Frizzell v. Danieli Corp.

81 Va. Cir. 427, 2010 Va. Cir. LEXIS 202
CourtNorfolk County Circuit Court
DecidedDecember 22, 2010
DocketCase No. CL09-5120
StatusPublished

This text of 81 Va. Cir. 427 (Frizzell v. Danieli Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Norfolk County Circuit Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Frizzell v. Danieli Corp., 81 Va. Cir. 427, 2010 Va. Cir. LEXIS 202 (Va. Super. Ct. 2010).

Opinion

By Judge Karen J. Burrell

This matter came before the Court on Defendant Extreme Machine and Fabrications, Inc.’s (Extreme Machine) Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction. Extreme Machine, Plaintiff, and Defendant Danieli Corporation (Danieli) have filed briefs, and, on November 18, 2010, the Court heard oral argument.

After carefully considering the parties’ arguments, the Court finds that Extreme Machine is not subject to personal jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Extreme Machine’s conduct does not place itself within the reach of Virginia’s long-arm statute. Further, even if Virginia’s long-arm statute reached Extreme Machine, its application in this current case would offend the guarantees of due process. Accordingly, the case against Extreme Machine is dismissed for the reasons stated below.

[428]*428 Factual Background

Plaintiff claims he sustained serious injury during the course of his employment while attempting to move with a forklift a box shipped from Extreme Machine’s facility to the Norfolk, Virginia, destination. The box was labeled as weighing 2,800 pounds, which Plaintiff’s forklift, having a capacity to lift 3,000 pounds, was equipped to handle. As it turned out, the box weighed significantly more, 4,144 pounds. Extreme Machine erroneously recorded the weight of the box on the box itself as well as on shipping documents accompanying the delivery to Plaintiff’s place of employment. Because it could not handle the weight of the box, Plaintiff’s forklift tipped, causing his injuries.

Extreme Machine is incorporated in Ohio and also has an office in Pennsylvania. Because Extreme Machine now claims this Court cannot exercise personal jurisdiction over it, it is important to flesh out the relationship between the three corporate defendants in this case and their respective relationships to the particular shipment at issue. Defendant ILVA America, Inc. (Ilva) placed an order with Danieli. This order included the mislabeled box Plaintiff attempted to move. Danieli had a relationship with Extreme Machine whereby it would employ Extreme Machine, a machine shop and fabrication shop, to (1) machine or fabricate parts for them and (2) act as a warehouse for them. At the time the order in question was shipped from Extreme Machine’s facility, Danieli did not operate its own warehouse. In its Youngstown, Ohio, facility, Extreme Machine would make some parts for orders made by Danieli’s customers and. would house parts on behalf of Danieli shipped from other suppliers.

When all parts of an order from one of Danieli’s customers were built and physically located in Extreme Machine’s facility, Larry Russo, employed by Danieli in a shipping and logistics capacity, would call Chris Jones, then employed by Extreme Machine to handle shipping and receiving for Danieli at Extreme Machine’s facility. Mr. Russo would inform Mr. Jones that all the parts were completed by Extreme Machine or had been shipped from other suppliers and were ready to be packaged as one order. Mr. Russo would fax a list of the identification numbers of all the merchandise that needed to be shipped with the order. Mr. Jones would then prepare the order for shipment. He would gather and package the various components of the order, parts made by Extreme Machine or those shipped to Extreme Machine’s facility by other suppliers, and weigh and label the packages. Danieli provided Extreme Machine with preprinted bills of lading, contracts for carriage, on which to record contents of the order and package weight and dimensions, among other things. Extreme Machine might be given instructions indicating, for example, that the shipment would be traveling internationally, which would require special preparation (e.g., rust-proofing to protect against ocean salt water). At the [429]*429time of shipment preparation, however, Extreme Machine would not be aware of the identity of Danieli’s customer or the final destination of the package. So, for instance, at the time Extreme Machine was preparing the order for Ilva that is at instant issue, Extreme Machine had no knowledge that the boxes would be shipped to Virginia. Mr. Russo might, on the other hand, be aware of the final destination; he knew from his years of experience at Danieli that purchases by Ilva were ultimately destined for Italy.

When Extreme Machine finished shipping preparation, Mr. Jones would inform Mr. Russo at Danieli, and Mr. Russo would make arrangements with the customer to ship. Danieli’s customers dictate how an order will ship. Sometimes Danieli’s customers chose to arrange their own shipping, paying for it themselves, sometimes the customers chose to have Danieli arrange shipping, again paying for it themselves, and sometimes, depending on how the items were sold to the customer, Danieli would arrange and pay for shipping. In this case, the order was quoted to Ilva without a shipping price. At Ilva’s direction, the freight was to be picked up from the Youngstown facility by Con-Way Shipping and Ilva was to pay for shipping upon the freight’s arrival. Neither Danieli nor Extreme Machine paid for shipping. In fact, all of Extreme Machine’s products left their facility free on board (FOB). Extreme Machine prepared their products for shipment, but they neither arranged nor paid for shipping. This was handled by their customers.

Danieli informed Extreme Machine that their customer wanted this particular freight shipped to Norfolk, Virginia, via Con-Way Shipping. Mr. Jones then contacted Con-Way Shipping informing them a package was prepped for them to ship to Norfolk. Prior to receiving information from Mr. Russo after he spoke with the customer about how the freight was to be shipped, Extreme Machine would have no knowledge of the order’s destination. To Extreme Machine, it was irrelevant where their products were going. Extreme Machine built products for its own customers, e.g., Danieli, who in turn sold the products to their customers, e.g., Ilva. Ilva would have no knowledge that Danieli’s products were even made by Extreme Machine.

The relationship between these companies can be summed up as follows. Ilva ordered a product from Danieli; Danieli would order parts from Extreme Machine. Extreme Machine would make those parts and store parts Danieli may have ordered through other manufacturers. When all parts were present and accounted for, Danieli would instruct Extreme Machine to package them as part of a single order for shipping. Ilva directed Danieli how to ship its order, and Danieli then contacted Extreme Machine again to prepare the package for pick up by Ilva’s chosen carrier.

Other than through third parties who purchase from its customers, Extreme Machine has no contact with Virginia. Extreme Machine is not registered to conduct business in Virginia. Extreme Machine has no [430]*430customers in Virginia. Extreme Machine does not advertise. Nor does Extreme Machine have a website. Extreme Machine provided services for Danieli exclusively in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Extreme Machine makes and packages their products but ships everything FOB, neither arranging nor paying for shipping. The only way Extreme Machine products make their way to Virginia is by the hand of its customers.

Personal Jurisdiction

In determining whether the Court can exercise personal jurisdiction over Extreme Machine, the Court engages in a two-part analysis. First, the Court asks “whether Virginia’s long-arm statute reaches the non-resident defendant given the cause of action alleged and the nature of the defendant’s Virginia contacts.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
81 Va. Cir. 427, 2010 Va. Cir. LEXIS 202, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/frizzell-v-danieli-corp-vaccnorfolk-2010.