IBM in legal battle with Gypsy human rights group in Switzerland

Leading IT company IBM has asked Switzerland's high court to block an attempt by a Gypsy group to sue it for helping Nazi slaughter in World War II. The group accuses IBM of facilitating the mass murder of gypsies by selling the Nazis its punch-card tabulating machines, knowing it would use them to track and identify victims. IBM had its European headquarters in Geneva during the war. The company has launched an appeal at the supreme court in Switzerland and wants it to overturn a ruling giving Geneva courts leave to hear the case. If the complaint goes ahead and is successful, it could eventually cost IBM US$12 billion in damages, according to the plaintiff's lawyer. The five plaintiffs, all of whom lost family members in Nazi death camps, will claim US$ 20,000 each from IBM. IBM has refused to discuss the suit in detail. In 2001, IBM has contributed $3 million to a German fund to  compensate World War II slave and forced laborers.