Opinion ID: 220584
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The TVPA provides:

Text: (a) Liability.  An individual who, under actual or apparent authority, or color of law, of any foreign nation  (1) subjects an individual to torture shall, in a civil action, be liable for damages to that individual; or (2) subjects an individual to extrajudicial killing shall, in a civil action, be liable for damages to the individual's legal representative, or to any person who may be a claimant in an action for wrongful death. 28 U.S.C. § 1350 note § 2(a). In Mohamad, 634 F.3d 604, this court held, after oral argument in the instant case, that Congress's use of the word individual indicated that it did not intend for the TVPA to apply to corporations or other organizations. Id. at 606-09; see also Bowoto, 621 F.3d at 1126-27. Accordingly, the district court did not err in dismissing appellants' TVPA claims. See Doe I, 393 F.Supp.2d at 28. As an alternative to their claim of Exxon's direct liability under the TVPA, appellants contend that they may sue Exxon under the TVPA on a theory of aiding and abetting liability. They cite In re Nofziger, 956 F.2d 287 (D.C.Cir.1992), where the court stated the general proposition that in a criminal case one may be found guilty of aiding and abetting another individual in his violation of a statute that the aider and abettor could not be charged personally with violating. Id. at 290 (citing Coffin v. United States, 156 U.S. 432, 447, 15 S.Ct. 394, 39 L.Ed. 481 (1895)). They also cite 18 U.S.C. § 2(a), which provides that any person who aids or abets a criminal offense is punishable as a principal. See also Standefer v. United States, 447 U.S. 10, 18 n. 11, 100 S.Ct. 1999, 64 L.Ed.2d 689 (1980). There is a circuit split. The Eleventh Circuit has held that private parties, including corporations, can be liable for aiding and abetting violations of the TVPA. Aldana, 416 F.3d at 1247-48. The Ninth Circuit has held that corporations may not be held directly liable under the TVPA and that, [e]ven assuming the TVPA permits some form of vicarious liability, the text limits such liability to individuals, meaning in this statute, natural persons. Bowoto, 621 F.3d at 1128; see also Mohamad, 634 F.3d at 608-09. Given this court's holding in Mohamad, there is no basis in the statutory text for permitting vicarious corporate liability. The authorities that appellants cite, indicating that Congress can provide for aiding and abetting liability absent direct liability, do not support the inference that Congress so provided in the TVPA. Appellants point to no other provision in the TVPA that colorably provides for such liability. Even assuming arguendo that aiding and abetting liability is available under the TVPA, the court's precedent would limit such liability to natural persons. See Mohamad, 634 F.3d at 608-09. [49]