Aldana v. Del Monte Fresh Produce, N.A., Inc.

• Decision Date: 08 July 2005
• Docket Number: No. 04-10234.,04-10234.
• Citation: 416 F.3d 1242
• Parties: Angel Enrique Villeda ALDANA, Jorge Augustin Palma Romero, Oscar Leonel Guerra Evans, Lyionhel McIntosh Rodriguez, Marel Martinez, Gumerzindo Loyo Martinez, Rigoberto Alvayero Hernandez, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. DEL MONTE FRESH PRODUCE, N.A., INC., Bandegua, Compania De Desarrollo De Guatemala, Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

416 F.3d 1242

Angel Enrique Villeda ALDANA, Jorge Augustin Palma Romero, Oscar Leonel Guerra Evans, Lyionhel McIntosh Rodriguez, Marel Martinez, Gumerzindo Loyo Martinez, Rigoberto Alvayero Hernandez, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. DEL MONTE FRESH PRODUCE, N.A., INC., Bandegua, Compania De Desarrollo De Guatemala, Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 04-10234.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

July 8, 2005.

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COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

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Jeffrey S. Vogt, Terrence P. Collingsworth, Natacha Thys, Intern. Labor Rights Fund, Washington, DC, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Brian Joseph Stack, Robert Harris, Stack, Fernandez, Anderson & Harris, P.A., Miami, FL, for Defendants-Appellees.

Matthew J. Eisenbrandt, Ctr. of Justice and Accountability, San Francisco, CA, for Amicus Curiae, Center for Justice and Accountability.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Before EDMONDSON, Chief Judge, WILSON, Circuit Judge, and RESTANI^*, Judge.

PER CURIAM:

Plaintiffs-Appellants ("Plaintiffs") filed a twelve-count complaint against Defendant-Appellee ("Del Monte") in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The complaint alleged violations of federal and state laws.¹ The district court granted Del Monte's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim on the federal law claims, and it dismissed the remaining state law claims for lack of jurisdiction. We affirm in part, vacate in part and remand.

BACKGROUND

Because the district court granted Del Monte's motion to dismiss, the facts are

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taken from the well pleaded allegations of the complaint. Chepstow Ltd. v. Hunt, 381 F.3d 1077, 1080 (11th Cir.2004) (citations omitted). Plaintiffs are seven Guatemalan citizens currently residing in the United States. Del Monte is a Delaware company; its principal place of business is in Coral Gables, Florida. In Guatemala, Plaintiffs were officers in SITRABI, a national trade union of plantation workers. At the time in question, they represented workers on a Bandegua banana plantation in the municipality of Morales, Izabal. Bandeuga is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Del Monte.

SITRABI and Bandegua were negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement for workers at the plantation. While those negotiations were ongoing, Bandegua terminated 918 workers. SITRABI responded by filing a complaint in the Labor Court of Guatemala. Negotiations continued.

Plaintiffs allege that on or before 13 October 1999, Bandegua hired or established an agency relationship with a private, armed security force. Private security forces are permitted and regulated in Guatemala. According to Plaintiffs, on 13 October 1999, Del Monte agents met with the security force "to plan violent action against the Plaintiffs and other SITRABI leaders." Plaintiffs do not allege that government officials attended the meeting.

According to Plaintiffs, at 5:45 p.m. the security force, which is described as "a gang of over 200 heavily armed men," arrived at SITRABI's headquarters in Morales, Izabal. There, the security force held two Plaintiffs hostage, threatened to kill them, and shoved them with guns. Throughout the evening, other SITRABI leaders were lured, abducted or otherwise forced to the headquarters and similarly detained.² Once the seven SITRABI leaders were in the headquarters, "a leader of the security force ... who claimed to be the President of the [municipal] Chamber of Commerce," blamed Plaintiffs for the area's economic decline. The official also explained that Plaintiffs' union activity could cause Del Monte to abandon the plantation. Later, a mayoral candidate appeared. While the candidate was at SITRABI headquarters, the security force "reached a consensus that the two main leaders of SITRABI [both of whom are Plaintiffs in this case] would be taken to a radio station ... where they would be forced to denounce the union." Plaintiffs also allege that the actual Mayor of Morales participated. He, along with "several other armed aggressors," allegedly accompanied Plaintiffs to a radio station. There, Plaintiffs, at gunpoint, announced the labor dispute was over and that they were resigning.

Members of the security force then forced the two Plaintiffs back to the headquarters. At headquarters, they received a facsimile of a "model resignation form," purportedly sent from Del Monte or Bandegua. The Plaintiffs then signed the letters at gunpoint and were released — after being detained for more than eight hours — at 2:00 a.m. on 14 October 1999. The leader of the security force allegedly threatened to kill Plaintiffs if they failed to leave Guatemala or relocated to Mexico. Plaintiffs now live in the United States.

Based on these allegations, Plaintiffs brought twelve claims against Del Monte

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and Bandegua in the district court. That court granted Del Monte's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Plaintiffs have appealed the dismissal of their claims brought under the Alien Tort Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1350 ("ATA"), and the Torture Victim Protection Act, which is published as a historical and statutory note to the ATA, codified at 28 U.S.C. § 1350 (1991) ("TVPA").

STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review motions to dismiss de novo; all facts are taken from the complaint. Chepstow Ltd. v. Hunt, 381 F.3d 1077, 1080 (11th Cir.2004) (citations omitted). Ambiguities are construed in the light most favorable to the nonmovant, Plaintiffs. Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Fla. v. So. Everglades Restoration Alliance, 304 F.3d 1076, 1084 (11th Cir.2002). We can affirm the district court's dismissal of the complaint only if "it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Jones v. Am. Gen. Life & Accident Ins. Co., 370 F.3d 1065, 1069 (11th Cir.2004) (citing Cryder v. Oxendine, 24 F.3d 175, 176 (11th Cir.1994) (internal quotations omitted)). But, "conclusory allegations, unwarranted deductions of facts or legal conclusions masquerading as facts will not prevent dismissal." Oxford Asset Mgmt., Ltd. v. Jaharis, 297 F.3d 1182, 1188 (11th Cir.2002).

DISCUSSION

1. The Non-Torture Alien Tort Act Claims.

The Alien Tort Act provides that "[t]he district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States." 28 U.S.C. § 1350 (2005). To obtain relief under the ATA, plaintiffs must be (1) an alien, (2) suing for a tort, which was (3) committed in violation of international law. Abebe-Jira v. Negewo, 72 F.3d 844, 848 (11th Cir.1996). The first two elements are not disputed. Del Monte does challenge Plaintiffs' contention that the underlying acts show a violation of the laws of nations: prohibitions against (1) cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment; (2) arbitrary detention; and (3) crimes against humanity.

The Supreme Court recently interpreted the Alien Tort Act in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, 542 U.S. 692, 124 S.Ct. 2739, 159 L.Ed.2d 718 (2004). There, the Court explained that the ATA is jurisdictional in nature but that it also provides a cause of action "for the modest number of international law violations with a potential for personal liability at the time [of its enactment]." 124 S.Ct. at 2761.³ According to the Court, causes of action under the ATA are not static; new ones may be recognized, if the claim is "based on the present-day law of nations to rest on a norm of international character accepted by the civilized world and defined with a specificity comparable to the features of the 18th century paradigms we have recognized." 124 S.Ct. at 2761-62.⁴ But the Court said that federal courts should exercise "great caution" when considering new causes of action, and maintain "vigilant doorkeeping ... thus [opening the door] to

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a narrow class of international norms [recognized] today." 124 S.Ct. at 2763, 2764.

Based largely on our reading of Sosa, we agree with the district court's dismissal of Plaintiffs' non-torture claims under the Alien Tort Act. We see no basis in law to recognize Plaintiffs' claim for cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment. In reaching this conclusion, we acknowledge that two district courts of this Circuit recognized such a cause of action. See Mehinovic v. Vuckovic, 198 F.Supp.2d 1322, 1347 (N.D.Ga.2002) (Bosnian war crimes); Cabello v. Fernandez-Larios, 157 F.Supp.2d 1345, 1361 (S.D.Fla.2001) (political assassination) aff'd on different grounds by 402 F.3d 1148, 1161 (11th Cir.2005). But both of those courts relied on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Mehinovic, 198 F.Supp.2d at 1347, Cabello, 157 F.Supp.2d at 1361. Sosa explains that the International Covenant did not "create obligations enforceable in the federal courts." 124 S.Ct. at 2767. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's decision on the cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment claims.

We do the same for Plaintiffs' claim for arbitrary detention. In Sosa, the Court determined that "a single illegal detention of less than a day ... violates no norm of customary international law so well defined as to support the creation of a federal remedy." 124 S.Ct. at 2769. The detention alleged here was more frightening than the one in Sosa; still, the short time of the detention here causes the legal principle announced by the Court in Sosa to guide us. We, therefore, affirm the district court's conclusion.

We also agree with the district court's dismissal of the crimes against humanity claim. First, such crimes were not expressly plead in the complaint. See Emory v. Peeler, 756 F.2d 1547, 1550 n. 3 (11th Cir.1985) (considering only the "naked complaint" when reviewing a motion to dismiss). Second, to the extent that crimes against humanity are recognized as violations of international law, they occur as a result of...