Judge Allows Some Claims To Proceed In Apartheid Litigation
08 April 2009 - 10:02PM
Dow Jones News
A federal judge on Wednesday allowed some claims by two groups
of victims of apartheid in South Africa to proceed in long-running
litigation against several corporations for allegedly providing
essential assistance to the apartheid regime.
In a decision Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin
in Manhattan allowed some claims under the Alien Tort Claims Act of
aiding and abetting the apartheid government to continue against
auto makers General Motors Corp. (GM), Ford Motor Co. (F) and
Daimler AG (DAI); computer manufacturer International Business
Machines Corp. (IBM); and Rheinmetall Group AG (RHM.XE), the parent
of armaments maker Oerlikon Contraes AG.
"What survives are much narrower cases that this court hopes
will move toward resolution after more than five years spent
litigating motions to dismiss," the judge said.
In her decision Wednesday, the judge dismissed other claims of
aiding and abetting against Fujitsu Ltd. (FJTSY), IBM and the auto
makers, but gave the plaintiffs the right to file amended
complaints.
She also dismissed claims against Barclays Bank PLC and UBS AG
(UBS).
More than a dozen lawsuits were initially filed against a number
of large U.S., European and Canadian companies, seeking billions of
dollars in damages. Two cases, filed in 2002, have survived.
In 2007, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated
some claims in the consolidated cases and remanded them to the
district court.
The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the appellate court's decision
last year after several justices recused themselves and it failed
to reach a quorum on whether to hear the case.
The plaintiffs filed amended complaints last year, significantly
narrowing the number of defendants.
Michael Hausfeld, a lawyer for one group of the apartheid
victims, said the decision sustains the "viability and the
plausibility" of the majority of claims.
"As a general matter, there are still concerns with respect to
the viability/accountability to banks that knowingly participated
in funding those agencies of the government which abused the
population," Hausfeld said. "We're considering whether that issue
should proceed to the next level."
-By Chad Bray, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-227-2017;
chad.bray@dowjones.com