To England.

Matthews v. Tidewater, Inc. rejects a challenge to a forum-selection provision that required dismissal of a Louisiana toxic-tort case in favor of England. The plaintiff, a Jones Act seaman, argued that the dismissal contravened the public policy enunciated in a Louisiana statute about litigation fora, but the Fifth Circuit disagreed.

The present case, as did [a prior case], involves a plaintiff who is not a Louisiana resident and an international employment contract requiring litigation in a foreign forum. We also stress Matthews’s lack of connections to Louisiana. Matthews worked for Tidewater, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and Tidewater Crewing, Ltd., a Cayman Islands corporation. He filed suit for injuries sustained outside the United States while servicing Egyptian oil wells in the Red Sea. Further, just as the [earlier] court observed Section 23:921A(2) protects Louisiana citizens from being forced to litigate their case in a foreign forum. Matthews is not a Louisiana citizen and has scant, if any, connections to Louisiana. He, therefore, is not the object of the statute.

No. 23-30305 (July 17, 2024) (citation omitted).