Holzer v. Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft et al.
Court of Appeals of New York
14 N.E.2d 798 (1938)
Jewish German national Holzer (plaintiff) had a three-year employment contract with a German transportation company controlled by Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft and other German corporations (defendants), to be performed entirely in Germany and other non-New York locations. After Holzer was detained in a concentration camp for roughly six months, newly enacted German law required the termination of non-Aryan employees, and the defendants terminated him. Holzer sued in New York for damages covering his termination and detention; the defendants argued German law compelled the termination and thus governed the contract, since it was made and performed entirely in Germany, and Holzer sought to strike that defense, succeeding at the trial and appellate level before certified questions reached the Court of Appeals.
Whether applying foreign law that required a party to take an action alleged to be wrongful violates public policy when the underlying contract was made and performed entirely in that foreign territory.