Nicolas Valadez Rey v. General Motors, LLC, No. 22-1563 (8th Cir. 2023)
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Plaintiff sustained a spinal injury during a rollover car accident in Mexico. Plaintiff, along with his wife (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) filed a claim for damages against General Motors, LLC (“GM”) on theories of strict liability, negligence, and loss of consortium. The district court applied the law of Coahuila, Mexico, under Missouri’s choice of law principles and granted GM’s motion for summary judgment. Plaintiffs appealed the district court’s choice of law decision.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed. The court explained that its conclusion in Azarax that the district court did not abuse its discretion by refusing to allow a party to rely on foreign law does not lead to the conclusion the district court abused its discretion here when it decided the opposite under different facts. Further, the court wrote that after considering the Section 6 factors and the parties’ arguments, it concluded Missouri’s relationship to this case does not overcome the presumption that the place of the injury—Coahuila, Mexico—is the place with the most significant relationship to the parties and occurrence.
Court Description: [Grasz, Author, with Colloton and Shepherd, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Products liability. In action arising out of a single-car accident in Coahuila, Mexico, the district court did not err in determining that the law of Coahuila governed the action; the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding GM did not waive the application of foreign law to the action; Missouri's relationship to the case does not overcome the presumption that the place of the injury - Coahuila, Mexico - is the place with the most significant relationship to the parties and the occurrence.
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