Irowarinun v. Chevron Corp..

• Decision Date: 10 September 2010
• Docket Number: No. 09-15641.,09-15641.
• Citation: 621 F.3d 1116
• Parties: Larry BOWOTO; Bassey Jeje; Ola Oyinbo; Bayo Oyinbo; Deji Oyinbo; Margaret Irowarinun; Roseline Irowarinun; Mary Irowarinun; Bosuwo Sebi Irowarinun; Caleb Irowarinun; Orioye Laltu Irowarinun; Temilola Irowarinun; Adegorye Oloruntimjehum Irowarinun; Aminora James Irowarinun; Eniesoro Irowarinun; Gbenga Irowarinun; Ibimisan Irowarinun; Monotutegha Irowarinun; Olamisbode Irowarinun, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CHEVRON CORPORATION; Chevron Investments, Inc.; Chevron U.S.A., Inc., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

621 F.3d 1116

Larry BOWOTO; Bassey Jeje; Ola Oyinbo; Bayo Oyinbo; Deji Oyinbo; Margaret Irowarinun; Roseline Irowarinun; Mary Irowarinun; Bosuwo Sebi Irowarinun; Caleb Irowarinun; Orioye Laltu Irowarinun; Temilola Irowarinun; Adegorye Oloruntimjehum Irowarinun; Aminora James Irowarinun; Eniesoro Irowarinun; Gbenga Irowarinun; Ibimisan Irowarinun; Monotutegha Irowarinun; Olamisbode Irowarinun, Plaintiffs-Appellants,

v.CHEVRON CORPORATION; Chevron Investments, Inc.; Chevron U.S.A., Inc., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 09-15641.

United States Court of Appeals,Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted June 14, 2010.

Filed Sept. 10, 2010.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED.

Theresa M. Traber, Pasadena, CA, for plaintiffs-appellants Larry Bowoto, et al.

Craig E. Stewart, San Francisco, CA, for defendants-appellees Chevron Corporation et al.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Susan Illston, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. 3:99-cv-02506-SI.

Before: MARY M. SCHROEDER and JAY S. BYBEE, Circuit Judges, and OWEN M. PANNER, ^* District Judge.

Opinion by Judge SCHROEDER; Concurrence by Judge PANNER.

OPINION

SCHROEDER, Circuit Judge:

INTRODUCTION

This case arises from a violent episode that occurred on the Parabe oil platform nine miles off the coast of Nigeria in 1998. The platform was operated by Chevron Nigeria Limited (“CNL”), a subsidiary of the world oil giant. On May 25, 1998, over 100 native Nigerians took over the Parabe platform to protest CNL's destruction of the environment and refusal to provide jobs to the local population. The parties here dispute whether the protest was peaceful. There is no dispute, however, that, after the protest entered its fourth day, CNL sought the assistance of the Nigerian Government Security Forces (“GSF”) to end the protest. When the GSF soldiers arrived on the platform, they shot a number of the protestors, killing two.

In 1999, the injured protestors and family of a deceased protestor filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of California against three American-based Chevron companies (“Chevron”), raising a number of claims related to the GSF raid of the Parabe platform. After ten years of pretrial litigation and discovery, the claims of Larry Bowoto, Bassey Jeje, and the families of Arolika Irowarinun and Bola Oyinbo (collectively “Plaintiffs”) were tried before a jury. These plaintiffs brought claims under the Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”), Nigerian law, and California law. The jury rendered a verdict in favor of Chevron on all claims, and Plaintiffs now appeal.

This appeal raises challenges principally to the jury instructions and the district court's evidentiary rulings. We find no abuse of discretion in the district court's decisions admitting the pieces of challenged evidence. We also find no error in the jury instructions provided.

There are only two legal issues in this appeal, both relating to statutes Congress adopted to incorporate principles of international law. The first issue is whether the federal Death on the High Seas Act (“DOHSA”) preempts wrongful death and survival claims brought under the ATS. The other legal issue is whether corporations can be found liable under the Torture Victim Protection Act (“TVPA”). We affirm the dismissal of the ATS wrongful death and survival claims and agree with the district court that Congress did not intend the TVPA to apply to corporations.

We therefore affirm the district court's judgment.

BACKGROUND

In 1961, the Nigerian government entered into a joint venture with Chevron to harness the resources of the oil-rich Niger Delta. The resulting company, CNL, has since opened a number of oil fields and offshore platforms, extracting billions of dollars worth of oil from Nigeria. According to Plaintiffs, CNL's success has provided little or no benefit to most Nigerians. Rather, CNL has allegedly shown total disregard for the environment, with oil spills wreaking havoc on local water supplies and fisheries.

In the mid-1990s a number of Nigerian tribes, seeking to provide a unified front against CNL, joined forces and formed a group called the Concerned Ilaje Citizens (“CIC”). CIC sought to have CNL curb its environmental abuses, and to provide more jobs to Nigerians. CNL, however, refused to recognize or negotiate with CIC, and as a result, tensions between the two escalated. CIC sought to get CNL's attention by staging a large protest, and chose CNL's Parabe oil platform as the site. Plaintiffs claim that the protest was to be a peaceful one, effectively a sit-in that would force CNL to recognize CIC's concerns.

On May 25, 1998, over 100 members of CIC, including Plaintiffs, traveled via canoes to the platform. What happened over the next days is a matter of dispute. According to Plaintiffs, they came to the platform peacefully and unarmed, holding signs and singing. They claim the CNL workers, most of whom were not Nigerian, allowed them onto the platform without resistance, and that there were no tensions between them and the workers throughout the protest.

According to Chevron, the protestors were violent and boisterous; some had brought weapons and attacked CNL workers. Chevron also disputes the contention that the protestors and workers had an amicable relationship. To the contrary, Chevron contends its workers were being held hostage and were told they could not leave under threat of violence.

CNL convened a crisis management team (“CMT”) to monitor the situation on the platform, and sent a company representative there in hopes of brokering a peaceful end to the protest. According to Chevron, these negotiations were unsuccessful, and the situation steadily became more volatile on the platform. Faced with the failed negotiations and the deteriorating conditions on the platform, CNL determined that it had to take action to protect the welfare of its workers. On the fourth day of the protest, CNL sought the assistance of the GSF to rescue the workers and stop the protest.

The GSF arrived on the platform via helicopter, opening fire on the protestors shortly after landing. Several protestors were injured, including Plaintiffs Bowoto and Jeje. Two died as a result of their injuries, including Irowarinun. The GSF arrested a number of protestors, and transported them to land where they were allegedly tortured. Oyinbo was one of the protestors arrested and allegedly tortured by the GSF. Oyinbo died prior to trial for reasons not relevant here.

In 1999, a number of CIC protestors who were injured in the Parabe protest filed a lawsuit against Chevron for injuries sustained during the incident. Plaintiffs ultimately did not pursue claims against CNL or any of the individuals involved in the Parabe incident. Over the next decade, a series of pre-trial rulings reduced the number of claims.

The district court issued three pre-trial rulings that are challenged on appeal. First, in a published decision, the district court held that DOHSA preempts the summary execution claim brought under the ATS. Bowoto v. Chevron Corp., 557 F.Supp.2d 1080, 1086-88 (N.D.Cal.2008) ( Bowoto I ). The court pointed to Supreme Court decisions holding that DOHSA preempts claims and remedies brought under state law and general maritime law. Id. at 1087. Relying on these opinions, the court reasoned that DOHSA provides the exclusive remedy for wrongful deaths that occur on the high seas. Id. at 1087-88. In a later unpublished order, the district court employed similar reasoning to hold that DOHSA also preempts survival actions under the ATS. Bowoto v. Chevron Corp., No. C 99-02506 SI, 2008 WL 2872624 (N.D.Cal. July 23, 2008).

In the final pre-trial decision at issue, the district court held that Plaintiffs could not bring claims against Chevron under the TVPA. Bowoto v. Chevron Corp., No. C 99-02506 SI, 2006 WL 2604591 (N.D.Cal. Aug. 22, 2006). The district court observed that the statute permitted claims to be brought only against “an individual” who committed torture. The district court reasoned that because Congress used the term “individual,” it did not intend for the TVPA to apply to corporations.

The primary claims at trial were common law actions for negligence and intentional torts under California and Nigerian law, along with international law claims brought under the ATS. The trial lasted over five weeks, with testimony from a total of 73 witnesses. Plaintiffs' theory at trial was that the Parabe protest was peaceful, and that CNL sought GSF assistance knowing the soldiers would violently attack the protestors. Plaintiffs further sought to impute CNL's wrongful conduct to Defendant Chevron.

Chevron countered these allegations by portraying the protestors as violent and unpredictable, and argued CNL sought the assistance of the GSF as a last resort. Chevron further argued that the GSF fired on protestors in self-defense.

The jury found in favor of Chevron on all claims. Plaintiffs have appealed.

I. The Plaintiffs May Not Pursue Claims Under the Alien Tort Statute

Of the four victim Plaintiffs in this case, one died as a result of the injuries suffered on the Parabe platform. The family of this Plaintiff sought to raise a claim under the ATS for summary execution, and also several survival claims rooted in the ATS.

The district court barred Plaintiffs from presenting the summary execution and survival claims to the jury, finding that DOHSA preempts ATS wrongful death and survival claims. See 557 F.Supp.2d at 1086-88. We affirm the district court's dismissal of the ATS claims.

The Supreme Court more than a century ago held in The Harrisburg, 119 U.S. 199, 7 S.Ct. 140, 30 L.Ed. 358 (1886), that maritime law did not recognize a cause of action for wrongful death. Congress repudiated this holding in 1920 with the passage of DOHSA, in order to provide a remedy in admiralty “for wrongful deaths more than three miles from shore.” Mobil Oil Corp. v. Higginbotham, 436 U.S. 618, 620, ...