Aetna Life & Cas. Co. v. Therm-O-Disc, Inc.

488 So. 2d 83, 11 Fla. L. Weekly 388
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedFebruary 12, 1986
DocketBG-422
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 488 So. 2d 83 (Aetna Life & Cas. Co. v. Therm-O-Disc, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Aetna Life & Cas. Co. v. Therm-O-Disc, Inc., 488 So. 2d 83, 11 Fla. L. Weekly 388 (Fla. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

488 So.2d 83 (1986)

AETNA LIFE & CASUALTY COMPANY, As Subrogee of Energy Conservation, Unlimited, Inc., Appellant,
v.
THERM-O-DISC, INC., Appellee.

No. BG-422.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

February 12, 1986.
Rehearing Denied May 19, 1986.

*85 Harris Brown, of Mathews, Osborne, McNatt, Gobelman & Cobb, Jacksonville, for appellant.

Daniel C. Shaughnessy, of Coker, Myers & Schickel, Jacksonville, for appellee.

BARFIELD, Judge.

Aetna Life and Casualty Company (Aetna) appeals an order granting appellee's motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. Appellant asserts that the trial court erred in concluding that "there are insufficient allegations to bring Defendant within the provisions of Section 48.193, Florida Statutes." We agree and reverse.

Aetna is the liability insurer for Energy Conservation Unlimited (ECU), which manufactures a device that transfers heat from air conditioning units to hot water heaters. Although this mechanism is not activated in the winter, it remains filled with water and requires protection from freezing. Appellee Therm-O-Disc manufactures a switch which is intended to activate a circulating pump when the temperature reaches freezing, to prevent damage to the heat transfer unit.

ECU, a Florida corporation, purchased switches from Therm-O-Disc, a foreign corporation with its principal place of business in Ohio. The switches were shipped to ECU's office in Florida and incorporated by ECU into the heat transfer units, which were then distributed to various consumers, including the U.S. Government for use at base housing projects in Georgia and South Carolina. During the winter of 1981-82, the switches failed to activate the circulating pumps, resulting in substantial property damage in Georgia and South Carolina, for which Aetna reimbursed the U.S. Government and thereby became subrogated to ECU's rights against Therm-O-Disc.

Aetna subsequently sued Therm-O-Disc in five separate counts alleging negligence, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty of merchantability, breach of implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, and strict liability. Therm-O-Disc moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction and the original complaint was dismissed with leave to amend. Aetna's amended complaint alleged that Therm-O-Disc sold and delivered switches to ECU in Florida, that Therm-O-Disc engaged in a business activity or venture in Florida by negotiating and completing this sale within the state, that Therm-O-Disc breached the contract and breached express and implied warranties in Florida due to the failure of its product to conform to its intended use, that Therm-O-Disc was engaged in solicitation of the sale of switches to ECU in Florida, and that the switches were processed, serviced or manufactured by Therm-O-Disc, were used or consumed within Florida in the ordinary course of commerce, trade, or use, and said use resulted in damages to ECU.

*86 Therm-O-Disc moved a second time to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction and filed a supporting affidavit of its product safety director which stated that Therm-O-Disc has no business office, no property, and no agent or representative in Florida, that the switches were custom-made pursuant to specifications received from ECU, that Therm-O-Disc does not offer its products for sale to the general public in Florida and did not engage in solicitation of the sale of the custom-made switches, and that Therm-O-Disc did not maintain any degree of direction or control over the switches once they had been delivered to ECU. In response, Aetna filed two affidavits, from the vice-president of ECU and from ECU's purchasing manager. The vice-president's affidavit stated that the sale and delivery of the switches from Therm-O-Disc were completed in Florida and that the switches were incorporated into the heat transfer units in Florida. The purchasing manager's affidavit stated that Therm-O-Disc's products are used by other manufacturers in Florida, that the switches are a standard type, calibrated to fit the specific needs of the customer, and that she had numerous telephone conversations with Therm-O-Disc, which provided input as to the technical requirements for the switches. The affidavit further stated that Therm-O-Disc entered into a contract for the delivery of its switches to ECU in Longwood, Florida, that the switches were delivered pursuant to this contract in Florida, and that the contract was breached in Florida in that the switches did not comply with their intended use. The affidavit also stated that Therm-O-Disc's district manager personally made a sales call to the office of ECU in Longwood, Florida, soliciting the business of ECU. Attached to this affidavit were invoices manifesting the existence of a contract between the parties.

In its order granting the motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, the trial court concluded that there were insufficient allegations to bring the defendant within the provisions of the long-arm statute and the cases interpreting that statute. Noting that it was not clear from the purchasing manager's affidavit whether Therm-O-Disc's district manager visited ECU in connection with the contract described in the amended complaint, the court gave Aetna fifteen days within which to file a further affidavit. Instead, Aetna filed this appeal.

Section 48.193, Florida Statutes (1981), lists the acts which will subject a person to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state for any cause of action arising from the specified acts. The procedure to be followed in testing jurisdiction under the long-arm statute is as follows: The plaintiff must initially allege in its complaint sufficient jurisdictional facts to show compliance with the statute, at which time the burden shifts to the defendant to make a prima facie showing of the inapplicability of the statute, and thereafter plaintiff is required to substantiate its jurisdictional allegations. Pace Carpet Mills, Inc. v. Life Carpet and Tile Company, Inc., 365 So.2d 445 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978). If the plaintiff's allegations in support of jurisdiction are challenged, and that challenge is supported by affidavit, plaintiff must then support its jurisdictional allegations by affidavit or other proof. Sims v. Sutton, 451 So.2d 931 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984); Newton v. Bryan, 433 So.2d 577 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983); Hickok Teaching Systems, Inc. v. Equitech Training Systems, Inc., 421 So.2d 772 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982); and Cosmopolitan Health Spa, Inc. v. Health Industries, Inc., 362 So.2d 367 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978).

Before a state court may acquire personal jurisdiction over a foreign corporation, the foreign corporation must have initiated some minimum contact with the forum state, so that maintenance of the suit does not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice. Harlo Products Corporation v. J.I. Case Company, 360 So.2d 1328 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978). It is necessary that there be some act by which the foreign corporation purposely avails itself of the privilege of conducting activities within the forum state, thus invoking the benefits and protection of its laws. Id. at 1329. Long arm statutes are *87 to be strictly construed, in order to guarantee compliance with due process requirements. Citizens State Bank v. Winters Government Securities Corporation, 361 So.2d 760 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978); Bank of Wessington v. Winters Government Securities Corporation, 361 So.2d 757 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978).

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488 So. 2d 83, 11 Fla. L. Weekly 388, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aetna-life-cas-co-v-therm-o-disc-inc-fladistctapp-1986.