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Article

27 Sep 2016

Author:
Terrence P. Collingsworth, International Rights Advocates

US court of appeal reverses part of dismissal decision in lawsuit against Drummond for killings in Colombia

"11th Circuit Court of Appeals Issues Favorable Opinion in our case against Drummond", 27 Sep 2016

On September 27, 2016, in Melo et al. v. Drummond Company...the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed in part and affirmed in part the District Court’s dismissal of claims brought by the heirs of 34 decedents they allege were murdered by members of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (“AUC”) who were collaborating with Drummond...Plaintiffs allege that Drummond is liable for wrongful death for the murder of their [relatives] under Colombian law, and the trial court has mandatory diversity jurisdiction...The Appeals Court agreed with Plaintiffs that the trial court could not summarily dismiss these claims and remanded for further consideration...Finally, Plaintiffs allege causes of action for both war crimes and extrajudicial killing against all the Drummond defendants under the Alien Tort Statute...The trial court, based on a ruling limiting the extraterritorial application of the ATS by the U.S. Supreme Court in Kiobel...dismissed those claims with prejudice.  The Appeals Court reversed that holding and directed that the claims be categorized as dismissed without prejudice, leaving room for the Plaintiffs to refile and seek to meet the new standard of the Kiobel decision...