John Roe I v. Bridgestone Corp.

492 F.Supp.2d 988

JOHN ROE I, et al., Plaintiffs, v. BRIDGESTONE CORPORATION, et al., Defendants.

No. 1:06-cv-0627-DFH-JMS.

United States District Court, S.D. Indiana, Indianapolis Division.

June 26, 2007.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Derek Joseph Baxter, Natacha Thys, Terrence P. Collingsworth, Washington, DC, Paul L. Hoffman, Schonbrun Desimone Seplow Harris & Hoffman, Venice, CA, Barry A. Macey, Kimberly Denise Jeselskis, Macey Swanson and Allman, Indianapolis, IN, for Plaintiffs.

Jeffrey J. Joyce, Michael L. Rice, Terence M. Murphy, Jones Day, Dallas, TX, David J. Dimeglio, Erik K. Swanholt, Jones Day, Los Angeles, CA, for Defendants.

ENTRY ON DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS

HAMILTON, District Judge.

Plaintiffs are adults and children who work on a rubber plantation in the West African nation of Liberia. Based on allegations of forced labor, forced child labor, poor working conditions, and low wages, plaintiffs seek damages from the Japanese, American, and Liberian companies and two individuals that own and control the plantation. Plaintiffs seek relief in the federal courts of the United States. Their twelve-count Complaint asserts claims under international law pursuant to the Alien Tort Statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1350, the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, a federal statute authorizing civil actions for criminal forced labor violations, 18 U.S.C. § 1595, and California law.

The plaintiffs originally filed this action in the Central District of California. That court granted the plaintiffs' motion to proceed using pseudonyms. Defendants filed a motion to transfer venue to the Southern District of Indiana and a motion to dismiss under Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Central District of California granted the motion to transfer venue under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) based on the case's lack of connection to California and the fact that two defendants are headquartered or reside in the Southern District of Indiana. The California court did not address the motion to dismiss.

For the reasons explained in detail below, the defendants' motion to dismiss all claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is denied. The motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim is granted with respect to Count One and Counts Three through Twelve and denied with respect to Count Two, the child labor claim under international law.

The adult plaintiffs' principal claim for forced labor in violation of international law is undermined by plaintiffs' own allegations that they are afraid of losing the same jobs they claim they are being forced to perform. Forced labor cannot be equated with only low wages and difficult working conditions, which are all too common throughout the world. Some forms of truly forced labor violate specific, universal and obligatory norms of international law, but the circumstances alleged by the adult plaintiffs in this case do not. See generally Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, 542 U.S. 692, 732-33, 124 S.Ct. 2739, 159 L.Ed.2d 718 (2004) (explaining that the Alien Tort Statute is available to enforce a narrow class of specific, universal, and obligatory norms of international law). The Count Two claims of at least some of the child plaintiffs under international law survive the motion to dismiss. Plaintiffs allege that the defendants are actively encouraging parents to require children as young as six, seven, and ten years old to work full-time at heavy and dangerous jobs on defendants' plantation tapping raw latex from rubber trees. As applied to the alleged working conditions for these young children, international law is sufficiently specific, universal, and obligatory to permit relief under the Alien Tort Statute. See International Labour Organization ["ILO"], Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No. 182), June 17, 1999, 38 I.L.M. 1207, available at http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/english/ convdisp 1 /htm (last visited June 25, 2007), Docket No. 2-85, Exhibit D (hereinafter "ILO Convention 182").

I. The Parties

The Firestone Rubber Plantation ("the Plantation") near Harbel, Liberia is the world's largest rubber plantation. The Plantation was founded in 1926 under an agreement between the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company and the Liberian government, with what might be called strong encouragement from the United States government. All of the raw latex produced at the Plantation is sold to or otherwise controlled by other Bridgestone Firestone companies.

Plaintiffs John Roe I through John Roe XII are adults who work as latex "tappers" on the Plantation. They cut into the rubber trees and collect the raw latex for eventual processing into tires and other rubber products. Plaintiffs James Roe I through James Roe XV and Jane Roe I through Jane Roe VIII are children who have assisted their parents or other family members in work at the Plantation. The child plaintiffs range in age from six to sixteen years old. Plaintiffs seek to represent two plaintiff classes. The first proposed class is all adults who worked as tappers on the Plantation at any time between November 17, 1995 and the present under the conditions described in the Complaint. Compl. ¶ 79. (Claims under the Alien Tort Statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1350, have been held subject to a ten-year statute of limitations. E.g., Jean v. Darelien, 431 F.3d 776, 778-79 (11th Cir.2005).) The second proposed class is all persons who, during the period November 17, 1995 through the present, "were forced as children to work on the Firestone Plantation so that their families could meet their quota and be paid enough to allow the family to avoid starvation." Compl. ¶ 80.¹

The named defendants are Bridges one Corporation; Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc.; Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC; BFS Diversified Products, LLC; Firestone Polymers, LLC; Firestone Natural Rubber Company, LLC; the Firestone Plantation Company; Daniel J. Adomitis; and Charles Stuart.²

Bridgestone Corporation is headquartered in Japan and is the world's largest manufacturer of tires and other rubber products. Defendant Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation and has its headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee. Defendant Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC, is a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc. and also has headquarters in Nashville.

BFS Diversified Products, LLC is another subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc. and has its headquarters in the Southern District of Indiana. Defendant Firestone Polymers, LLC is in turn a subsidiary of BFS Diversified Products, LLC and has its headquarters in Ohio.

Firestone Natural Rubber Company, LLC is a Delaware company described in the Complaint as a "division" of BFS Diversified Products, LLC.³ Firestone Plantation Company is a Liberian subsidiary of Firestone Natural Rubber Company, LLC, and also has control of the Plantation. The concession agreement governing the Plantation is an agreement among the government of Liberia, Firestone Natural Rubber Company, LLC, and Firestone Plantation Company. See Adomitis Aff., Ex. A. (Docket No. 2-26.)

Defendant Daniel J. Adomitis is the president of Firestone Natural Rubber Company, LLC and senior counsel in the legal department of Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc. He signed the 2005 concession agreement with Liberia. Plaintiffs allege that Adomitis is involved in the day-to-day operation of the Plantation and the shipping and distribution network that brings the latex to the United States. Defendant Charles Stuart is the president and managing director of Firestone Plantation Company, the Liberian subsidiary. He also signed the concession agreement with Liberia. Plaintiffs allege that he is the on-site manager of the Plantation.

II. The Claims

As detailed below, the Complaint describes working conditions at the Plantation. Based on those allegations, plaintiffs have asserted twelve counts against all the defendants, claiming that each defendant is responsible for all of the alleged wrongs.

Count One seeks relief under the Alien Tort Statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1350, on behalf of the adult plaintiffs on the theory that defendants violated the law of nations by forcing the plaintiffs to work at the Plantation. Plaintiffs rely on the ILO Forced Labour Convention (No. 29), June 28, 1930, 39 U.N.T.S. 55, available at http:// www.ilo.org/ilolex/english/convdisp1.htm (last visited June 25, 2007), Docket No. 2-78, Exhibit A (hereinafter "ILO Convention 29"); ILO Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (No. 105), June 26, 1957, 320 U.N.T.S. 291, available at http://www.ilo. org/ilolex/english/convdispl.htm (last visited June 25, 2007), Docket No. 2-79 (hereinafter "ILO Convention 105"); the United Nations Charter; the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. Res. 217A, U.N. GAOR, ed Sess., 1st plen. mtg., U.N. Doc A/810 (Dec. 10, 1948), available at http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr/lang/eng.htm (last visited June 25, 2007); the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, G.A. Res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171, entered into force March 23, 1976, available at http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm, (last visited June 25, 2007); and customary international law. Plaintiffs also refer to the labor laws of Liberia and of California, where they originally filed the action. Count Two is a parallel claim by the child plaintiffs for forced labor, which also relies on ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour and ILO Minimum Age Convention (No. 138), (June 17, 1973), available at http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/ english/convdispl.htm (last visited June 25, 2007), Docket No. 2-39, Baxter Decl. Ex. D (hereinafter "ILO Convention 138").

Count Three seeks relief under the Alien Tort Statute on behalf of the adult plaintiffs for cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment in violation of the customary law of nations. Count...