Dow v. Calderon

Many Nicaraguan citizens were exposed to dibromochloropropane (DBCP), a toxic pesticide. In a Nicaraguan court, a group of Nicaraguans sued the companies that manufactured DBCP, including Dow Chemical (collectively, the companies) (plaintiffs). The companies brought an action in United States district court against over 1,000 Nicaraguan citizens (collectively, the Nicaraguans) (defendants). The companies wanted a declaratory judgment on two points: (1) that the companies were not liable for any injuries to the Nicaraguans caused by DBCP, and (2) that any judgments of Nicaraguan courts that found the companies liable were not enforceable in the US. The Nicaraguans argued that the district court did not have personal jurisdiction over the Nicaraguans. The companies proposed two ways the district court could exercise personal jurisdiction over the Nicaraguans. (1) The Nicaraguan law under which the Nicaraguans had sued the companies required American companies to either deposit money with the Nicaraguan court or submit unconditionally to jurisdiction in the US courts. The companies argued this was essentially a forum selection clause, and by suing under that clause, the Nicaraguans had implicitly agreed to let the companies choose the US courts if desired. (2) The Nicaraguans had defended a different declaratory judgment on the merits against a different company but on the same set of facts and in the same district court. The district court rejected both of these arguments, holding that the district court did not have personal jurisdiction over the Nicaraguans.