The plaintiffs, including a New Rochelle doctor and six Mount Vernon residents who contracted COVID-19, sought damages for
Westchester adults over the WHO’s alleged downplaying of the coronavirus early in the outbreak, and failure to quickly declare a pandemic and coordinate a global response…www.medscape.com, WHO Wins Dismissal of Lawsuit in New York Over Pandemic Response, Jonathan Stempel, 2021
U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel on Monday said the WHO was immune under its own 1948 constitution and the International Organization Immunities Act from the proposed class-action lawsuit by the seven Westchester County plaintiffs.
But the judge said the WHO’s pandemic response involved policy judgments within its discretion, and rejected arguments that its alleged negligence voided its immunity.
Seibel said the complaint “makes only the general and vague assertion that the WHO negligently failed to provide effective leadership and implementation of its core global functions under (International Health Regulations).”