Delaware Supreme Court Dismisses Asbestos Exposure Case by Argentine National on Forum Non Conveniens Grounds

The Delaware Supreme Court concluded the trial court properly exercised discretion in dismissing a case brought by an Argentine national against a Delaware-based chemical manufacturer for alleged asbestos exposure in an Argentinian textile plant on the basis of forum non conveniens.  The court indicated that where the plaintiff is a citizen of a foreign state in which the injury occurred and whose law is at issue, a defendant has an interest in obtaining an authoritative ruling from the relevant courts of that foreign state as opposed to a predictive, non-authoritative ruling from a Delaware court.

The dissent, however, criticized the majority for relaxing the burden for establishing an overwhelming hardship based on prior forum non conveniens decisions, and asserted that the majority’s “unsettling new approach” was meant as a message for other courts not to decide issues of Delaware corporate law.  The dissent noted that the defendant company is a Delaware corporation whose headquarters is five blocks from the courthouse.

The decision boosts arguments based on forum non conveniens grounds where the alleged injury occurs in a different jurisdiction whose law also would apply to the case at bar.