Hausfeld files U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief defending human rights accountability and American jobs
Hausfeld has filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of leading professors of Economics and Political Science and Oxfam America in support of the plaintiffs in the case against Cisco Systems, Inc. Plaintiffs allege that Cisco aided and abetted human rights abuses against religious minorities in China. The brief addresses aiding‑and‑abetting (accessorial) liability under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), 28 U.S.C. § 1350, and the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA), 28 U.S.C. § 1350 note.
Drawing on decades of research and policy experience, the amici rebut claims by Cisco and their supporters, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, that accessorial liability will damage the reputation and bottom line of U.S. corporations, deter investment in less developed countries, harm economic development and human rights, or undermine U.S. competitiveness. The brief explains that there is no empirical basis for these assertions and that liability for aiding and abetting grave abuses is an economically efficient way to deter corporate complicity, promote responsible investment, and support long‑term development and stability.
The amici further argue that accountability under the ATS and TVPA promotes fair competition by leveling the playing field between companies that comply with international human rights norms and those that seek to profit from abuses. A central focus of the brief is U.S. technology companies’ provision of advanced surveillance and AI tools to authoritarian regimes: the amici contend that aiding‑and‑abetting liability for such conduct will help protect American workers and jobs by disincentivizing U.S. firms from enabling worker suppression and artificial wage depression abroad that fuel offshoring at the expense of U.S. workers.
The brief is signed by distinguished experts including Nobel laureates in economics Joseph Stiglitz and Simon Johnson, as well as Geoffrey Heal, Gabriel Zucman, Marc Goergen, Mircea Raianu and political scientist Adam Dean. Oxfam America, a global anti‑poverty organization with extensive expertise on corporate human‑rights impacts, also joins as amicus. The Court’s decision will have significant implications for the future of the ATS and TVPA, corporate responsibility for aiding and abetting violations of international law, and the protection of vulnerable communities abroad and in the United States.
