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OBB Personenverkher v. Sachs: By a vote of 9-0 the judgment of the Ninth Circuit is reversed. Per the opinion of Chief Justice Roberts for a unanimous Court:
"The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act shields foreign states and their agencies from suit in United States courts unless the suit falls within one of the Act’s specifically enumerated exceptions. This case concerns the scope of the commercial activity exception, which withdraws sovereign immunity in any case 'in which the action is based upon a commercial activity carried on in the United States by [a] foreign state.' 28 U.S.C. §1605(a)(2). Respondent Carol Sachs is a resident of California who purchased in the United States a Eurail pass for rail travel in Europe. She suffered traumatic personal injuries when she fell onto the tracks at the Innsbruck, Austria, train station while attempting to board a train operated by the Austrian state-owned railway. She sued the railway in Federal District Court, arguing that her suit was not barred by sovereign immunity because it is 'based upon' the railway’s sale of the pass to her in the United States. We disagree and conclude that her action is instead 'based upon' the railway’s conduct in Innsbruck. We therefore hold that her suit falls outside the commercial activity exception and is barred by sovereign immunity."
