COVID
PHILADELPHIA - People mad at China for the COVID-19 pandemic can't drag the country into Philadelphia federal court, a judge has ruled.
Judge Anita Brody on Aug. 26 closed the case brought by 26 plaintiffs against the People's Republic of China and the Communist Party of China five years after it was filed. The suit alleged China failed to warn the world about the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan.
But the plaintiffs never successfully served the PRC or CPC with the lawsuit. Brody wrote both qualify as a "foreign state" under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and despite the failure of service, she was required to decide whether they would have been immune from suit.
Charles Mandracchia and others at Mandracchia Law in Skippack tried to argue a non-commercial tort exception applied. It says foreign states are not immune from U.S. courts in cases seeking money for personal injury, death or property damage in America.
But there are two exceptions to that exception. Foreign states are immune from claims based on the performance of discretionary functions and misrepresentation.
"Even though these acts and omissions may have had effects in the United States, it cannot be said that 'the entire tort' was committed stateside," Brody wrote. "As a result, Plaintiffs cannot avail themselves of the non-commercial tort exception."
She cited a May ruling from Florida against the CCP that stated the same.
Chinese law wasn't broken when foreign citizens were allowed to leave or enter Wuhan before Jan. 20, 2020, Brody said. Those decisions involved an "element of judgment or choice" by Chinese officials.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey in March won a $24 billion judgment against the CCP. The lawsuit alleged it obstructed the production and export of medical equipment during the pandemic.
Bailey said he will work with the Trump Administration, if necessary, to collect the judgment.
