⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

Medical workers sue over shortages of masks and other personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. They accuse China, the Chinese Communist Party and PetroChina International America of hoarding supplies and restricting exports. The workers say this left them without adequate protection. They seek damages for infections and other harms they attribute to those shortages. These are allegations, not findings of liability. The district court allowed their antitrust claims, concerning restrictions on competition, to proceed against the Chinese defendants. Foreign states are generally immune from civil suits, with exceptions for certain commercial activities. PetroChina, a New Jersey company without sovereign immunity of its own, appeals that ruling. The first question is whether it can appeal an immunity ruling about someone else. The company will also argue that the challenged conduct was sovereign, not commercial.

Moriah Aharon, et al. v. PetroChina International (America), Inc. (No. 25-12241) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, argued September 30, 2026.