Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of Cal., San Francisco Cty.

198 L. Ed. 2d 395, 137 S. Ct. 1773, 582 U.S. 255, 26 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 671, 2017 U.S. LEXIS 3873, 2017 WL 2621322, 85 U.S.L.W. 4400
CourtSupreme Court of the United States
DecidedJune 19, 2017
Docket16–466.
StatusPublished
Cited by2,257 cases

This text of 198 L. Ed. 2d 395 (Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of Cal., San Francisco Cty.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of the United States primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of Cal., San Francisco Cty., 198 L. Ed. 2d 395, 137 S. Ct. 1773, 582 U.S. 255, 26 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 671, 2017 U.S. LEXIS 3873, 2017 WL 2621322, 85 U.S.L.W. 4400 (U.S. 2017).

Opinions

Justice ALITO delivered the opinion of the Court.

More than 600 plaintiffs, most of whom are not California residents, filed this civil action in a California state court against Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS), asserting a variety of state-law claims based on injuries allegedly caused by a BMS drug called Plavix. The California Supreme Court held that the California courts have specific jurisdiction to entertain the nonresidents' claims. We now reverse.

I

A

BMS, a large pharmaceutical company, is incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in New York, and it maintains substantial *1778operations in both New York and New Jersey. 1 Cal.5th 783, 790, 206 Cal.Rptr.3d 636, 377 P.3d 874, 879 (2016). Over 50 percent of BMS's work force in the United States is employed in those two States. Ibid.

BMS also engages in business activities in other jurisdictions, including California. Five of the company's research and laboratory facilities, which employ a total of around 160 employees, are located there. Ibid. BMS also employs about 250 sales representatives in California and maintains a small state-government advocacy office in Sacramento. Ibid.

One of the pharmaceuticals that BMS manufactures and sells is Plavix, a prescription drug that thins the blood and inhibits blood clotting. BMS did not develop Plavix in California, did not create a marketing strategy for Plavix in California, and did not manufacture, label, package, or work on the regulatory approval of the product in California. Ibid. BMS instead engaged in all of these activities in either New York or New Jersey. Ibid. But BMS does sell Plavix in California. Between 2006 and 2012, it sold almost 187 million Plavix pills in the State and took in more than $900 million from those sales. 1 Cal.5th, at 790-791, 206 Cal.Rptr.3d 636, 377 P.3d, at 879. This amounts to a little over one percent of the company's nationwide sales revenue. Id., at 790, 206 Cal.Rptr.3d 636, 377 P.3d, at 879.

B

A group of plaintiffs-consisting of 86 California residents and 592 residents from 33 other States-filed eight separate complaints in California Superior Court, alleging that Plavix had damaged their health. Id., at 789, 206 Cal.Rptr.3d 636, 377 P.3d, at 878. All the complaints asserted 13 claims under California law, including products liability, negligent misrepresentation, and misleading advertising claims. Ibid. The nonresident plaintiffs did not allege that they obtained Plavix through California physicians or from any other California source; nor did they claim that they were injured by Plavix or were treated for their injuries in California.

Asserting lack of personal jurisdiction, BMS moved to quash service of summons on the nonresidents' claims, but the California Superior Court denied this motion, finding that the California courts had general jurisdiction over BMS "[b]ecause [it] engages in extensive activities in California." App. to Pet. for Cert. 150. BMS unsuccessfully petitioned the State Court of Appeal for a writ of mandate, but after our decision on general jurisdiction in Daimler AG v. Bauman, 571 U.S. ----, 134 S.Ct. 746, 187 L.Ed.2d 624 (2014), the California Supreme Court instructed the Court of Appeal "to vacate its order denying mandate and to issue an order to show cause why relief sought in the petition should not be granted." App. 9-10.

The Court of Appeal then changed its decision on the question of general jurisdiction. 228 Cal.App.4th 605, 175 Cal.Rptr.3d 412 (2014). Under Daimler, it held, general jurisdiction was clearly lacking, but it went on to find that the California courts had specific jurisdiction over the nonresidents' claims against BMS. 228 Cal.App.4th 605, 175 Cal.Rptr.3d, at 425-439.

The California Supreme Court affirmed. The court unanimously agreed with the Court of Appeal on the issue of general jurisdiction, but the court was divided on the question of specific jurisdiction. The majority applied a "sliding scale approach to specific jurisdiction." 1 Cal.5th, at 806, 206 Cal.Rptr.3d 636, 377 P.3d, at 889. Under this approach, "the more wide ranging the defendant's forum contacts, the more readily is shown a connection between the forum contacts and the claim." Ibid. (internal *1779quotation marks omitted).

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198 L. Ed. 2d 395, 137 S. Ct. 1773, 582 U.S. 255, 26 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 671, 2017 U.S. LEXIS 3873, 2017 WL 2621322, 85 U.S.L.W. 4400, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bristol-myers-squibb-co-v-superior-court-of-cal-san-francisco-cty-scotus-2017.