CELESTIN v. CARIBBEAN AIR MAIL, INC.

Docket No. 20-1412 August Term, 2021.

30 F.4th 133 (2022)

Odilon S. CELESTIN, Widimir Romelien, Goldie Lamothe-Alexandre, Vincent Marazita, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CARIBBEAN AIR MAIL, INC., Western Union, Unitransfer USA, Inc., Unibank, S.A., Unigestion Holding, S.A., dba Digicel Haiti, Western Union Financial Services, Inc., Michel Joseph Martelly, Jocelerme Privert, Jovenel Moise, Natcom S.A., Government of Haiti, Defendants-Appellees.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Decided: March 31, 2022.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Rodney Austin , Rodney R. Austin PLLC, Fresh Meadows, NY ( Marcel P. Denis , Denis Law Group, PLLC, Brooklyn, NY, on the brief), for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

James I. McClammy ( James H.R. Windels , Robert G. King , on the brief), Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, New York, NY, for Defendant-Appellee Unigestion Holding, S.A., DBA Digicel Haiti.

Andrew P. Fishkin , Fishkin Lucks LLP, New York, NY, for Defendant-Appellee The Western Union Company.

Stephen H. Nakamura , Andrew R. Peck , Merle Brown & Nakamura P.C., New York, NY, for Defendant-Appellee Caribbean Air Mail, Inc.

Oliver M. Birman , Benjamin L. Reiss , Paul D. Turner , Perlman, Bajandas, Yevoli & Albright, P.L., Fort Lauderdale, FL; Kieran M. Corcoran , Stinson LLP, New York, NY, for Defendants-Appellees Unitransfer USA, Inc., and Unibank, S.A.

Bertrand Madsen , Madsen Law P.C., New York, NY, for Defendants-Appellees Michel Joseph Martelly, Jocelerme Privert, Jovenel Moise, and Government of Haiti.

Macx L. Jean-Louis , Law Offices of Macx L. Jean-Louis P.C., New York, NY, for Defendant-Appellee Natcom S.A.

Judge Newman concurs in a separate opinion.


Under the act of state doctrine, U.S. courts may not declare the official acts of a foreign sovereign to be invalid. But the doctrine does not bar our adjudication of whether those same acts are wrongful under a cause of action properly brought before us. See W.S. Kirkpatrick & Co. v. Env't Tectonics Corp., Int'l,

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