Bahsoon v. Pezetel, Ltd.

Pezetel, Ltd. and PZL-Swidnik (Swidnik) (defendants) were companies that built and sold helicopters, including a model called the Kania-SP-SAC. Both Pezetel and Swidnik were wholly owned by the government of Poland. Pezetel also owned part of a company called Melex USA, Inc. (Melex) (defendant) that was incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in North Carolina. Melex distributed Swidnik products, including some helicopter models in the Kania product line. The Polish government leased a Kania-SP-SAC that was built by Pezetel and Swidnik to a company in Sierra Leone. Several years later, the helicopter crashed in Sierra Leone, killing and injuring passengers who were from Sierra Leone. Representatives of the crash victims sued Pezetel, Swidnik, and Melex in federal district court in North Carolina. All three companies moved to dismiss the claims against them, contending that the United States federal court lacked jurisdiction to decide claims against entities owned by a foreign government. In support of the motion to dismiss, the companies submitted evidence that Pezetel and Swidnik had sold golf carts in the United States at one point, but that neither company conducted any of its helicopter business in the United States or had any direct connection to the United States. In addition, Melex had no connection to the Kania-SP-SAC that had been involved in the crash or any other connection to the crash.