Supreme Court kills suit claiming Cisco’s technology helped China persecute Falun Gong members
The justices rejected claims under federal torture and foreign-claims laws, ending a 2011 case that accused Cisco of aiding China’s surveillance system.
- On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that American courts are not the proper venue for a lawsuit accusing California-based Cisco of facilitating religious persecution in China, rejecting attempts by Falun Gong members to sue under the Alien Tort Statute.
- Plaintiffs alleged Cisco knowingly designed the "Golden Shield," an internet surveillance system used by the Chinese Communist Party to target dissidents, noting documents showed the censorship effort as a sales opportunity.
- Cisco vigorously disputes these allegations, calling them unfounded, while the 2011 lawsuit claimed presentations identified over 90% of Falun Gong material; Cisco maintains it did not "aid and abet" human rights abuses.
- Reversing a 2023 decision by the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the justices ended the discovery phase, reinforcing a 2021 Supreme Court opinion requiring plaintiffs to show relevant conduct took place within the United States.
- This decision further limits the Alien Tort Statute, which was dormant for nearly two centuries before lawyers began using it in the 1980s, as the court has consistently restricted corporate liability for overseas human rights violations since 2013 and 2018.
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The New York LedgerSupreme Court dismisses Falun Gong lawsuit accusing Cisco of helping China persecute religious movement
The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a ruling that limits the use of a federal law to hold U.S. corporations liable for human rights abuses abroad when it dismissed a lawsuit that accused Cisco Systems of aiding the Chinese government's religious persecution of the Falun Gong movement.The 6-3 ruling reversed a lower court's decision that had allowed a lawsuit filed by Falun Gong members in 2011 under the Alien Tort Statute of 1789. The suit alleg…
The U.S. Supreme Court has limited lawsuits to companies for charges against human rights violations abroad. In a ruling delivered on Tuesday, the conservative majority court dismisses the lawsuit filed by the Chinese religious movement Falun Gong against the technological giant Cisco for allegedly collaborating with the Beijing government to persecute and torture them.Continue reading
US Supreme Court ends suit alleging Cisco helped China pursue Falun Gong
The US Supreme Court has limited the reach of the Alien Tort Statute, reversing a lower court's decision in a lawsuit against Cisco Systems over its alleged role in China's persecution of Falun Gong members.
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