CHONGQING, CHINA - JULY 19: In this photo illustration, a person holds a smartphone displaying the logo of Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN), a leading American technology company specializing in semiconductors and integrated circuits, with the co …
Dallas-based company Texas Instruments has been named in a lawsuit alleging they and other American companies are partially at fault for the bombing deaths of innocent Ukrainians.
According to the lawsuit, TI-designed components were found in Russian, Chinese and Iranian technology that caused the wrongful deaths in Ukraine.
The plaintiffs seek justice for the companies' alleged failure to prevent their products from getting into the hands of foreign weapons designers.
TI named in lawsuit
Mikal Watts, founder of Watts Law Firm LLP, claims in a recent release that microchips manufactured by TI, AMD, and Intel were used in weapon systems used by Russia, China and Iran that resulted in attacks against civilian targets.
The suit, jointly filed with BakerHostetler LLP, says the plaintiffs are "ordinary people" seeking relief for the deaths of family members, severe physical injuries, and psychological trauma caused by missile attacks allegedly enabled by the American companies.
The crime the companies are accused of is refusing to take "reasonable steps" to prevent the misuse of their technology. Instead, the suit says, they allowed their components to move through "well known gaps" in the global supply chain, after which they allegedly appeared in drones and missiles used against Ukrainian civilians.
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Causes of action against TI
The lawsuit lists causes of action against the three U.S. companies.
- Negligence: The plaintiffs say the companies had a duty under Texas law to exercise reasonable care in the creation and distribution of their products. The suit alleges they failed in their due diligence, ignoring government advisories, allowing high-risk sales, and not preventing foreseeable misuse.
- Negligence per se: The plaintiffs claim the companies violated U.S. export control laws, sanctions regulations, and Executive Orders banning the diversion of sensitive microelectronics to hostile actors.
- Gross negligence: The plaintiffs allege the companies had actual knowledge of an extreme degree of risk, which they ignored in favor of continued exports.
- Wrongful deaths: Families who lost loved ones in drone and missile attacks claim the conduct explained above directly caused those deaths.
- Survival: Those who did not lose loved ones but suffered physical and/or mental trauma also seek damages for the harm caused through the companies' alleged actions.
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Extensive record of negligence
What they're saying:
"For years, federal agencies, journalists, and international watchdogs documented how these components were being routed into foreign weapons programs," Watts' release says. "The companies continued selling microprocessors and related components through channels they knew were vulnerable to misuse. The complaint lays out a consistent pattern of misconduct. Defendants sold into regions already identified as high risk. They continued doing business with distributors who had been publicly linked to sanctioned actors. The indicators of diversion were clear. They proceeded anyway."
The Source: Information in this report comes from Watts Law Firm LLP.