German carmaker Daimler AG is not liable in the United States for alleged human rights abuses by a subsidiary during Argentina's dictatorship, the Supreme Court ruled today.
The United States' highest judicial authority sided with the company in a suit filed by 22 former employees, or their relatives, of a Mercedes Benz plant in the South American country.
A California appeals court had earlier ruled in favor of the group -- 21 Argentines and a Chilean who claim managers at the plant collaborated with the Argentine regime between 1976 and 1983, during a period known as the country's "Dirty War."
But the Supreme Court's ruling said: "Daimler is not amenable to suit in California for injuries allegedly caused by conduct of MB Argentina that took place entirely outside the United States."
The claimants alleged that the management at the subsidiary had identified resistors or agitators and disclosed their names to authorities, allowing violent police raids, arbitrary arrests and torture.
Some employees disappeared and were presumed killed.
The chief of police in charge of such actions was subsequently hired by Mercedes as the head of security to cover up his actions, according to the class-action suit.
