No Immunity Despite Diplomatic Protocol
A precedential decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit dated September 11, 2024 rejects an embassy argument that it should not lose its foreign sovereign immunity in the case of a former embassy driver against the embassy over a wage dispute. The embassy argued that the commercial exception under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act should not apply because the driver was subject to diplomatic protocol rules, had to obtain a high-level security clearance and was required to follow special protocols at diplomatic events. In addition,
[Plaintiff] pledged in his employment contract, for example, that any knowledge he acquired in the course of his job as a driver for the Mission "is deemed nationally classified information of the Republic of Korea" and that Nam would "not divulge it to anyone in any manner."The decision illustrates the factors leading to the court's analysis and conclusion. The matter is Hyunhuy Nam v. Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations. -- Clemens Kochinke, Berliner Corcoran & Rowe LLP, Washington, DC.
Wed, / Embassy Law Link