Opinion ID: 406168
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: dismissal with respect to certain defendants

Text: 25 The question arises which, if any, of the defendants should have plaintiff's action dismissed with respect to them, since only GE and Leictron are named in counts 3 and 4. (We note, too, that in the remedies requested for counts 3 and 4 only GE and Leictron, respectively, are asked to make an accounting.) 39 The counterargument is that such a dismissal would be unduly formalistic since the complaint makes clear that all four defendants are alleged to have been continuously involved in the counts brought. 40 At this point a second argument comes into play, that the district court made specific factual findings that fatally discredit this theory. In particular, in one of the few factual findings it made, the district court apparently found that IDA was not an agent of GE. This would seem to sever a tie enabling it to be drawn into counts 3 and 4. 41 26 The arguments for dismissal are not without force, but we think it best to leave any dismissing to the district court on remand. We do so simply because the determinations of who is and is not an agent of whom will be in great part factual, which we can resolve only at great risk. It is unclear to us what the Republic's role was, for instance, and the district court made no factual determinations in its dismissal of the Republic. 42 Although we agree with the Second Circuit that the legislative history of FSIA establishes that Congress did not intend to cause the courts willy-nilly to pierce the corporate veils of foreign entities, 43 it is apparent from the filings and oral argument that there is an unresolved difference of opinion in this case among the parties as to the directness of the Republic's involvement. With respect to IDA, while there was apparently a finding that it was not GE 's agent, it might still have been, for instance, an agent for the Republic. 44 27 If, however, the further development of the facts or clarification and expansion of the remaining counts-which the district court may call for after today's opinion-reveals that one or more defendants were insufficiently involved, the district court should not hesitate to dismiss plaintiff's action against them. Furthermore, insufficient involvement on the part of one or more defendants may make subject matter or personal jurisdiction improper as to others. An agent's actions may provide the basis for jurisdiction over the principal, 45 but jurisdiction cannot be maintained if the agent's actions are not related to the substance of plaintiff's cause of action.