By Associated Press, 03/26/02

HARTFORD, Conn. -- FleetBoston and seven other corporations are named in lawsuits seeking damages for abuses suffered by slaves and accusing the companies of profiting from slavery.

One lawsuit -- which names financial services firm FleetBoston, Hartford-based Aetna Inc., and railroad company CSX Transportation of Jacksonville, Fla. -- was to be filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in New York, USA Today reported.

Another lawsuit to be filed Tuesday in federal court in New Jersey names five other companies, The Hartford Courant reported.

Ed Fagan, a Livingston, N.J., lawyer who is among a team of attorneys representing the plaintiffs, declined to name the five other companies.

"It's the beginning of a series of lawsuits to place the issue of reparations for African Americans on the table," Fagan said.

Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, a 36-year-old New York activist, law school graduate and legal researcher who has linked corporations and slavery, is the plaintiff of the New York lawsuit. The complaint requests that the case be brought before a jury on behalf of all blacks in the United States who can claim slaves as their ancestors -- which would be most of the country's 36.4 million blacks, USA Today reported.

Her lawsuit also seeks a share of profits made from slavery by the companies, alleging they were "unjustly enriched" by "a system that enslaved, tortured, starved and exploited human beings."

The complaint also alleges that black Americans continue to suffer the effects of 2.5 centuries of slavery followed by more than a century of institutionalized racism.

Farmer-Paellmann's research led to an apology two years ago from Aetna.

Aetna officials said the practice of insuring slaves to their owners 150 years ago was wrong, and they expressed "deep regret." But they said the company does not want to be held liable for something that happened so long ago.

"We do not believe a court would permit a lawsuit over events which, however regrettable, occurred hundreds of years ago," the company said in a prepared statement. "These issues in no way reflect Aetna today."

Aetna has spent nearly $36 million over 20 years on programs in black communities, Aetna officials said.

Officials at Fleet Bank said they had not seen the lawsuit and would respond after they have reviewed it.

Fleet can be traced back to a bank founded by John Brown, a notorious Rhode Island slave trader.

CSX spokeswoman Kathy Burns said there is no legal basis for the lawsuit.

"It is an unfortunate misuse of the legal system to attempt to address issues well over a century old at the expense of today's workers and stockholders," Burns told USA Today.

Maurice Wade, director of public policy at Trinity College in Hartford, said if Aetna was found liable, the decision would open the door for rulings against other companies and individuals for their roles in slavery.

"By some token though, it wouldn't be a bad thing to see institutions like Aetna feel some obligation to invest resources to things related to social justice," Wade said.