UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
) ABLA ABDEL BASET YOUSSEF, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) No. 17-cv-2638 (KBJ) ) EMBASSY OF THE UNITED ARAB ) EMIRATES, et al., ) ) Defendants. ) )
MEMORANDUM OPINION
On January 3, 2016, Plaintiff Abla Youssef was terminated from her employment
with Defendant United Arab Emirates Embassy in Washington, D.C., after almost
eighteen years of service. (See Compl., ECF No. 1, ¶ 12.) Youssef had held two
positions at the embassy during the course of her employment: beginning in 1998, she
first worked as a secretary in the Human Resources Department of the Embassy’s
Cultural Division, and then served as an administrative officer in that same department.
(See id.) Youssef brings the instant claims against the Embassy and the United Arab
Emirates (“UAE” and, collectively, “Defendants”), claiming that she was terminated the
day before her 67th birthday because she was over the customary retirement age in the
UAE (see id. ¶¶ 23–24), and that this termination amounted to discrimination on the
basis of her age in violation of both the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
(“ADEA”), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq. (see id. ¶¶ 38–42), and the D.C. Human Rights Act
(“DCHRA”), D.C. Code § 2-1401 et seq. (see id. ¶¶ 43–47). Before this Court at present is Defendants’ motion to dismiss Youssef’s
complaint (see Defs.’ Mot. to Dismiss, ECF No. 30; Defs.’ Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to
Dismiss (“Defs.’ Mot.”), ECF No. 30-1), which Youssef opposes (see Pl.’s Mem. in
Opp’n to Defs.’ Mot. (“Pl.’s Opp’n”), ECF No. 31-1). In their motion to dismiss,
Defendants argue, first and foremost, that this Court does not have subject-matter
jurisdiction to hear Youssef’s complaint, because the UAE and the Embassy enjoy
sovereign immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”), 28 U.S.C.
§ 1602 et seq., and the commercial activity exception to the FSIA does not apply to
Youssef, who Defendants characterize as a UAE civil servant, insofar as she performed
governmental work for the Embassy. (See Defs.’ Mot. at 14–22.) 1 Defendants further
maintain that Youssef has failed to state a DCHRA claim, “because at all relevant
times, her workplace was located in a federal enclave[,]” such that the DCHRA is
inapplicable. (Id. at 7.)
For the reasons explained fully below, this Court disagrees with Defendants on
both fronts: the Court concludes that the commercial activity exception to the FSIA
applies to Youssef’s employment with the Embassy, and thus that the Court has subject-
matter jurisdiction over Youssef’s claims. The Court also finds that Youssef has stated
a plausible claim under the DCHRA, because the federal enclave doctrine is
inapplicable to the District of Columbia. Accordingly, Defendants’ motion to dismiss
will be DENIED. A separate Order consistent with this Memorandum Opinion will
follow.
1 Page-number citations to the documents that the parties and the Court have filed refer to the page numbers that the Court’s electronic case filing system automatically assigns.
2 I. BACKGROUND
A. Factual Background 2
Youssef was born in 1949 and is an Egyptian citizen. (Compl. ¶ 11.) She was
employed in the Human Resources Department of the UAE Embassy’s Cultural
Division, in Washington, D.C., for almost eighteen years before her employment was
terminated, and during that time she allegedly worked in two different administrative
capacities: her title was initially “Administrative Affairs Secretary[,]” and then, at some
point, she began serving as an “Administrative Officer[.]” (See id. ¶ 12.)
UAE Cultural Attaché Suaad Zayed Al Oraimi was Youssef’s supervisor during
her time as an Administrative Officer. (See id. ¶ 23.) According to the complaint, six
months before Youssef’s employment was terminated, Al Oraimi told Youssef that she
had to leave the Embassy because she was over 65 years old. (See id. ¶¶ 21–22.)
Youssef also allegedly received a letter from her supervisor on December 3, 2015,
stating that she would be terminated as of January 3, 2016, the day before her 67th
birthday. (See id. ¶ 23.) The complaint alleges that Al Oraimi offered Youssef the
option of extending her employment until April of 2016, on the condition that Youssef
sign a resignation letter, but Youssef “refused to sign a letter of resignation, since she
was actually being terminated[.]” (Id. ¶ 32.) Before the end of Youssef’s employment
with the Embassy, Al Oraimi allegedly required Youssef to train the younger employee
who would take over Youssef’s duties. (See id. ¶ 29.) And, on January 12, 2016, nine
days after her termination, Youssef allegedly received a letter from the Embassy, which
2 The facts recited herein are undisputed unless otherwise noted. They are drawn from the complaint and the various exhibits attached to the parties’ briefs, which include Youssef’s employment contracts with the UAE Embassy.
3 confirmed that she was terminated because she was over 65 years old—since that age,
according to the letter, is the customary retirement age in the UAE. (See id. ¶ 24.)
Significantly for present purposes, throughout her time at the Embassy, Youssef
was employed pursuant to successive one-year employment contracts, which were
renewed on an annual basis. (See id. ¶¶ 17–18.) Youssef alleges that, under those
agreements, she was “not entitled to UAE civil service benefits or to any other benefits,
rights, or remedies provided by the laws of [the] UAE[.]” (Id. ¶ 17.) Moreover,
Youssef’s June 2001 contract describes her job title as “Administrative Affairs
Secretary[,]” and lists her job duties to include: “Typing all procedures related to
administrative affairs” and “all purchase orders for procurement and warehouses”;
“Filing and organizing employee files”; “Registering and sending the outgoing
diplomatic pouch to the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research”;
“Registering external and internal outgoing[,]” and “external and internal incoming”;
“Receiving and registering all bounced and returned checks from the receptionist and
handing them to the Financial Affairs Department”; “Any assignments by the Cultural
Attaché”; and “Any other duties assigned thereto.” (Ex. D to Defs.’ Mot. (“2001
Contract”), ECF No. 30-6, at 8.) 3
3 Defendants attached Youssef’s 2001 and 2011 employment contracts as exhibits to their motion to dismiss. This Court can rely on those documents at the motion to dismiss stage, because the Court construes Defendants’ FSIA arguments as raising a factual challenge to the Court’s subject-matter jurisdiction, see infra Part II, which requires the Court to “go beyond the pleadings and resolve any disputed issues of fact” underlying the jurisdictional determination, Phoenix Consulting Inc. v. Republic of Angl., 216 F.3d 36, 40 (D.C. Cir. 2000). Even if Defendants’ contentions were treated as a facial challenge to jurisdiction under the FSIA, this Court can consider “documents incorporated by reference” in the complaint, World Wide Mins., Ltd. v. Republic of Kaz., 296 F.3d 1154, 1157 n.2 (D.C. Cir. 2002), and Youssef’s complaint specifically references the terms of her employment contracts (see Compl. ¶¶ 17–18).
4 According to the complaint, Youssef’s responsibilities varied only slightly in her
subsequent role as an Administrative Officer (see Compl. ¶ 12); the complaint alleges
that, in addition to her secretarial responsibilities, she also maintained personnel
records for all local employees of the Embassy’s Cultural Division (see id. ¶ 14; see
also id. ¶ 15 (specifically alleging that Youssef “did not process any personnel records
of UAE civil servants”)). Youssef’s contract for 2011 is silent as to her precise work
duties. But the agreement lists her job title as “Administrative Officer” or
“Administrative Affairs Officer” (depending on the translation) in the line below her
signature, and it specifically cross-references Youssef’s June 2001 contract. (See Ex. 1
to Pl.’s Opp’n (“2011 Contract”), ECF No. 31-2, at 20–21; Ex. E to Defs.’ Mot., ECF
No. 30-7, at 11–12.)
Both the 2001 and 2011 contracts further specify that, while Youssef “may be
sent on official duty to the Ministry Head Office in the United Arab Emirates at the
Ministry’s cost and expense in accordance with the applicable financial regulations of
the Ministry” (2011 Contract at 19; see 2001 Contract at 7), she “does not have
authority to render the Mission a party to any binding commitment of any kind
whatsoever arising between [herself] and any other person or entity, whether
governmental or non-governmental” (2011 Contract at 19; see 2001 Contract at 7).
Both contracts also include provisions for paid leave (see 2001 Contract at 3; 2011
Contract at 7–8), health insurance (see 2011 Contract at 4) or a medical allowance (see
2001 Contract at 2), and end-of-service benefits (see 2001 Contract at 6; 2011 Contract
at 16–17). 4
4 These benefits are contractual in nature and, according to Youssef, they are not concomitant with “UAE civil service benefits[.]” (Compl. ¶ 17.)
5 B. Procedural History
On February 19, 2016, forty-seven days after the UAE Embassy terminated her
employment under the circumstances described above, Youssef filed a complaint with
the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and the D.C. Office of
Human Rights, alleging age-based discrimination. (See Compl. ¶¶ 10, 29.) During the
administrative proceedings, the Embassy allegedly represented that Youssef was
terminated due to downsizing (see id. ¶ 29), even though, according to the complaint,
the UAE Ministry of Higher Education in 2014 set forth a mandate to hire four
additional academic advisers in Washington, D.C., and to increase the salaries of all
employees at the Cultural Division (see id. ¶ 30). 5
Youssef filed the complaint in the instant matter on December 8, 2017. She
alleges two counts of discrimination on the basis of age: one under the ADEA (see id.
¶¶ 38–42 (“Count I”)) and the other under the DCHRA (see id. ¶¶ 43–47 (“Count II”)).
The complaint was served on Defendants on February 7, 2018 (see Certificate of
Mailing, ECF No. 9), and when Defendants failed to appear or otherwise respond,
Youssef sought entry of default on April 12, 2018 (see Aff. in Supp. of Default, ECF
No. 14), which the Clerk of Court entered on April 25, 2018 (see Default, ECF No. 20).
The next day, Defendants’ counsel appeared specially and filed a motion to quash
service of process and to vacate the entry of default on the grounds of improper service
(see Defs.’ Mot. to Quash Service of Process and Vacate Entry of Default, ECF No. 24,
at 1–2), which this Court granted in part (see Min. Order of June 8, 2018). Youssef
subsequently cured the service defects (see Ex. 1 to Pl.’s Proof of Service, ECF
5 As Youssef’s counsel acknowledged at the motion hearing, records concerning this alleged EEOC complaint have not been filed on the docket in this case. (See Mot. Hr’g Tr., ECF No. 38, at 60:1–3.)
6 No. 25-1, at 2-3), and Defendants then moved to dismiss both of the claims in
Youssef’s complaint (see Defs.’ Mot.). Youssef filed an opposition to the motion on
October 9, 2018 (see Pl.’s Opp’n), and Defendants filed their reply on November 6,
2018 (see Defs.’ Reply in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss (“Defs.’ Reply”), ECF No. 33).
In their motion to dismiss, Defendants maintain that the UAE and the Embassy
enjoy sovereign immunity under the FSIA, and therefore this Court lacks subject-matter
jurisdiction to consider Youssef’s claims. (See Defs.’ Mot. at 14–22.) In this regard,
Defendants specifically argue that “[t]he instant action arises out of a uniquely
governmental, not commercial, function”—that is, “the promotion of educational
exchange between nations”—and that “the alleged discrimination against an employee
directly involved in the Cultural Division’s diplomatic mission . . . is not ‘based upon’
commercial activity as contemplated in the FSIA, nor is Plaintiff’s ‘employment’ a
commercial activity[,]” given “Plaintiff’s role and effective responsibilities at the
Cultural Division[,]” which “included exercises of discretion that renders her
employment akin to that of a civil servant[.]” (Id. at 14–15.) With respect to the
DCHRA claim, Defendants contend that Youssef fails to state a claim upon which relief
can be granted, because at all relevant times her workplace was located in a “federal
enclave” that was created in the 1960s, and it is well established that, “after a locality
has transferred authority over a tract of land creating a federal enclave, the local
jurisdiction may no longer impose new state laws on the enclave”—which, Defendants
say, makes the DCHRA (which was enacted in 1977) inapplicable to Youssef’s
workplace. (Id. at 23–24.)
7 Youssef’s opposition brief counters that this Court does have subject-matter
jurisdiction consistent with the FSIA, because her lawsuit falls within the scope of the
commercial activity exception, given that she “was not a UAE civil servant: her
employment contract did not designate her as a civil servant; she did not receive UAE
civil servant benefits or tenure; and her employment was not subject to UAE laws
governing civil servants or diplomats.” (Pl.’s Opp’n at 24–25.) Youssef insists further
that “Defendants’ description of [her] employment duties fails to distinguish how her
work was qualitatively different from that of any private-sector human resources or
secretarial, clerical employee” (id. at 27), and the fact that “Defendants could hire any
private, third-party employee to perform [her] job duties” places her “employment
squarely within the commercial activity exception” (id. at 31). Lastly, Youssef takes
the position that the federal enclave doctrine does not apply to embassies located in
Washington, D.C., and thus her DCHRA claim can proceed. (See id. at 40–41.)
This Court held a motion hearing on October 3, 2019 (see Min. Entry of Oct. 3,
2019), after which Defendants filed a notice of supplemental authority on the federal
enclave issue (see Defs.’ Notice of Suppl. Authority, ECF No. 37). Youssef
subsequently moved to strike Defendants’ notice, on the grounds that “supplemental
legal authority was not called for by [the] Court[,]” and “Defendants’ notice merely
cites additional authority for the argument they already made in briefing their Motion to
Dismiss[.]” (Pl.’s Mot. to Strike, ECF No. 39, at 3, 6; see also Defs.’ Resp. to Mot. to
Strike, ECF No. 40; Pl.’s Reply to Mot. to Strike, ECF No. 41.) Defendants’ motion to
dismiss and Youssef’s motion to strike are now ripe for decision. 6
6 Defendants have also moved to strike the demand for a jury trial in Youssef’s complaint (see Compl. ¶ 49), on the ground that the FSIA permits jurisdiction over only a “nonjury civil action” (Defs.’ Mot.
8 II. MOTIONS TO DISMISS UNDER RULES 12(b)(1) AND 12(b)(6) IN FSIA CASES
When a defendant moves to dismiss a complaint under Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 12(b)(1) for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction in a case that implicates the
FSIA, “the defendant may challenge either [1] the legal sufficiency of the allegations
that appear on the face of the complaint or [2] the factual underpinning of [the]
exception upon which the plaintiff relies, or both.” SACE S.p.A. v. Republic of Para.,
243 F. Supp. 3d 21, 32 (D.D.C. 2017) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).
Thus, “[a] facial challenge attacks the factual allegations of the complaint that are
contained on the face of the complaint, while a factual challenge is addressed to the
underlying facts contained in the complaint.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citation
omitted).
If the defendant makes a facial challenge, “the court must accept as true the
allegations in the complaint and consider the factual allegations of the complaint in the
light most favorable to the non-moving party[,]” Erby v. United States, 424 F. Supp. 2d
180, 182 (D.D.C. 2006), just as it would with respect to a motion under Rule 12(b)(6),
see Price v. Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, 294 F.3d 82, 93 (D.C. Cir.
2002). And to survive a facial challenge, the complaint’s allegations, “if true, must
show that the defendant’s conduct falls within the ambit of at least one of the FSIA’s
exceptions to sovereign immunity.” Agrocomplect, AD v. Republic of Iraq, 524 F.
Supp. 2d 16, 21 n.8 (D.D.C. 2007).
at 22 (citing 28 U.S.C. § 1330(a))). Youssef’s opposition brief represents that she “withdraws her jury demand pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1330(a).” (Pl.’s Opp’n at 10 n.1.) Accordingly, Defendants’ motion to strike Youssef’s jury demand is DENIED AS MOOT.
9 By contrast, if the defendant brings a factual challenge to the complaint, the
Court “may consider materials outside the pleadings” in order to determine whether it
has subject-matter jurisdiction over the challenged claims, Jerome Stevens Pharms.,
Inc. v. FDA, 402 F.3d 1249, 1253 (D.C. Cir. 2005), just as it would with respect to a
motion to dismiss brought under Rule 12(b)(1). Moreover, “factual challenges relating
to the FSIA employ a burden-shifting framework for determining whether or not an
FSIA exception applies[.]” CapitalKeys, LLC v. Dem. Rep. Congo, No. 15-cv-2079
(KBJ), 2021 WL 2255362, at *8 (D.D.C. June 3, 2021) (internal quotation marks and
citation omitted). The plaintiff seeking to establish the court’s subject-matter
jurisdiction “bears the initial burden of supporting [her] claim that [an] FSIA exception
applies.” Chevron Corp. v. Ecuador, 795 F.3d 200, 204 (D.C. Cir. 2015). But once the
plaintiff has met that initial burden of production, “the sovereign bears the ultimate
burden of persuasion to show the exception does not apply[.]” Bell Helicopter Textron,
Inc. v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 734 F.3d 1175, 1183 (D.C. Cir. 2013).
When a defendant moves to dismiss a complaint brought against a foreign state
or entity for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), the
familiar standards apply. That is, the court must presume the truth of a complaint’s
factual allegations, but is “not bound to accept as true a legal conclusion couched as a
factual allegation[,]” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (internal
quotation marks and citation omitted), and the court then asks whether the facts alleged
suffice “to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face[,]” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556
U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). When deciding a
motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), the court considers any “facts alleged in the
10 complaint, any documents either attached to or incorporated in the complaint[,] and
matters of which [the court] may take judicial notice.” Mpoy v. Rhee, 758 F.3d 285,
291 n.1 (D.C. Cir. 2014) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).
III. ANALYSIS
Defendants invoke two distinct immunity doctrines against Youssef’s lawsuit:
they first contend that Youssef’s federal and District of Columbia law claims are barred
based upon the doctrine of foreign sovereign immunity, and they also maintain that her
DCHRA claim is precluded under the federal enclave doctrine. For the reasons
explained fully below, this Court rejects both of Defendants’ arguments. The Court
concludes that Defendants cannot invoke the FSIA to claim sovereign immunity from
the instant lawsuit—which is based upon Youssef’s employment relationship with the
Embassy—because Youssef was contracted to work as a non-civil servant, and she had
duties that were clerical (as opposed to governmental) in nature. And to the extent that
Defendants are relying on the federal enclave doctrine, it is clear to this Court that the
doctrine is inapplicable to those local statutes that the District of Columbia Council has
enacted pursuant to its congressionally delegated authority. Accordingly, Defendants’
motion to dismiss must be denied.
A. This Court Has Subject-Matter Jurisdiction Over Youssef’s Claims Under The FSIA’s Commercial Activity Exception
1. Foreign Sovereigns Are Not Immune From Suits Based On Commercial Employment Relationships In The United States
Foreign states are generally “immune from the jurisdiction of the courts of the
United States . . . unless one of [the FSIA’s] several statutorily defined exceptions
applies.” Republic of Arg. v. Weltover, Inc., 504 U.S. 607, 610–11 (1992) (internal
quotation marks and citation omitted); see also McKesson Corp. v. Islamic Republic of
11 Iran, 672 F.3d 1066, 1075 (D.C. Cir. 2012) (observing that all of the statute’s
exceptions to foreign sovereign immunity are “narrowly drawn”). 7 As relevant here, a
foreign state is not entitled to immunity per the statute when it acts in a commercial
capacity, as opposed to a sovereign one, see Bolivarian Republic of Venez. v. Helmerich
& Payne Int’l Drilling Co., 137 S. Ct. 1312, 1320 (2017); in this regard, the FSIA
specifically provides that “[a] foreign state shall not be immune from the jurisdiction of
courts of the United States or of the States in any case . . . in which the action is based
upon a commercial activity carried on in the United States by the foreign state[,]” 28
U.S.C. § 1605(a)(2).
Notably, “commercial activity” is further defined in the statute as “either a
regular course of commercial conduct or a particular commercial transaction or act[,]”
id. § 1603(d), and the FSIA provides that whether or not an activity qualifies as
commercial “shall be determined by reference to the nature of the course of conduct or
particular transaction or act, rather than by reference to its purpose[,]” id. As the
Supreme Court has explained, “the issue is whether the particular actions that the
foreign state performs (whatever the motive behind them) are the type of actions by
which a private party engages in trade and traffic or commerce.” Weltover, 504 U.S. at
614 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); see also Saudi Arabia v. Nelson,
507 U.S. 349, 360 (1993) (stating that a foreign state engages in commercial activity
“where it exercises only those powers that can also be exercised by private citizens, as
7 The FSIA defines a “foreign state” to encompass “a political subdivision of a foreign state or an agency or instrumentality of a foreign state[,]” 28 U.S.C. § 1603(a), which includes embassies, see, e.g., Ashraf-Hassan v. Embassy of Fr., 610 F. App’x 3, 5 (D.C. Cir. 2015).
12 distinct from those powers peculiar to sovereigns” (internal quotation marks and
citation omitted)).
In employment cases, the D.C. Circuit has addressed the commercial activity
exception in what can be fairly described a three-part analysis. Under this analysis, a
court must first determine what the plaintiff’s claims are “based upon,” El-Hadad v.
United Arab Emirates, 496 F.3d 658, 663 (D.C. Cir. 2007) (“El-Hadad II”); see also 28
U.S.C. § 1605(a)(2)—i.e., whether or not commercial activity is the “gravamen” of the
plaintiff’s claims, OBB Personenverkehr AG v. Sachs, 577 U.S. 27, 35 (2015). And,
notably, it is by now well established that in order for the suit to be “based upon” the
commercial activity for FSIA purposes, the activity in question must relate to the
“elements of [the plaintiff’s] claim that, if proven, would entitle a plaintiff to relief
under his theory of the case.” Goodman Holdings v. Rafidain Bank, 26 F.3d 1143, 1145
(D.C. Cir. 1994) (quoting Nelson, 507 U.S. at 357). For example, the D.C. Circuit has
held that a plaintiff’s hostile work environment claims were based upon “the course of
her employment at the Embassy” where she worked, because such claims are
“necessarily premised on” the existence of an employment relationship. Ashraf-
Hassan, 610 F. App’x at 5; see also, e.g., Merlini v. Canada, 926 F.3d 21, 28–30 (1st
Cir. 2019) (concluding that a plaintiff’s claim for workers’ compensation over injuries
she sustained at her workplace was “‘based on’ Canada’s employment of her as a
clerical worker[,]” because her employment “provides the legal basis for the only cause
of action that she has against her employer for [her] injury”). Thus, D.C. Circuit
precedent “makes clear that the [mere] employment of personnel by a foreign state is
not per se commercial activity under the FSIA[,]” El-Hadad v. United Arab Emirates,
13 216 F.3d 29, 31 (D.C. Cir. 2000) (“El-Hadad I”); however, such an employment
relationship can sometimes be the basis for application of the commercial activity
exception for FSIA purposes, see El-Hadad II, 496 F.3d at 663.
If the plaintiff’s claim is based upon the terms or conditions of her employment,
the court must then proceed to identify the characteristics of the employment
relationship at issue, because “[t]he commercial-activities exception has been deemed
to apply [only] to employment relationships that exhibit certain characteristics[.]”
Ashraf-Hassan v. Embassy of Fr., 40 F. Supp. 3d 94, 102 (D.D.C. 2014); see also El-
Hadad II, 496 F.3d at 664 & n.2 (clarifying that the key question is whether the
plaintiff worked for the foreign sovereign as a “civil servant,” on the one hand, or a
mere “commercial employee,” on the other). The D.C. Circuit has generally relied upon
the FSIA’s legislative history to identify the features of an employment relationship
that make it non-commercial, and thus not subject to the commercial activity exception,
and it has contrasted those characteristics with employment that should be deemed
commercial in nature. Thus, the Circuit has concluded that “‘the employment of
diplomatic, civil service, or military personnel’” is “‘[p]ublic or governmental and not
commercial in nature,’” while “commercial and not public or governmental in nature
would be the ‘employment or engagement of laborers, clerical staff, or public relations
or marketing agents.’” El-Hadad II, 496 F.3d at 663 (quoting H.R. Rep. No. 94-1487,
at 16 (1976)).
Moreover, because “some countries might lack the notion of a ‘civil service’
altogether, and others might define the notion in a way far afield of [the] FSIA’s
purpose[,]” the D.C. Circuit “take[s] a flexible and inclusive approach to determining
14 whether a foreign government’s employee is a civil servant[,]” and therefore whether
the employment relationship is non-commercial. Id. at 665. This approach focuses on
“five generally relevant considerations,” which are “not exclusive, necessarily
applicable in all cases, or, unfortunately (but unavoidably), analytically precise[.]” Id.
These factors are:
First, how do the [foreign sovereign’s] own laws define its civil service, and do [plaintiff’s] job title and duties come within that definition? Second, what was the nature of [plaintiff’s] employment relationship with the [foreign sovereign]? Did he have a true contractual arrangement, or is his “contract” claim instead based . . . solely upon the civil service laws of the [foreign sovereign]? Third, what was the nature of [plaintiff’s] employment relationship when he worked in the [foreign state], and how did his subsequent employment at the Embassy relate to that prior tenure? . . . Fourth, what was the nature of [plaintiff’s] work? . . . Congress indicated that the “employment or engagement of laborers, clerical staff or public relations or marketing agents” would come within the definition of commercial activity. . . . [and] Fifth, what is the relevance of [plaintiff’s] . . . nationality on the facts of this case? Is the [foreign sovereign] a country in which . . . non-nationals are unlikely to be employed as governmental officers? Or does the [foreign sovereign] often employ non-nationals in governmental positions?
El-Hadad I, 216 F.3d at 34 (emphases added). Additionally, the D.C. Circuit has
acknowledged that “[m]ultifactor tests tend to be inconclusive,” El-Hadad II, 496 F.3d
at 667, and it has thus determined that, in this context—where “the foreign sovereign
has the burden of proof” to establish its sovereign immunity, id. at 665; see also
Ivanenko v. Yanukovich, 995 F.3d 232, 236 (D.C. Cir. 2021)—any lack of definitiveness
concerning the nature of the employment relationship at issue “would decide the matter
in [plaintiff’s] favor[,]” El-Hadad II, 496 F.3d at 667.
15 The third step of the D.C. Circuit’s three-part analysis is premised on a court’s
part-two conclusion that the plaintiff is not a civil servant. If that finding is made, then
the court must proceed to decide if the work that the plaintiff performed for the foreign
state was itself governmental in nature—i.e., “whether [her] work involve[d] the
exercise of ‘powers that can also be exercised by private citizens, as distinct from those
powers peculiar to sovereigns.’” Id. at 664 (quoting Nelson, 507 U.S. at 360); see also
id. (explaining that “[a] foreign government’s employee might not be a civil servant (or
diplomat or soldier) and still be engaged in quintessentially governmental work”). If
the court determines at this final step that the plaintiff’s work was commercial rather
than governmental, the result is that the plaintiff’s “suit is authorized under the
[FSIA’s] commercial activity exception.” Id. at 668.
2. Youssef Was Not A Civil Servant, And Her Employment With The Embassy Was Commercial In Nature; Therefore, The Commercial Activity Exception Applies To Her Claims
This Court’s analysis of whether Youssef’s claims fall within the commercial
activity exception to the FSIA is guided by the principles that the D.C. Circuit
announced in El-Hadad. To start, this Court finds that Youssef’s claims are “based
upon” her employment relationship with the Embassy, and, more precisely, Defendants’
allegedly unlawful termination of that employment relationship. That is, it is clear
beyond cavil that the gravamen of Youssef’s claims is her allegation that she was
wrongfully terminated from her position at the Embassy on the basis of her age (see
Compl. ¶¶ 1, 25, 36), and her employment relationship with the Embassy is thus a
necessary component of her claims, see Baloch v. Kempthorne, 550 F.3d 1191, 1196
(D.C. Cir. 2008) (noting that the “essential elements of a discrimination claim” under
the ADEA include proving that “the plaintiff suffered an adverse employment action”).
16 As a result, this case plainly implicates El-Hadad’s framework for assessing “the
commercial activity exception as applied in the employment context.” El-Hadad II, 496
F.3d at 663.
Next, based on El-Hadad’s multi-factor test, the Court is persuaded that Youssef
was not a UAE civil servant. The first factor—how “the U.A.E.’s own laws define its
civil service” and whether Youssef’s “job title[s] and duties come within that
definition[,]” El-Hadad I, 216 F.3d at 34—supports that conclusion. Indeed, Youssef’s
employment contracts do not designate her as a civil or public servant in any way, nor
do they grant her UAE civil servant benefits or tenure. (See 2001 Contract at 2–4; 2011
Contract at 4–10; see also Compl. ¶ 17 (alleging that Youssef “was not entitled to UAE
civil service benefits or to any other benefits, rights, or remedies provided by the laws
of [the] UAE”).) Additionally, Youssef’s contracts with the Embassy contain no
indication that her employment was subject to UAE law governing civil servants or
diplomats. (See generally 2001 Contract at 2–8; 2011 Contract at 2–21.) El-Hadad’s
second factor, which somewhat relatedly asks about “the nature of [Youssef’s]
employment relationship with the U.A.E.[,]” El-Hadad I, 216 F.3d at 34—and, in
particular, whether she had “a true contractual arrangement” rather than relying “solely
upon the civil service laws of the U.A.E.[,]” id.—points in the same direction. As
detailed above, Youssef worked for the UAE Embassy pursuant to written employment
contracts, which were titled “Local Employment Contract for Employees at the United
Arab Emirates Representative Mission” (2001 Contract at 2) or “Local Employment
Contract for the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates” (2011 Contract at 2), and
neither written agreement mentions the UAE’s civil service in any respect (see
17 generally 2001 Contract at 2–8; 2011 Contract at 2–21). Youssef’s complaint also
repeatedly disclaims any reliance on the UAE’s civil service laws. (See, e.g., Compl.
¶¶ 13, 17, 36.)
The Court further finds that the fourth El-Hadad factor, regarding “the nature of
[Youssef’s] work[,]” El-Hadad I, 216 F.3d at 34—and, especially, whether her work
was akin to the work of “laborers, clerical staff or public relations or marketing
agents[,]” id. (quoting H.R. Rep. No. 94-1487, at 16)—also weighs in favor of a finding
that Youssef was not a civil servant. Youssef’s 2001 employment contract, which listed
her job title as “Administrative Affairs Secretary[,]” described her job duties as
including “[t]yping all procedures related to administrative affairs[,]” “[t]yping all
purchase orders for procurement and warehouses[,]” “[f]iling and organizing employee
files[,]” and “[r]egistering external and internal” outgoing and incoming
correspondence. (2001 Contract at 8.) Her 2011 contract likewise lists her job title as
“Administrative Officer” or “Administrative Affairs Officer” (2011 Contract at 21), and
in lieu of enumerating her duties, it appears that the parties opted merely to reference
the 2001 agreement (id. at 20). And because there is no indication that Youssef’s
responsibilities as an Administrative Officer were materially different from those
described in the earlier contract (see generally id. at 2–21), Youssef’s duties as an
Administrative Officer were also plainly “ministerial, not discretionary[,]” like those of
an “administrative assistant,” and she “lacked authority to determine or articulate
policy[,]” El-Hadad II, 496 F.3d at 666–67 (internal quotation marks and citation
omitted), which for present purposes means that Youssef “is more like the employees
18 for whom Congress intended [the] FSIA’s commercial exception, and less like a civil
servant[,]” id. at 666. 8
Defendants’ arguments to the contrary are unavailing. (See Defs.’ Mot. at 18–
22.) For instance, with respect to El-Hadad’s first factor concerning how the laws of
the UAE define that country’s civil service and whether or not Youssef’s job title and
duties fall under that definition, Defendants argue that Youssef’s “employment contract
provided her with 60 days of vacation and sick leave and end-of-service benefits
commensurate with her years of employment[,]” and thus she “was afforded the same
benefits as the Cultural Division’s advisors charged with disseminating scholarships
and advising UAE students.” (Id. at 18–19.) But Defendants cite no evidence in
support of the latter assertion. And in El-Hadad, the D.C. Circuit concluded that the
absence of evidence that the plaintiff had “benefits common to other U.A.E.
governmental employees” meant that this factor weighed in the plaintiff’s favor, “if
only slightly and in light of the burden of proof[.]” El-Hadad II, 496 F.3d at 666.
As to the fourth El-Hadad factor, regarding the nature of Youssef’s work,
Defendants point to the fact that Youssef “was employed on an A-2 visa, which is
issued to government officials representing a foreign government or full-time
employees at a foreign embassy[,]” which Defendants offer in an apparent effort to
demonstrate that Youssef was engaged in governmental work. (Defs.’ Mot. at 21; see
8 The third El-Hadad factor, involving the similarity between “the nature of [the plaintiff’s] employment relationship when he worked in the U.A.E.” and “his subsequent employment at the Embassy[,]” El-Hadad I, 216 F.3d at 34, has no application here, as it is undisputed that Youssef “had no pre-existing relationship with the UAE prior to her employment” with the UAE Embassy “beginning in 1999” (Pl.’s Opp’n at 27; see also Defs.’ Mot. at 19). And the fifth factor, regarding “the relevance of [the plaintiff’s] Egyptian nationality on the facts of this case[,]” El-Hadad I, 216 F.3d at 34, is “all but irrelevant” here—as it was in El-Hadad, see El-Hadad II, 496 F.3d at 667—because the UAE is not a country that “rarely if ever hires non-citizens for its civil service[,]” id.
19 also Defs.’ Reply at 6 (arguing that “A-2 visas are available only to foreign government
officials who engage solely in official activities for that government [which are]
governmental in character or nature, [and not] of a commercial nature” (internal
quotation marks and citation omitted)).) As an initial matter, this Court notes that the
D.C. Circuit’s El-Hadad test is silent as to visa status—even though the plaintiff in El-
Hadad was also employed on an A-2 visa—and therefore it is doubtful that Youssef’s
visa status is even relevant to the issue of the applicability of the commercial activity
exception. See Defs.’ Renewed Mot. to Dismiss, El-Hadad v. United Arab Emirates,
No. 96-cv-1943, ECF No. 166, at 4 (D.D.C. Feb. 25, 2004) (noting that plaintiff had
purportedly “entered the United States several times using his A2 diplomatic visa . . .
after he was no longer employed at the Embassy” (internal quotation marks and citation
omitted)).
Regardless, as another court in this district has explained, “no adverse
conclusion should be drawn from the regulation” that Defendants cite concerning A-2
visas. Dahman v. Embassy of Qatar, No. 17-cv-2628, 2018 WL 3597660, at *8 (D.D.C.
July 26, 2018), vacated on other grounds, 364 F. Supp. 3d 1 (D.D.C. 2019). This is
because eligibility for A-2 visas turns on whether the foreign employee will be
performing work on behalf of her government, and not whether that work is commercial
in nature. Indeed, the State Department’s regulations make clear that any “[f]ull-time
employee[] assigned by that government, coming only to work at a foreign embassy or
consulate in the United States, to perform duties which take place at an embassy” is
eligible for an A-2 visa. Id. (quoting U.S. Dep’t of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs,
20 Visas for Diplomats and Foreign Government Officials). 9 Yet, as explained above,
under D.C. Circuit case law, some such employees might still qualify as commercial
workers for the purpose of the FSIA. In other words, Youssef’s visa status says nothing
about whether or not she was employed by the UAE to engage in commercial activities
for the benefit of that country, which is the relevant inquiry when the Court undertakes
to decide whether the FSIA’s commercial activity exception from sovereign immunity
is applicable to her legal claims.
Finally, as to “the ultimate question of whether [Youssef’s] work involved the
exercise of ‘powers that can also be exercised by private citizens, as distinct from those
powers peculiar to sovereigns[,]’” El-Hadad II, 496 F.3d at 667 (quoting Nelson, 507
U.S. at 360), Youssef’s duties clearly fall into the former category. Notably, in
conducting this final step of the commercial activity analysis, the Court “look[s] only to
the resemblance between ‘the outward form’ of [Youssef’s] conduct and powers and
those of private citizens[,]” rather than “whether [Youssef’s] work aimed to carry out
an international political program or to keep the cultural attaché’s office supplied with
pens and pencils.” El-Hadad II, 496 F.3d at 668 (quoting Weltover, 504 U.S. at 617);
see also 28 U.S.C. § 1603(d) (“The commercial character of an activity shall be
determined by reference to the nature of the course of conduct or particular transaction
or act, rather than by reference to its purpose.”). And it is clear to the Court from the
evidence and allegations presented that Youssef “had no role in the creation of
governmental policy, and to the extent [s]he carried it out, [her] duties were ministerial,
not discretionary.” El-Hadad II, 496 F.3d at 668 (internal quotation marks and citation
9 https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/other-visa-categories/visas-diplomats.html (last visited Aug. 23, 2021).
21 omitted). Instead, Youssef performed standard administrative work, such as “[t]yping”
documents, “[f]iling and organizing employee files[,]” and “[r]egistering”
correspondence (2001 Contract at 8), and each of her activities was “of a character
easily found in commercial enterprise[,]” El-Hadad II, 496 F.3d at 668. Consequently,
the Court concludes that Youssef’s “employment was commercial rather than
governmental,” such that her “suit is authorized under the [FSIA’s] commercial activity
exception.” Id.
In short, this Court concludes that the commercial activity exception to FSIA
sovereign immunity applies with respect to Youssef’s claims, because her claims are
“based upon a commercial activity[,]” 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(2)—i.e., her employment
relationship with the Embassy, which is not categorically governmental activity—and
Youssef did not work for the Embassy as a civil servant, see El-Hadad I, 216 F.3d at
34. The Court further finds that the work Youssef performed for the Embassy was not
governmental in nature, because it involved the exercise of “powers that can also be
exercised by private citizens, as distinct from those powers peculiar to sovereigns.”
Nelson, 507 U.S. at 360 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). And
throughout this analysis, the Court has been mindful of the fact that the “defendant
bears the burden of proving sovereign immunity, including that the plaintiff’s
allegations do not bring [the] case within a statutory exemption to immunity.”
Schubarth v. Fed. Republic of Ger., 891 F.3d 392, 398 (D.C. Cir. 2018) (internal
quotation marks and citation omitted). Defendants have not met their burden here.
22 B. Youssef Has Stated A Claim Under The DCHRA, Because The Federal Enclave Doctrine Is Inapplicable To The Laws Of The District Of Columbia
The Court next turns to Defendants’ invocation of the “federal enclave doctrine”
with respect to Youssef’s DCHRA claim. (Defs.’ Mot. at 23.) As explained below, this
Court concludes that, while the federal enclave doctrine is typically applicable where a
plaintiff’s legal claim arises under state law and concerns an entity that is on federal
soil within a state territory, the doctrine does not apply to foreign embassies and other
similar entities that are located in the District of Columbia.
1. A State Law That Is Enacted After An Area Becomes A Federal Enclave Generally Does Not Apply To The Enclave
On occasion, the federal government will acquire land from a state for the
purpose of constructing or operating a federal facility. See, e.g., Goodyear Atomic
Corp. v. Miller, 486 U.S. 174, 176 (1988); see also Parker Drilling Mgmt. Servs., Ltd.
v. Newton, 139 S. Ct. 1881, 1890 (2019) (noting that a “federal enclave” is “an area of
exclusive Federal jurisdiction located within a State” (internal quotation marks and
citations omitted)). In such instances, a question may arise concerning whether the
state laws in effect in the rest of the state’s territory also apply to that federal enclave.
The Supreme Court has long held that if the state law in question was in effect at the
time that the state legislature consented to the transfer of the land to the federal
government, then the law does generally continue to apply with respect to individuals
and entities on that land. See Parker Drilling, 139 S. Ct. at 1890 (“[W]hen an area in a
State becomes a federal enclave, ‘only the [state] law in effect at the time of the
transfer of jurisdiction continues in force’ as surrogate federal law.” (quoting James
Stewart & Co. v. Sadrakula, 309 U.S. 94, 100 (1940))). But any state law that is
23 enacted after the federal government acquires the property is generally inapplicable on
that property. See id. (explaining that “going forward, state law presumptively does not
apply to the enclave”); see also Paul v. United States, 371 U.S. 245, 268 (1963)
(observing that “only state law existing at the time of the acquisition remains
enforceable, not subsequent laws”).
This principle is generally referred to as the “federal enclave doctrine,” see, e.g.,
Thomas v. Securiguard Inc., 412 F. Supp. 3d 62, 74 (D.D.C. 2019); Allison v. Boeing
Laser Tech. Servs., 689 F.3d 1234, 1236 (10th Cir. 2012), and the doctrine finds its
authority in the Enclave Clause of the United States Constitution, which authorizes
Congress “[t]o exercise exclusive Legislation . . . over all Places purchased by the
Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of
Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings[,]” U.S. Const.
art. I, § 8, cl. 17. And when the federal enclave doctrine applies to preclude claims
under state law, “dismiss[al] under Rule 12(b)(6)” is proper, because those state “causes
of action are not applicable” to the federal enclave. Colon v. United States, 320 F.
Supp. 3d 733, 745 (D. Md. 2018).
2. The Federal Enclave Doctrine Does Not Bar Youssef’s DCHRA Claim, Because That Doctrine Does Not Apply To Laws That The District Of Columbia Council Enacts Pursuant To Its Congressionally Delegated Legislative Authority
In the instant matter, Defendants argue that Youssef’s DCHRA cause of action
fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, because the DCHRA does not
apply on the land where the UAE Embassy is located. (See Defs.’ Mot. at 23.) In
particular, Defendants contend that the property on which the UAE Embassy sits is a
federal enclave that is “separate and distinct from the territory of the District of
24 Columbia” and was established “in the early 1960s,” whereas the DCHRA “was enacted
in 1977[,]” i.e., “after the creation of the federal enclave in which [Youssef] worked[.]”
(Id. at 23–24.) In this Court’s view, however, Defendants’ contention fails to account
for at least two critical distinctions between the District of Columbia and the fifty
states. See ITEL Corp. v. District of Columbia, 448 A.2d 261, 264 (D.C. 1982)
(explaining that “[t]he District of Columbia is treated differently from federal enclaves
within state boundaries, such as various military bases[,]” for purposes of the Enclave
Clause).
First, and foremost, the District of Columbia is “neither a state nor [a] territory,
but a federal enclave” itself. Medynski v. Margolis, 389 F. Supp. 743, 746 (D.D.C.
1975); see also U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 17 (providing that Congress may “exercise
exclusive Legislation” over “the Seat of the Government of the United States,” i.e., the
District of Columbia). Thus, unlike the relationship between a state and a federal
enclave within its boundaries, “all parts of the District of Columbia are within
exclusive congressional jurisdiction, regardless of whether they are privately- or
federally-owned.” ITEL Corp., 448 A.2d at 264 (emphasis in original) (footnote
omitted). Second, it is the Council of the District of Columbia that enacts the District’s
local laws, and Congress created that body under the District of Columbia Self-
Government and Governmental Reorganization Act in 1973. See Pub. L. No. 93-198,
87 Stat. 774 (1973) (codified as amended at D.C. Code § 1-201.01 et seq.). Through
that Act, Congress delegated its own legislative authority to the District of Columbia
Council for the purpose of enacting local laws in the District, while reserving for itself
thirty days to reject any proposed law before the law takes effect. See D.C. Code
25 §§ 1-201.02(a), 1-204.04(a), 1-206.02(c)(1); see also ITEL Corp., 448 A.2d at 264 n.5.
As a result, all laws that the District of Columbia Council enacts are “surrogate federal
law[,]” Parker Drilling, 139 S. Ct. at 1890, insofar as they are expressly “authorized by
Congress[,]” Thomas, 412 F. Supp. 3d at 75, and the federal enclave doctrine simply
does “not apply to exempt federal buildings from D.C. local law[,]” id.; see also id.
(explaining that a contrary result “would surely be at odds with the D.C. Council’s
[congressionally granted] authority to pass local statutes”).
This all means that it is irrelevant whether or not the particular compound on
which the UAE Embassy sits should be classified as a federal enclave—which appears
to be the nub of the parties’ dispute over the applicability of the doctrine (see Pl.’s
Opp’n at 41; Defs.’ Reply at 16)—because, regardless, the federal enclave doctrine does
not apply to limit the applicability of D.C. laws with respect to entities located in the
District. And because the federal enclave doctrine is the sole ground on which
Defendants challenge the legal sufficiency of Youssef’s DCHRA claim (see Defs.’ Mot.
at 23–24), this Court finds that Youssef has stated a plausible claim under the
DCHRA. 10
10 In light of the foregoing discussion, Defendants’ additional authorities and arguments regarding the scope of the federal enclave doctrine do not alter this Court’s conclusion that the federal enclave doctrine does not preclude Youssef’s DCHRA claim. Consequently, Youssef’s motion to strike Defendants’ notice of supplemental authority will be DENIED AS MOOT.
26 IV. CONCLUSION
As explained above, this Court has subject-matter jurisdiction over Youssef’s
claims under the FSIA’s commercial activity exception, and the federal enclave doctrine
does not bar Youssef’s DCHRA claim. Therefore, as set forth in the accompanying
Order, Defendants’ motion to dismiss will be DENIED.
DATE: August 23, 2021 Ketanji Brown Jackson KETANJI BROWN JACKSON United States Circuit Judge Sitting by Designation