Putative classes of plaintiffs have launched at least five class action lawsuits against the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC or China) for losses in the United States associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Two states—Missouri and Mississippi—have also lodged claims in federal court against China and Chinese entities for COVID-19 associated losses in those states. The lawsuits essentially allege that the PRC government’s early failure to accurately inform the World Health Organization and the world community about the contagiousness and scope of outbreak of the disease in China, along with other actions to conceal vital information, prevented containment of the coronavirus and directly led to its reaching global pandemic proportions. Each of these lawsuits faces a common initial hurdle: jurisdiction under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). This Legal Sidebar analyzes two possible exceptions under the FSIA that these lawsuits have asserted as a jurisdictional basis and describes some legislative efforts to overcome foreign sovereign immunity. Because the complaints are similar but the Missouri complaint seems to be the most detailed in its foreign sovereign immunity claims, this Legal Sidebar focuses on the lawsuit by the State of Missouri.
Source: Foreign Sovereign Immunity and COVID-19 Lawsuits Against China
Leave a Reply