Taiheiyo Cement Corp. v. Superior Court, B155736.

• Court: California Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: Boland
• Citation: 129 Cal.Rptr.2d 451,105 Cal.App.4th 398
• Parties: TAIHEIYO CEMENT CORPORATION et al., Petitioners, v. The SUPERIOR COURT of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles, Respondent. Jae Won Jeong, Real Party in Interest.
• Docket Number: No. B155736.,B155736.
• Decision Date: 15 January 2003

129 Cal.Rptr.2d 451 105 Cal.App.4th 398 TAIHEIYO CEMENT CORPORATION et al., Petitioners,
v.
The SUPERIOR COURT of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles, Respondent.
Jae Won Jeong, Real Party in Interest. No. B155736. Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 8. January 15, 2003. Rehearing Denied February 11, 2003. Review Granted April 30, 2003.

[129 Cal.Rptr.2d 454]

Bingham Dana, Matthew E. Digby, Heidi A. Leider; Bingham McCutchen, Matthew E. Digby, Heidi A. Leider, Los Angeles; Masuda & Ejiri and Junji Masuda; Loeb & Loeb, Douglas E. Mirell, Joseph Geisman, Century City; Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland, Martin Stein, Robin Meadow and Laura Boudreau, Los Angeles, for Petitioners Taiheiyo Cement Corporation, Taiheiyo Cement U.S.A., Inc., California Portland Cement Company and Glacier Northwest, Inc.

O'Melveny & Myers and John F. Niblock, Wash., Dist. of Columbia; McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen and David M. Balabanian, Boston, MA; Morrison & Foerster, Lloyd Aubry and Arne D. Wagner, San Francisco; Pillsbury Winthrop and Barbara Croutch; Bingham Dana and Matthew Digby; Bingham McCutchen and Matthew Digby; Sullivan & Cromwell and Robert A. Sacks, Los Angeles, for Mitsubishi Materials Corp., Mitsubishi Materials U.S.A. Corp., Mitsui & Co., Ltd., Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.), Inc., Mitsubishi International Corp., Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd., IHI, Inc., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Inc., Mitsui Mining Co., Ltd., Mitsui Mining U.S.A., Inc., Nippon Steel Corporation, Nippon Steel U.S.A., Inc., Nippon Steel Trading Co., Ltd., and Nippon Steel Trading America, Inc., as Amici Curiae on behalf of Petitioners.

John S. Gordon, United States Attorney; Robert D. McCallum, Jr., Assistant Attorney General; James G. Hergen and Lara A. Ballard, United States Department of State; Mark Stern, Douglas Hallward-Driemeier and Kathleen Kane, United States Department of Justice, for the United States of America as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Petitioners.

Fleishman & Fisher, Barry A. Fisher, Los Angeles, David Grosz; Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, Elizabeth J. Cabraser, Morris A. Ratner, San Francisco, Bill Lann Lee, Los Angeles, Scott P. Nealy; Blumenthal & Markham and David R. Markham, San Diego; Law Offices of Haewon Shin and Haewon Shin; Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, Michael D. Hausfeld, Wash., Dist. of Columbia, Agnieszka M. Fryszman; Kenneth T. Haan & Associates and Kenneth T. Haan; Lim, Ruger & Kim, Christopher Kim, Los Angeles, and Lisa J. Yang, for Real Party in Interest Jae Won Jeong.

Strumwasser & Woocher and Fredric D. Woocher, Santa Monica; Jack Goldsmith and Erwin Chemerinsky, for the Chinese American Citizens Alliance, the Korean-American Federation of Los Angeles, the

[129 Cal.Rptr.2d 455]

Korean American Coalition, and the Korean American Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles as Amici Curiae on behalf of Real Party in Interest.

Schonbrun, DeSimone, Seplow, Harris & Hoffman, Venice, and Paul L. Hoffman, for the Honorable John L. Burton, Herbert J. Wesson, Jr., Tom Hayden, Adam B. Schiff, Gil Cedillo, Wilma Chan, Dr. Judy Chu, Mike Honda, Carol Liu, and George Nakano, as Amici Curiae on behalf of Real Party in Interest.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General for the State of California, Richard M. Frank, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Louis Verdugo, Jr., Senior Assistant Attorney General, Catherine Z. Ysrael, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Phyllis Cheng, Deputy Attorney General, for Attorney General Bill Lockyer as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Real Party in Interest.

BOLAND, J.

INTRODUCTION

Code of Civil Procedure section 354.6¹ allows certain individuals who were "slave labor" or "forced labor" victims during World War II (WWII) to recover compensation for unpaid labor and personal injuries suffered during that time period. In this case, we decide whether an international treaty preempts section 354.6 and whether the statute is unconstitutional because it impermissibly infringes upon the federal government's exclusive power over foreign affairs. We also decide whether section 354.6 is unconstitutional because it violates due process by allowing claims that arose long ago outside California. We hold the statute is neither preempted nor unconstitutional. Rather, it validly extends the applicable statute of limitations that would otherwise bar claims for unpaid labor and personal injuries suffered by slave or forced labor victims.

FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Jae Won Jeong sued to recover compensation for unpaid labor and personal injuries suffered while enslaved in a labor camp during WWII. Jeong, who is now a United States citizen and California resident, claims he was a Korean national during WWII. Refusing to join the Japanese military, Jeong was taken to a slave labor camp in Korea operated by a Japanese cement company. Along with other Korean nationals, Jeong was subjected to physical and mental torture and forced to perform hard physical labor without compensation, all to benefit the Japanese war effort.²

Onoda Cement Co., Ltd. is the Japanese entity that operated the company where Jeong was forced to work. Jeong sued Onoda, Taiheiyo Cement Corporation (the Japanese entity that succeeded Onoda by merger), and three of Taiheiyo's subsidiaries, all of which are referred to as "Taiheiyo."³ Jeong alleged causes of action for (1) compensation under section 354.6, (2) unjust enrichment, (3) injuries in tort, including battery, intentional infliction of

129 Cal.Rptr.2d 456

emotional distress, and unlawful imprisonment, and (4) unfair business practices under Business and Professions Code section 17200 et seq.

Taiheiyo moved for judgment on the pleadings contending, among other grounds, that Jeong's claims were barred by the 1951 Treaty of Peace with Japan (1951 Treaty) and the 1965 Agreement between Japan and Korea. The trial court denied the motion, concluding (1) the 1951 Treaty did not apply to Korean nationals like Jeong because Korea was not a signatory to the treaty, (2) the 1965 Agreement between Japan and Korea did not preempt state law or bar Jeong's claims, and (3) no other federal law expressly or impliedly preempted section 354.6.

After the trial court denied Taiheiyo's motion, a federal district court decided a similar case brought under section 354.6 and concluded the statute was unconstitutional under the foreign affairs doctrine announced by the United States Supreme Court in Zschernig v. Miller (1968) 389 U.S. 429, 88 S.Ct. 664, 19 L.Ed.2d 683 (Zschernig). The district court ruled section 354.6 interfered with the federal government's exclusive power over foreign affairs and was unconstitutional. (See In re: World War II Era Japanese Forced Labor (N.D.Cal.2001) 164 F.Supp.2d 1160, 1173 (Forced Labor Litigation).) As a result of the district court's decision, Taiheiyo filed a second motion for judgment on the pleadings asserting the same constitutional argument. In addition, Taiheiyo argued section 354.6 violated due process by reaching claims that arose in a foreign country over 50 years ago.

The trial court again denied Taiheiyo's motion. It disagreed with the federal court's application of Zschernig and concluded section 354.6 had no direct impact on foreign relations. The trial court also ruled section 354.6 did not violate due process, but rather legitimately extended statute of limitations that would otherwise bar claims by slave or forced labor victims. This petition followed.

BASIS FOR WRIT REVIEW

In most cases, a review of rulings on pleadings is restricted to an appeal from a final judgment unless circumstances are "of such grave nature or of such significant legal impact that [the court is] compelled to intervene through the issuance of an extraordinary writ." (Babb v. Superior Court (1971) 3 Cal.3d 841, 851, 92 Cal.Rptr. 179, 479 P.2d 379.)

We agreed to review this case at the pleading stage because the constitutionality of section 354.6 represents a legal issue of widespread interest and significant legal importance. (See Brandt v. Superior Court (1985) 37 Cal.3d 813, 816, 210 Cal. Rptr. 211, 693 P.2d 796; Omaha Indemnity Co. v. Superior Court (1989) 209 Cal. App.3d 1266, 1269-1270, 258 Cal.Rptr. 66.) In addition, because numerous cases asserting claims under section 354.6 are currently pending in the superior court and no California appellate court has yet ruled on the validity of this statute, we concluded writ review was warranted and authorized numerous amici curiae to present briefs in support of and in opposition to the petition.

Because this case involves pure questions of law, we are not bound by the trial court's decision. We therefore review it de novo, mindful that Jeong's factual allegations are assumed true. (People v. Kennedy (2001) 91 Cal.App.4th 288, 292, 110 Cal.Rptr.2d 203; Baughman v. State of California (1995) 38 Cal.App.4th 182, 187, 45 Cal.Rptr.2d 82.)

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DISCUSSION

A. Section 354.6 and Taiheiyo's Contentions

The California Legislature enacted section 354.6 in 1999 as an emergency measure to extend the statute of limitations for a defined class of claims relating to forced or slave labor performed prior to and during WWII. (S.B.1245.) The statute allows any WWII "slave labor victim" or "forced labor victim," or their heirs, to "bring an action to recover compensation for labor performed as a . . . slave labor victim or . . . forced labor victim from any entity or successor in interest thereof, for whom that labor was performed . . .." (§ 354.6, subd. (b).) The statute provides that California courts have jurisdiction over such actions. (Ibid.)⁴ Section 354.6 was enacted because "California has a moral and public policy interest in assuring that its residents and citizens are given a reasonable opportunity to claim their entitlement to compensation for forced or slave labor performed prior to and during the Second World...