Alaska Packers Ass'n v. Industrial Acc. Comm'n
United States Supreme Court
294 U.S. 532 (1935)
Palma (plaintiff) signed an employment contract in California with APA (defendant) to work seasonally in Alaska, with the contract specifying coverage under Alaska's workers' compensation law; after being injured in Alaska and returning to California, Palma sought and received compensation under California's law instead, which claimed jurisdiction over any injury arising from a California-made contract regardless of where it occurred. APA challenged the award as violating full faith and credit owed to Alaska's conflicting law, and the California Supreme Court upheld the award as consistent with California public policy.
Whether, when the law of the forum conflicts with the law of a foreign state and the foreign state's interest does not outweigh the forum's, a court may apply the forum's law without violating the Full Faith and Credit Clause.