNG. Rich in natural resources, including copper and gold, the island was targeted as a prime mining site by defendants Rio Tinto, plc, a British and Welsh corporation, and Rio Tinto Limited, an Australian corporation (collectively 'Rio Tinto'). Rio Tinto is part of an international mining group that operates over sixty mines and processing plants in forty countries, including the United States. To operate a mine on Bougainville, Rio Tinto required and received the assistance of the PNG government. According to the complaint, beginning in the 1960s, Rio Tinto displaced villages, razed massive tracts of rain forest, intensely polluted the land, rivers, and air (with extensive collateral consequences including fatal and chronic illness, death of wildlife and vegetation, and failure of farm land), and systematically discriminated against its Bougainvillian workers, who lived in slave-like conditions.

Issue

Whether the district court erred in dismissing the plaintiffs' claims as nonjusticiable political questions and whether an exhaustion requirement should be imposed on the plaintiffs under the ATS.

Rule

The ATS does not require exhaustion of local remedies, but courts may consider prudential exhaustion in appropriate cases, particularly when the nexus to the United States is weak.

Although the ATS does not itself require an alien to exhaust local remedies before invoking the jurisdiction of our courts, the Supreme Court signaled in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain that a prudential or judicially-imposed exhaustion requirement for ATS claims 'would certainly [be considered] in an appropriate case.'

Analysis

The Ninth Circuit held that the district court erred in dismissing the claims as political questions and did not properly consider the prudential exhaustion requirement. The court emphasized that while the ATS does not explicitly require exhaustion, the Supreme Court's decision in Sosa indicated that exhaustion should be considered in cases where the connection to the U.S. is tenuous.

The majority held that the district court had subject matter jurisdiction under the ATS because plaintiffs alleged nonfrivolous jus cogens violations for racial discrimination, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, including any claims that rested on vicarious liability.

Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's dismissal and remanded the case for further proceedings to determine whether to impose an exhaustion requirement on the plaintiffs.

Who won?

The plaintiffs prevailed in the appeal as the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's dismissal, allowing their claims to proceed.

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