Garrett v. R. H. Macy & Co.

360 F. Supp. 872, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12643
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Tennessee
DecidedJuly 24, 1972
DocketCiv. A. No. 7760
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 360 F. Supp. 872 (Garrett v. R. H. Macy & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Garrett v. R. H. Macy & Co., 360 F. Supp. 872, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12643 (E.D. Tenn. 1972).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

ROBERT L. TAYLOR, District Judge.

Plaintiff, hereinafter called Garrett, the purchaser of certain accounts as defined in Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, filed this action against defendant, hereinafter called Maey, to recover the purchase price of 300 chairs sold and delivered to Macy on Long Island in New York City. Before the action was commenced, Maey claimed that it had paid the amount which Garrett now claims to the holder of a perfected security interest in all accounts of the Athens Chair Company. Garrett denies that Macy has paid the full amount of the debt to Rawleigh, Moses & Company, Inc., hereinafter called Rawleigh, by reason of a factoring agreement entered into on October 30, 1969 between Athens and Rawleigh.

Service of process was made upon the defendant pursuant to Tennessee’s long-arm statute. T.C.A. §§ 20-2351 and 20-236.2

Macy has moved for an order quashing the return of service of summons on the grounds: (a) that it is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of New York and was not and is not subject to service of process in the Eastern District of Tennessee; and (b) that it has not been properly served. Thus is raised the question of whether Macy is subject to process in Tennessee under what is commonly referred to as the Tennessee long-arm statute heretofore mentioned.

Macy is a New York corporation which operates department stores in the State [874]*874of New York. It had not qualified under the Tennessee Domestication Laws to do business in Tennessee and does not maintain an office or have a telephone listed in Tennessee. It has no personnel assigned to Tennessee and does not regularly ship goods into or advertise its goods for sale in Tennessee. Athens Chair Company, Inc. was a Tennessee corporation, but is now in bankruptcy in this Court. Garrett is a citizen of the State of South Carolina. In June, 1971, Athens’ New York resident selling agent solicited an order for recliner chairs from Macy’s Buyer of Traditional Upholstery. Negotiations which were conducted in New York only led to an oral agreement reached in New York under the terms of which Athens would sell the 300 chairs to Macy.. Macy claims that the qhairs were selected from Athens’ catalogue of standard products which was supplied by Athens’ New York agent and that no modifications were required to meet Macy’s specifications. Garrett claims that the chairs were specially manufactured for Macy in Tennessee. We do not believe that the decision of this issue between the parties is necessary for a decision on the jurisdictional question.

After the oral agreement had been reached, Athens mailed Macy its invoice for the sale, which was received by Macy in New York City. The invoice specified that payment was to be made in Columbus, Georgia to Garrett. Macy then issued its purchase order dated June 28, 1971 in New York. It specifies that New York law would control. The purchase order also specifies Athens as the only payee. Pursuant to the contract between the parties, Athens shipped the chairs, freight prepaid, to Macy’s warehouse in Long Island City, New York, where they were inspected and accepted. None of the personnel of Macy entered Tennessee in connection with the transaction. Not any of the negotiations were made with any person in Tennessee in connection with the transaction. Solicitation of the order was not made in Tennessee.

On October 30, 1969, Athens had entered into a factoring agreement with Rawleigh whereby Athens agreed to sell all of its present and future accounts to Rawleigh and warranted that it would not sell or assign any such accounts to another factor. This agreement was executed for Athens by Garrett, who was then President of the Company. However, due presumably to the financial distress of Athens, Rawleigh refused to finance the chair transaction with Macy and Athens was therefore forced to procure the money from some other source, which happened to be Garrett. Garrett claims that since Rawleigh refused to finance the transaction it waived any lien or claim that it might have otherwise had arising out of the account from the sale of the chairs. This claim goes to the merits of the case which cannot be decided in the disposition of the present motion.

On November 5, 1969, Rawleigh’s security interest in Athens’ accounts was perfected by filing with the Secretary of the State of Tennessee a financing agreement claiming present and future accounts as collateral. As of September 29, 1971, it appears that Athens was in default under its agreement with Rawleigh. Macy claims that this Court lacks in personam jurisdiction over it and for that reason the service of process should be quashed.

Since this is a diversity case, we are required to follow the rules of Tennessee regarding assertion of in personam jurisdiction over non-residents to the extent such rules are consistent with due process under the Federal Constitution. We accordingly start with the case of Darby v. Superior Supply Company, 458 S.W.2d 423, a case decided by the Tennessee Supreme Court on September 8, 1970. In that case, Darby, a resident of Florence, Alabama, bought an order of mahogany lumber from Superior Supply Company, a Tennessee corporation with principal place of business at Chattanooga, Tennessee. He bought the lumber for his personal use at his home in Florence, the order therefor resulting [875]*875from correspondence and telephone calls between the parties without Darby entering the State of Tennessee. The lumber was delivered to Darby’s agent at Superior’s plant in Chattanooga and carried to Florence, Alabama. After delivery, Darby found he could use only a part of the lumber because of its dimensions. He used that part and paid for it, and notified Superior he could not use the balance and would hold it for Superior. Subsequently, Superior sued for the balance claimed of $3,639.48 and interest, serving process on him in Alabama by means of the Tennessee long-arm statute. Darby sought to have the suit abated on the ground that the Tennessee court did not have jurisdiction over him, the attempted service of process being void because of violation of the due process clause of the Constitution of the United States. Darby claimed that the Tennessee long-arm statute did not apply to him due to the absence of any activities on his part in the State of Tennessee other than the receipt of the goods for interstate carriage. The Court, before reaching a decision, reviewed many of the cases dealing with in personam jurisdiction, starting with the old case of Pennoyer v. Neff, 95 U.S. 714, 733, 24 L.Ed. 565, a case with which every law student is familiar. The Court pointed out that the Supreme Court of the United States held that a personal judgment without personal service of process against a non-resident of the state by service of publication was void. In International Shoe Company v. State of Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95, the rule was modified, said the Tennessee Supreme Court. The Court quoted from the Shoe Company case, in part, as follows:

“. . .

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Bluebook (online)
360 F. Supp. 872, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12643, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/garrett-v-r-h-macy-co-tned-1972.