California to Apply Sharia Law in an Asbestos Exposure Case!…Sort Of

A judge in the southern California coordinated asbestos matters issued an order applying Iranian law where all of a California plaintiff’s alleged exposure to asbestos occurred in Iran. In Sabetian v. Air and Liquid Systems Corporation, Judge John Kralik applied Iranian law on (1) punitive damages, (2) strict liability, and (3) joint and several liability. However, the court declined to apply the Iranian (1) standard of negligence, (2) the cap on general damages, and (3) the formula to determine loss of consortium damages.

Other judges in this court when presented with a similar issue have declined to apply Iranian law due to the religious influence on Iranian law. Judge Kralik nevertheless stated that “these provisions of law appear well-established, civil, and secular in nature…and these laws do not radically or offensively differ from traditions in the law of the various United States.”

Judge Kralik’s decision to apply Iranian law is a step forward for defendants who often face plaintiffs who now reside in California but allegedly were injured elsewhere. Judge Kralik’s decision relies heavily on McCann v. Foster Wheeler, LLC (2010) 48 Cal.4th 68, in which one of this post’s authors persuaded the trial court to apply Oklahoma law to a California resident suing a New York manufacturer for injuries caused by alleged exposure from asbestos-containing products in Oklahoma. In both McCann and Sabetian, plaintiff was a resident of California at the time of suit, but alleged exposure to asbestos elsewhere.

I. The governmental interest analysis

Similar to other jurisdictions, California applies the governmental interest analysis to determine choice-of-law inquiries. The analysis involves three steps: First, the court determines whether the applicable rules of law are different. Second, the court analyzes each jurisdiction’s interest in having its own law applied to the dispute. Third, the court determines which jurisdiction’s interest would be more significantly impaired if its law were not applied, and applies that jurisdiction’s law.

Here, Judge Kralik determined that Iranian law was materially different from California law. Both California, where plaintiff has lived for decades, and Iran, the “locus” of the injury, have an interest. Judge Kralik also determined that Iran’s interest would be more significantly impaired if Iranian law was not applied. The government of Iran would have a “strong interest in applying its own laws to a refinery it owned and an employee that it employed…California has little interest in legislating behavior at such refineries and oil fields.”

II. Iranian law applied

Because neither punitive damages or strict liability are recognized by Iranian law, the court ruled that defendants would be subject to neither in this case.

Iranian law does not recognize joint and several liability unless there is an explicit statutory exception. Plaintiff argued that a statutory exception existed for those determined to be an “employer” under the Civil Responsibility Act. Here, the court decided that it would apply Iranian law, but that it would issue a post-verdict determination of whether plaintiff has shown whether any of the defendants were “joint employers” for the exception to apply.

III. Iranian law not applied

The court declined to apply Iranian law in three areas, not because the “government interest” analysis was different but because either the court could not satisfy itself as to what Iranian law was on that point, or because the Iranian law offended American norms.

For example, the Iranian negligence standard of care is based on “custom and usage” rather than the California reasonable person standard. The court declined to apply the Iranian standard because there was a lack of authority explaining “custom and usage.”

Similarly, although Iran generally prohibits loss of consortium damages, the court ruled that “the prohibition is not established with sufficient clarity ion Iranian law to allow for application in this case.”

Iranian law has a cap on general damages that is set by reference to a memorandum prepared by unnamed Iranian government lawyers who have the power to alter the cap as they see fit. Judge Kralik declined to apply the Iranian limit because its apparently arbitrary nature could “offend fundamental due process if applied in an American court.”

IV. Conclusion

This decision offers hope that defendants will be able to apply the law of the jurisdiction in which the injuries allegedly occurred, rather than the law of a more plaintiff-friendly jurisdiction like California. Judge Kralik conceded that this issue had substantial grounds for difference of opinion and expressly invited appellate resolution. However, as of the posting of this article, plaintiff had not sought any appellate review.