Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc.
| Decision Date | 16 August 2002 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 01-7756L.,Docket No. 01-7758C. |
| Citation | 303 F.3d 470 |
| Parties | Maria AGUINDA, Individually, and as guardians for Gesica Grefa, Carlos Grefa, Individually and as guardians for Gresica Grefa, Gesica Grefa, Catarina Aguinda, Mercedes Grefa, Lidia Aguinda; Patricio Chimbo, Individually and as guardian for his minor children, Elias Piyaguaje, Individually and as guardian for Lola Piyaguaje, Edicon Piyaguaje, Paulina Piyaguaje, Jimena Piyaguaje and Elias Piyaguaje, Lola Piyaguaje, Edison Piyaguaje, Paulina Piyaguaje, Jimena Piyaguaje, Elias Piyaguaje, Delfin Payaguajo, Individually and as guardian for his minor children, Homer Conde, Individually and as guardian for his minor children, Santo Guillermo Ramirez, Individually and as guardian for Danilo Ramirez, Danilo Ramirez, Juana Tanguila, Additional Plaintiff, Listed In Exhibits "B", "C" and "D" Hereto and Incorporated Herein by Reference., Individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Gabriel Ashanga Jota, individually and as Guardian for Raul Antonio Ashanga Casteno, Paula Nerida Ashanga Casteno, Christian Ashanga Casteno and Judith Reutegui Casteno, Manuel Antonio Canelos Duende, Alimpio Coquinche Noteno, Arsenio Condo, Juan Marcos Coquinche Mercier, Ronald Coquinche Noteno, individually and as Guardian for Tarcila Conquinche and Saul Coquinche, Santiago, individually and as Guardian for Julian Coquinche and Santiago Coquinche, Florentino Noteno, individually and as Guardian for Mery Noteno, Greine Noteno, Armilda Noteno and Noris Noteno, Remedia Paz Duende, individually and as Guardian for Lizzie Pena Paz and Jackie Pena Paz and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Associacion Internica De Desarrollo De La Selva Peruana—Aidesep, (Multi-Ethnic Association of the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest), in representation of its members and of its member organizations, Organizacion Kichuaruna wangurina—Orkiwan, (Organization Quichua Wangurina), Federacion de Comunidades Nativas Del Medio Napo—Feconamn, (Federation of Native Communities of the Middle Napo), Federacion del Pueblo Yagua del Bajo Amazona y Bajo Napo-Fepybaban (Federation of the Yagua People of the Lower Amazon and Lower Napo), Federacion del Bajo Amazona y Bajo Napo-Fepybaban (Federation of the Yagua People of the Lower Amazon and Lower Napo), Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. TEXACO, INC., 2000 Westchester Avenue, White Plains, New York 10650, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Cristóbal Bonifaz, Law Offices of Cristóbal Bonifaz (John C. Bonifaz, Steven Donziger on the brief), Amherst, MA; Sarah Altschuler, Tonya L. Putnam, Amherst, MA, law clerks; Joseph C. Kohn, Martin D'Urso, Craig Hillwig, Kohn Swift & Graf, Philadelphia, PA; Amy Damen, Sullivan & Damen, White Plains, NY; Arthur L. Berney, Boston College Law School, Newton, MA, on the brief, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.
Ronald C. Minkoff, Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP, New York, NY; Jonathan S. Abady, Emery Cuti Brinckerhoff & Abady, P.C., New York, NY, on the brief, for the Republic of Ecuador, amicus curiae in support of Plaintiffs-Appellants.
J. Martin Wagner, EarthJustice Legal Defense Fund, San Francisco, CA, submitted a brief for amicus curiae the Sierra Club in support of Plaintiffs-Appellants.
Richard L. Herz, EarthRights International, Washington, DC, submitted a brief for amicus curiae EarthRights International in support of Plaintiffs-Appellants.
George S. Branch, King & Spalding (Daniel J. King, Richard T. Marooney, Jr., Jeanette M. Viggiano on the brief), Atlanta, GA and New York, NY, for Defendant-Appellee.
Before: CARDAMONE, LEVAL, and SOTOMAYOR, Circuit Judges.
These are consolidated appeals from judgments of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Jed S. Rakoff, Judge) dismissing two putative class actions for forum non conveniens. Plaintiffs are residents of the Oriente region of Ecuador and an adjoining area in Peru. Defendant is Texaco, Inc. ("Texaco"), a United States-based oil company, which, at the pertinent time, was headquartered in New York. The complaints allege environmental and personal injuries arising out of Texaco's oil exploration and extraction operations in the Oriente region between 1964 and 1992.
We modify the judgments in one respect explained below, but otherwise affirm the dismissal of the actions by reason of forum non conveniens.
The background of this case is described in detail in the decisions of the district court, see Aquinda v. Texaco, Inc., 945 F.Supp. 625 (S.D.N.Y.1996); Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc., 142 F.Supp.2d 534 (S.D.N.Y. 2001), and in our October 1998 opinion in the appeal from the district court's 1996 decision, see Jota v. Texaco, Inc., 157 F.3d 153 (2d Cir.1998). We briefly summarize the background as follows.
In 1964, Texaco Petroleum Company ("TexPet"), a fourth-level subsidiary of the defendant Texaco, began oil exploration and drilling in the Oriente region of eastern Ecuador. In 1965 TexPet started operating a petroleum concession for a consortium (the "Consortium") owned in equal shares by TexPet and Gulf Oil Corporation. In 1974 the government of the Republic of Ecuador ("Republic" or "Ecuador"), through its state-owned oil agency known as PetroEcuador, obtained a 25 percent share in the Consortium. Within two years, PetroEcuador acquired Gulf Oil's interest and became the majority stakeholder in the Consortium. Through 1989 TexPet operated a Trans Ecuadorian oil pipeline, at which time PetroEcuador took over that function. TexPet operated the Consortium's drilling activities until July 1990, when PetroEcuador took over that responsibility as well. In June 1992, TexPet relinquished all its interests in the Consortium, leaving it owned entirely by PetroEcuador. See Jota, 157 F.3d at 155-56 & n. 4.
In November 1993, Ecuadorian plaintiffs filed the first of two class action lawsuits against Texaco in the Southern District of New York on behalf of some 30,000 inhabitants of the Oriente region. See Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc., Dkt. No. 93 Civ. 7527 (S.D.N.Y. filed Nov. 3, 1993) ("Aguinda plaintiffs"). In December 1994, residents of Peru living downstream from Ecuador's Oriente area brought a separate class action against Texaco in the Southern District of New York on behalf of at least 25,000 residents of Peru. See Jota v. Texaco, Inc., Dkt. No. 94 Civ. 9266 (S.D.N.Y. filed Dec. 28, 1994) ("Jota plaintiffs"). Both complaints alleged that between 1964 and 1992 Texaco's oil operation activities polluted the rain forests and rivers in Ecuador and Peru. The complaints alleged that Texaco's activities in Ecuador were "designed, controlled, conceived and directed... through its operations in the United States."
The complaints sought money damages under theories of negligence, public and private nuisance, strict liability, medical monitoring, trespass, civil conspiracy, and violations of the Alien Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1350 ("ATCA"). They also sought extensive equitable relief to redress contamination of the water supplies and environment, including: financing for environmental cleanup to create access to potable water and hunting and fishing grounds; renovating or closing the Trans Ecuadorian Pipeline; creation of an environmental monitoring fund; establishing standards to govern future Texaco oil development; creation of a medical monitoring fund; an injunction restraining Texaco from entering into activities that risk environmental or human injuries, and restitution. See Jota, 157 F.3d at 156 n. 2.
Both cases were initially assigned to Judge Vincent Broderick. In December 1993, before the Jota action was filed, Texaco moved to dismiss the Aquinda complaint on grounds of 1) failure to join the Republic of Ecuador; 2) international comity; and 3) forum non conveniens. Along with this motion, Texaco submitted a letter from Ecuador's ambassador to the United States addressed to the U.S. Department of State, asserting that the Government of Ecuador considered the suit an affront to Ecuador's national sovereignty. While reserving decision, the district court stated that dismissal might be appropriate as to the money damages claims because "[d]isputes over class membership, determination of individualized or common damages, and the need for large amounts of testimony with interpreters, perhaps often in local dialects, would make effective adjudication in New York problematic at best." Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc., No. 93 Civ. 7527, 1994 WL 142006, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 11, 1994). The court specified, however, that any dismissal on forum non conveniens grounds would be conditioned upon Texaco's consent to jurisdiction in Ecuador. Concluding that dismissal was premature, the court ordered discovery as to whether Texaco in fact directed activities in Ecuador from the United States and whether extensive evidence from Ecuador would be necessary to prove plaintiffs' claims. Id. at *3-4.
After Judge Broderick's death in March 1995, the cases were reassigned, ultimately to Judge Rakoff. Following discovery, in November 1996 Judge Rakoff granted Texaco's motion to dismiss the Aquinda suit on grounds of forum non conveniens and international comity. See Aquinda, 945 F.Supp. at 627-28. The court also justified dismissal by reason of the failure to join PetroEcuador and the Republic of Ecuador, on the theory that they were indispensable parties because their absence would make it impossible for the court to order the extensive equitable relief sought by plaintiffs. Id. at 627. The court found that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1603(b) and 1604 prevented the assertion of jurisdiction over either. Finally, the court ordered the...
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