Guidi v. Inter-Continental Hotels Corp.

A shooting occurred at an Egyptian hotel managed by Inter-Continental Hotels Corp. (ICH) (defendant), an American corporation. Karen Guidi, Eve Hoffman, Merrill Kramer, and Lois Kramer (the victims and relatives) (plaintiffs) sued ICH in federal district court in New York for claims related to the shooting. Guidi and Hoffman were New Jersey residents at the time the action was filed, and the Kramers resided in Maryland. ICH moved to dismiss the case for forum non conveniens. The victims and relatives objected, arguing that they should not be forced to sue another American party in a foreign jurisdiction and that the emotional impact of the attack made it unreasonable to ask them to return to Egypt. The district court found that Egypt was the better forum and dismissed the case. The district court applied a balancing test that considered the private interests of the litigants and the public interests. The court found that the relevant private interests favored an Egyptian forum because the location of the shooting could be examined as evidence and ICH could implead the Egyptian government. The district court also found that the public interests weighed in favor of an Egyptian forum because the federal district court’s docket was overburdened, Egypt’s interest in the litigation was stronger than New York’s, Egyptian courts were better positioned to apply Egyptian law, and especially because other lawsuits filed by other victims of the shooting were pending in Egypt at the time. The court did not give greater deference to the forum choice of the victims and relatives even though it was their home forum. The victims and relatives appealed.