No. 19-1101

Canada v. Cynthia L. Merlini

Lower Court: First Circuit
Docketed: 2020-03-09
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Tags: commercial-activity commercial-activity-exception consular-employees consular-employment consular-independence consular-sovereignty employment-conditions employment-terms foreign-sovereign-immunities-act legislative-decision sovereign-immunity state-law workers-compensation
Key Terms:
JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2020-05-21
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the court of appeals erred in treating Canada's legislative decision to compensate its consular employees for workplace injuries exclusively under Canadian law as a mere omission to comply with state law, and thus as 'commercial activity' within 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(2)

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED Respondent Merlini was injured while working as Assistant to the Consul General at petitioner Canada’s Consulate. She sued Canada under a strict liability cause of action premised on the employer’s failure to comply with state regulatory requirements for workers’ compensation insurance. Canada did not comply with those requirements because its own legislation creates a comprehensive’ workers’ compensation scheme applicable to all Canadian Government employees worldwide. The court of appeals rejected Canada’s claim of sovereign immunity based on the commercial activity exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(2). The questions presented are: 1. Whether the court of appeals erred in treating Canada’s legislative decision to compensate its consular employees for workplace injuries exclusively under Canadian law as a mere omission to comply with state law, and thus as “commercial activity” within 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(2). 2. Whether the court of appeals erred in deeming Canada’s’ setting of conditions of full-time employment within the Canadian Consulate “commercial activity” within 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(2), based on the employees U.S. citizenship and allegedly “clerical” job duties.

Docket Entries

2020-05-26
Petition DENIED.
2020-05-06
Reply of petitioner Canada filed. (Distributed)
2020-05-05
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/21/2020.
2020-04-21
Brief of respondent Cynthia L. Merlini in opposition filed.
2020-03-12
Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including April 22, 2020.
2020-03-10
Motion to extend the time to file a response from April 8, 2020 to April 22, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
2020-03-06
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due April 8, 2020)
2020-01-10
Application (19A768) granted by Justice Breyer extending the time to file until March 6, 2020.
2020-01-07
Application (19A768) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from January 21, 2020 to March 6, 2020, submitted to Justice Breyer.

Attorneys

Canada
Simon Arthur SteelDentons US LLP, Petitioner
Cynthia L. Merlini
Theodore Joel FolkmanFolkman LLC, Respondent