RICO — Damage to Business or Property - Joseph Hage Aaronson

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

RICO — Damage to Business or Property

The four part standing test for a civil RICO claim under 18 U.S.C. § 1964(c) requires that (i) a person allege (ii) injury to (iii) business or property (iv) by reason of a violation of §1962(a), (b), (c) or (d). Therefore, if the plaintiff cannot allege injury to business or property, the plaintiff lacks standing to sue. It is well settled that personal injuries are not injuries to business or property. What about the loss of income attendant to a personal injury? Or damage to reputation, which can certainly affect business/property interests? No luck. Two recent cases:

—In re Vioxx Prods. Liab. Litig., 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78510 (E.D. La. Oct. 23, 2007) (‛[T]he phrase 'injured in his business or property' excludes personal injuries, including the pecuniary losses therefrom.“).

—Snitzer v. City of Chicago, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60416 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 15, 2007) (injuries to reputation are not injuries to business or property within RICO).

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