The Honolulu Federal District Court has denied a motion for reconsideration in the case of Leauma Ben Alefosio, who had sued ASG over the termination of his services as an investigator and translator for the Public Defender’s Office.
His suit was dismissed May 24 by the Honolulu court for improper venue, which found that all of the alleged actions stated in his lawsuit were not committed in Hawaii but in American Samoa.
The plaintiff filed his motion for reconsideration on May 29, and cited general personal jurisdiction as the basis for the Hawaii court to hear his suit.
He argued that because the American Samoa Government has a permanent Hawaii Office and celebrates a yearly Samoan Heritage Week in Hawaii, its contacts are continuous and systematic so as to justify exercising personal jurisdiction over the defendant.
A ruling on his motion, dated June 21st said, “Having reviewed and liberally construed the motion for consideration the court disagrees.”
It said the US Supreme Court has explained that personal jurisdiction encompasses two distinct concepts, general personal jurisdiction and specific personal jurisdiction.
“Here Alefosio relies solely upon general personal jurisdiction.
Chief US District Judge Derrick Watson said Alefosio relies upon the following alleged affiliation for the American Samoa Government: An office located in Hawaii since the early 1970s, an annual Samoan Heritage Week held in Hawaii, a referral program allowing residents of American Samoa to be sent for treatment to hospitals in Hawaii, a co-hort program with the University of Hawaii and the American Samoa Army reserve Unit falling under the auspices of the Hawaii Army Reserve Headquarters.
The judge said, “Even if the court were willing to accept the foregoing constituted continuous affiliations, they are certainly not systematic in any sense of the word and importantly, for the instant analysis, in the sense that they would render the American Samoa Government ‘at home’ in this forum. “In that regard,” said the ruling, “the Supreme Court has explained that the “paradigm” forums are for individuals, domicile and for corporations, the principal lace of business or place of incorporation.
“While the American Samoa Government is neither an individual nor a corporation arguably, ‘an equivalent place’ for such an entity may be the seat of government or where its principal governmental activities take place. For the American Samoa Government, those places are not in Hawaii or the United States, they are in American Samoa. Therefore, the Court does not find the general personal jurisdiction exists here. The motion for reconsideration is accordingly denied.”
