Descendent of Armenian Genocide victims can’t sue foreign insurance
companies any more

armradio.am
22.08.2009 16:37

Armenian Americans descended from victims of the 1915-18 massacre by
Ottoman Turks can’t sue foreign insurance companies for unpaid claims
because the U.S. government doesn’t legally recognize that an Armenian
genocide occurred, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday. A Glendale
priest and thousands of other Armenians whose relatives were among the
1.2 million killed had won a partial victory two years ago.

U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder said then that a 2000 law
passed by the California Legislature gave the descendants standing to
sue three German insurance companies. But a divided three-judge panel
of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that ruling, saying
the California law attempted to undercut the president’s diplomatic
authority and had to be preempted by the federal policy against
acknowledging the genocide.

"I think the decision is outrageous. If taken to its logical extension,
what this decision means is that all 40 states that have recognized the
Armenian genocide have to set aside that recognition," said Brian S.
Kabateck, a Los Angeles lawyer representing the plaintiffs whose own
maternal grandparents died in the genocide.
"This is a sad day for Armenian Americans," he said, adding that the
decision would make recovery of victims’ bank accounts, insurance
proceeds and other property impossible. He vowed to appeal for
rehearing by a larger panel of judges.’