W.S. Kirkpatrick & Co., Inc. v. Environmental Tectonics Corp., Int'l

Carpenter and Kirkpatrick (defendants) bribed Nigerian officials to secure a contract; the bribery violated Nigerian law, and both later pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges after Environmental Tectonics (plaintiff), a losing bidder, alerted U.S. authorities. Environmental Tectonics then sued civilly, and the defendants sought dismissal under the act-of-state doctrine, arguing that examining the motivation behind Nigeria's contract award would improperly scrutinize a foreign sovereign act. The State Department submitted a letter suggesting the inquiry wouldn't cause the embarrassment or interference the doctrine guards against, but the district court dismissed anyway; the Third Circuit reversed, deferring to the State Department's view.

Whether the act-of-state doctrine is implicated by a judicial inquiry into the motivation behind an official act of a foreign sovereign where the validity of that act is not at issue.