Recent Development by Cecilio Castillero Lizán
On a platform off the coast of West Africa, an explosion killed Marcus Daniel Peré. The starter turbine that exploded was manufactured by an American company, Coppus Engineering, and was incorporated into a turbine system by an Italian company, Nuovo Pignone. Nuovo Pignone had manufactured, tested, and inspected the turbine system in Italy, and had sold it to Peré's employer, the Cabinda Gulf Oil Company (CABGOC). In addition, Nuovo Pignone had sent its representatives to Bayou Black, Louisiana, where they remained available for consultation during CABGOC's final assembly of the turbine system onto the platform that was to be relocated in West Africa.
Peré's widow filed an action against both Coppus Engineering and Nuovo Pignone, alleging that the defective design and/or manufacture of the starter turbine and the turbine system caused her husband's death. Nuovo Pignone showed that its majority shareholder at the time of the accident was the Republic of Italy. Claiming status as an agency or instrumentality of a foreign state within the meaning of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA), Nuovo Pignone argued that it was entitled to sovereign immunity and moved for summary judgment.
Although the district court agreed with the argument, it denied the motion, finding that Nuovo Pignone's activities in the United States fell within the commercial activities exception of the FSIA. On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit concluded that Nuovo Pignone was an agency or instrumentality of a foreign state at the time of the accident, that none of the FSIA exceptions applied, and held that Nuovo Pignone was entitled to sovereign immunity. Peré v. Nuovo Pignone, Inc., 150 F.3d 477 (5th Cir. 1998).
About the Author
Cecilio Castillero Lizán.
Citation
73 Tul. L. Rev. 1441 (1999)