LatinNews Daily Report - 23 January 2014

Argentina: On 13 January the US Supreme Court ruled that the German automotive corporation, Daimler AG, cannot be sued in California over alleged abuses that took place during Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’ (1976-1983). The case was filed by 22 Argentines, who allege that Mercedes-Benz Argentina (MB Argentina), an Argentinian subsidiary of Daimler, collaborated with State security forces during the Dirty War “to kidnap, detain, torture, and kill certain MB Argentina workers, among them the plaintiffs or persons closely related to the plaintiffs. Based on those allegations, the plaintiffs asserted claims under the Alien Tort Statute and the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991, as well as under California and Argentina law”. The court listed various reasons for its decision, including the fact that the link between what happened in Argentina and Daimler’s connections to California was too weak as, among other things, neither Daimler nor Californian contacts of Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, another Daimler subsidiary, are incorporated in California, nor does either entity have its principal place of business there.

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