Court seems skeptical of DaimlerChrysler lawsuit

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court doesn’t seem likely to say U.S. courts should be allowed to hear lawsuits that accuse foreign companies of committing atrocities on foreign soil.

Justices on Tuesday heard arguments from lawyers for DaimlerChrysler Corp. of Stuttgart, Germany, who is being sued by the survivors and victims of Argentina’s “dirty war” in California courts.

The victims say DaimlerChrysler subsidiary, automaker Mercedes-Benz, allegedly aided human rights abuses in their country and want to sue in American courts. Daimler, however, argues that since it is a German corporation, it should not be able to be sued in a state court for actions a subsidiary allegedly took in a foreign country.

Justices seemed skeptical of a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that allowed the lawsuit to move forward.