The World Gets a Little Smaller; International Employers May Find Themselves Sued in the U.S. for Egregious Overseas Labor Practices
Kenneth J. Rose of Littler Mendelson, P.C.
Over the past 25 years, a number of federal courts found that the Alien Tort Claims Act ("ATCA") permitted foreign victims to sue for such violations of international law as summary executions, genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. Some of those lawsuits were brought against U.S.-headquartered multinational corporations for their alleged involvement in improper and abusive labor practices in developing countries that were said to comprise human rights violations.