Three companies cannot be held liable in the United States for racial discrimination and violence in apartheid-era South Africa now that the U.S. Supreme Court has limited the use of the Alien Tort Statute, a federal appeals court has ruled.
A unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Wednesday in Balintulo v. Daimler AG, 09-2778-cv, that U.S. courts have no jurisdiction over the lawsuit because all of the alleged wrongs took place in South Africa. Judge Jose Cabranes (See Profile) wrote the opinion, joined by judges Peter Hall (See Profile) and Debra Ann Livingston (See Profile).
