As foreign governments do more business in the United States, questions about the intersection of sovereign immunity and U.S. law will undoubtedly arise. In this episode, host Alan Pierce talks with Boston litigator Ted Folkman about an important 1st Circuit case of theirs — Merlini v. Canada — that’s been winding its way through the federal courts for more than 11 years. The case involves what would otherwise be a fairly common workers compensation claim. The difference here is that the injured party is a U.S. citizen who was working in the Canadian consulate in Boston. Even though businesses in Massachusetts are required to carry workers compensation insurance, the Canadian government is asserting the U.S. courts don’t have jurisdiction under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which shields foreign governments from most actions in U.S. courts. Folkman is arguing that U.S. courts have jurisdiction under FSIA’s commercial activity exception because the employee, Cynthia Merlini, wasn’t conducting high-level Canadian business. Instead, she was working like any other administrative assistant at a U.S.-owned business.

Ted Folkman is the founder of Folkman LLC and was previously a partner at Pierce Bainbridge in Boston.

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