According to a new Eleventh Circuit opinion, Feggestad v. Kerzner Int’l Bahamas, Ltd., foreign businesses that employ online purchase or reservation systems to sell goods or services to U.S. customers can enforce so-called “forum selection” clauses—contract clauses that designate the geographic location of the court that will hear disputes arising from the transaction—found in online purchase confirmations in order to avoid having to defend lawsuits in courts in the United States. In the Feggestad case, the Eleventh Circuit upheld dismissal of a complaint filed in the United States District Court in the Southern District of Florida by a U.S. citizen for injuries sustained at the Atlantis Resort in The Bahamas.
The facts are straight-forward: Mr. Feggestad (the U.S. citizen-plaintiff) made reservations at the Atlantis Resort. At the time Mr. Feggestad made the reservation, the hotel sent him an email confirmation that included a “terms and conditions” section, and importantly, a hyperlink to a website which provided notice that (i) any dispute between guests and the hotel (and any affiliated entity) had to be litigated in The Bahamas, and (ii) guests would have to sign a registration form containing a forum selection clause to that effect upon their arrival, which Mr. Feggestad did. Later he sustained serious injuries resulting from a slip and fall, and subsequently (and unsurprisingly) filed suit against the hotel and affiliated entities for his injuries. Defendants moved to dismiss the complaint based on the forum selection clause, arguing that the case could only be brought in The Bahamas.
