The U.S. Supreme Court ended a lawsuit by Falun Gong members accusing Cisco Systems of facilitating religious persecution in China. In a 6-3 ruling, the justices reversed a lower court decision and held that aiding-and-abetting liability does not exist under the Alien Tort Statute for Cisco's disputed conduct. The court also decided 8-1 that a related statute, the Torture Victim Protection Act, did not permit claims against two Cisco executives. The plaintiffs had alleged Cisco knowingly designed the Golden Shield surveillance system used by the Chinese Communist Party to track and torture Falun Gong members. Cisco called the allegations unfounded and offensive.
Cisco Systems IncSupreme Court ruled no aiding-and-abetting liability under Alien Tort Statute, ending lawsuit against Cisco.