After Tegra S.A., a Luxembourgian company, filed a breach of contract case in New York County Supreme Court against Bombardier, Inc., a Canadian company, the latter moved to dismiss the litigation on "forum non conveniens" grounds--that New York wasn't the right place for the dispute to be heard.
Tegra's principal, Taner Yilmaz, claimed that he was told that the governing contract's "choice of law" provision, which provided for the application of New York law, was a "forum selection" provision.
After the New York County Supreme Court granted Bombardier's request and dismissed the case, Tegra appealed.
Since neither party principally conducted business in New York, nor executed their contract there, and because none of the witnesses resided in our state, the Appellate Division, First Department, agreed there weren't sufficient contacts to justify Tegra's election to file suit in this state.
Nor did the AD1 think that Yilmaz had been deluded or defrauded into believing that any dispute would be heard here, particularly in view of the contract's "merger clause"--which reaffirmed that the contract contained the parties' entire agreement and that any changes had to be in writing.
Bombardier, away!
To view a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: Tegra S.A. v. Bombardier, Inc.