NEW YORK, March 26 (UPI) -- A lawsuit seeking reparations for all who can claim slave ancestry was filed in federal court in New York City Tuesday against the insurance company Aetna, the railroad company CSX Transportation Inc. and Fleet Financial Services, the parent of FleetBank.
However, the lawsuit also names more than 1,000 unidentified corporations that may have profited from slavery in the United States between 1619 and 1865.
"Slavery constituted an immoral and inhumane depravation of Africans' life, liberty, African citizenship rights and cultural heritage," the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, said. "It further deprived African Americans of the fruits of their own labor."
The lawsuit, initiated by Deadria Farmer-Paellmann of New York who said she went to law school for the purpose of researching and filing this lawsuit, seeks unspecified damages. Any funds won in the lawsuit would go toward a fund to improve education, health care and housing opportunities for blacks.
The lawsuit claimed that the nation's more than 34 million blacks are still suffering the effects of 250 years of slavery followed by 100 years of "institutionalized racism."
"Slavery was a tragic chapter in our nation's history; it is a history shared by every American, and its impacts cannot be attributed to any single company or industry," said CSX in a statement. "However, the lawsuit filed in federal court in New York City against CSX and other corporations demanding financial reparations is wholly without merit and should be dismissed."
The plaintiff's claim that CSX, through the railroad companies that is has acquired, used slave labor to clear areas and construct tracks on various rail lines.
The claimants named CSX because slave labor was used to construct portions of some U.S. rail lines under the political and legal system in place more than a century before CSX was formed in 1980.
"CSX was formed in 1980, and courtrooms are the wrong setting for this issue," the rail company said. "CSX is committed that its 35,000 employees of every age, gender, race and ethnic background have opportunities for satisfying work at competitive wages and benefits -- we will oppose the lawsuit vigorously to safeguard those jobs and services."
Aetna, a 150-year-old insurance company based in Hartford, Conn., is accused of benefiting from insuring slaves through life insurance policies.
"The policies were life insurance policies," Alfred R. Laberge told United Press International. "In the event of death, the policy paid the slaveholder."
Aetna said in a prepared statement: "We do not believe a court would permit a lawsuit over events which -- however regrettable -- occurred hundreds of years ago, and these issues in no way reflect Aetna today.
"Over the past 20 years, Aetna has invested more than $36 million in the African-American community, targeting such areas as education, health, economic development, community partnerships and minority-owned business initiatives."
Fleet Financial Services, based in Boston, had no comment on the lawsuit. The company dates back to 1784 and was chartered by a group led by Rhode Island merchant John Brown, who was a slave trader.
He is listed as an owner of several slave ships that bought Africans to Cuba and America in the 1700s, however, it's unclear whether there was a financial relationship between Brown's slave trade and the bank he founded, Providence Bank.
"Generally, claims are governed by statute of limitations of no more than three years and while there are exceptions, it would require legislative action to provide a window for plaintiffs to sue," Thomas Burton, a Buffalo, N.Y., trial attorney, told UPI. "This could open the flood gates for the Irish to sue against the Erie Canal, Chinese Americans to sue the railroads -- in short, I wouldn't bet in favor of their success."
Burton explained that the courts are wary of ruling on behavior from hundreds of years ago and that it's necessary in court to prove a direct harm to a person or dependent and that "it's pretty tough to do when dealing with ancestors."
While earlier slave reparations lawsuits have failed, those seeking reparations cite the government apology made to each Japanese-American who was forced into internment camps during World War II and who was paid $20,000. Some $8 billion was settled in the Holocaust lawsuits last year.
"In the end, the lawsuits may fail in court but companies may start initiating more money for minority scholarships, or hiring or community programs, in fact they may use these programs as part of their defense," a Democratic legislative counsel, who did not want to be identified, told UPI.
"The reparation issue is still being debated within the black community, because of the concern that it may perpetuate a feeling of victimization," Assemblyman Roger Green, a Democrat from New York City, who is the head of the state black, Puerto Rican and Hispanic legislative caucus, told UPI. "I want to go into a direction of reconciliation and atonement so we have an opportunity for closure."
(Reported by Alex Cukan in Albany, N.Y.)
