Just before the 2nd Circuit issued its opinion in Kiobel, the 9th Circuit found that corporations cannot be held liable under the Torture Victim Protection Act, a sort of offshoot of the Alien Tort Statute that Congress enacted in 1992 that allows civil suits against individuals who, under authority of any foreign nation, carry out torture or extrajudicial killings. In Bowoto v. Chevron Corp., the 9th Circuit found that the statutory language imposes liability only on individuals, and that in drafting the statute Congress rejected corporate liability. The Bowoto plaintiffs offered an alternative theory of aiding and abetting liability under the TVPA. “Even assuming the TVPA permits some form of vicarious liability … the statute … does not permit corporate liability under any theory,” the 9th Circuit wrote. The appeals court tossed all of the plaintiffs' claims.

“The combination of this decision and Kiobel is going to cut back dramatically on the ability of plaintiffs to bring such claims against multinational companies,” says William Jeffress, a partner at Baker Botts.

Just before the 2nd Circuit issued its opinion in Kiobel, the 9th Circuit found that corporations cannot be held liable under the Torture Victim Protection Act, a sort of offshoot of the Alien Tort Statute that Congress enacted in 1992 that allows civil suits against individuals who, under authority of any foreign nation, carry out torture or extrajudicial killings. In Bowoto v. Chevron Corp., the 9th Circuit found that the statutory language imposes liability only on individuals, and that in drafting the statute Congress rejected corporate liability. The Bowoto plaintiffs offered an alternative theory of aiding and abetting liability under the TVPA. “Even assuming the TVPA permits some form of vicarious liability … the statute … does not permit corporate liability under any theory,” the 9th Circuit wrote. The appeals court tossed all of the plaintiffs' claims.