Ginter v. Strickland

89 F.R.D. 70, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10661
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedJanuary 19, 1981
DocketNo. C-3-80-200
StatusPublished

This text of 89 F.R.D. 70 (Ginter v. Strickland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ginter v. Strickland, 89 F.R.D. 70, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10661 (S.D. Ohio 1981).

Opinion

DECISION AND ENTRY DEFERRING DECISION ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS FOR LACK OF COURT’S IN PERSONAM JURISDICTION

RICE, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on the defendant’s motion to dismiss the Complaint on the ground that service of summons on the defendant in the State of Colorado is not authorized under Rule 4(f), Fed.R.Civ.Pro. Although not specifically stated, this motion is presumably made pursuant to Rule 12(b)(2), seeking dismissal for lack of this Court’s jurisdiction over the person of the defendant.

FACTS

The plaintiff, Roy L. Ginter, is a citizen of the State of Ohio. The Complaint sets forth that the defendant is a citizen of the State of Colorado, (para. 1). It is undisputed that this matter is before the Court pursuant to its diversity jurisdiction.

This is an action for libel and slander arising out of written and verbal statements allegedly made by the defendant to agents of Defense Investigative Services on three separate occasions, to wit: August 16, 1977, May 22, 1979, and June 11, 1979. (para. 2). The plaintiff alleges that the statements made by the defendant are “untrue, false and defamatory and were made to the detriment of the plaintiff.” (para. 3).

Plaintiff alleges further that, prior to the defendant’s having made these statements, plaintiff was employed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base with a top security clearance and access to Special Compartmental Information (S.C.I.). (para. 4). He alleges that by reason of the statements, he was denied S.C.I. access and was suspended from his usual work area from December, 1977 through January, 1980. (para. 5).

Plaintiff claims that as a direct and proximate result of said statements, he has been injured in his credit and reputation, and has suffered pain and mental anguish, requiring psychiatric attention. He, therefore, seeks $16,000 in compensatory damages and $250,000 in punitive damages from the defendant.

This action was filed on May 21, 1980. A summons was issued for service upon the defendant in the State of Colorado by John D. Lyter, the Clerk of Court for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. The issue before the Court is whether service of process as described above satisfies Rule 4(f), Fed.R.Civ.Pro.; thus, giving this Court jurisdiction over the person of the defendant.

DISCUSSION

In support of his motion to dismiss, the defendant places sole reliance on Rule 4(f), which provides in pertinent part:

“All process other than a subpoena may be served anywhere within the territorial limits of the state in which the district court is held, and, when authorized by a statute of the United States or by these rules, beyond the territorial limits of that state.”

It is the defendant’s position that because he was served with summons in the State of Colorado, rather than within the territorial limits of the State of Ohio, service of summons was improper.

This Court disagrees with the defendant’s underlying assertion that the mere fact that he was served beyond the territorial limits of the State of Ohio renders service improper. Rule 4(f) is not an absolute prohibition against service beyond the state in which the district court is held. The limitation does not apply when service beyond the territorial limits is authorized by a “statute of the United States or by these rules ...."

[72]*72Rule 4(e), Fed.R.Civ.Pro., authorizes extraterritorial service:

“Whenever a statute or rule of court of the state in which the district court is held provides (1) for service of a summons, or notice, or of an order in lieu of summons upon a party not an inhabitant of or found within the state . .. service may ... be made clear under the circumstances and in the manner prescribed in the statute or rule.”

Reading Rule 4(f) in conjunction with Rule 4(e), it is apparent that the limitation against extraterritorial service does not apply, if there is a state statute or rule which provides for service upon a party not an inhabitant of the state, as long as service is made in a manner that comports with that state statute or rule.

The propriety of referring to the law of the State of Ohio, in this case, to test the validity of service, finds further support in In-Flight Services Corp. v. Van Dusen Air, Inc., 466 F.2d 220, 224 (6th Cir. 1972), wherein the Sixth Circuit stated:

“It is well settled law in this Circuit that a federal court sitting on a diversity matter must look to the law of the forum to determine the extent of its in personam jurisdiction. Southern Machine Co. v. Mohasco Industries, Inc., 401 F.2d 374, 376 n. 2 (6th Cir. 1968); Velandra v. Regie Nationale Des Usines Renault, 336 F.2d 292 (6th Cir. 1964); Smartt v. Coca-Cola Bottling Corp., 318 F.2d 447 (6th Cir. 1963).” (footnote omitted).

Thus, Rule 4(f) is not dispositive of the defendant’s challenge to the service of summons; rather, the question which the Court must consider is whether that service comports with the statutes or rules of the State of Ohio, that is, the law of the forum in this diversity action.

The Ohio statutory provision governing personal jurisdiction is found at Ohio Rev. Code, section 2307.382. This section, known as the Long Arm Statute, provides:

[§ 2307.38.2] § 2307.382 Personal jurisdiction.
(A) A court may exercise'personal jurisdiction over a person who acts directly or by an agent, as to a cause of action arising from the persons’s:
(1) Transacting any business in this state;
(2) Contracting to supply services or goods in this state;
(3) Causing tortious injury by an act or omission in this state;
(4) Causing tortious injury by an act or omission outside this state if he regularly does or solicits business, or engages in any other persistent course of conduct, or derives substantial revenue from goods used or consumed or services rendered in this state;
(5) Causing injury in this state to any person by breach of warranty expressly or impliedly made in the sale of goods outside this state when he might reasonably have expected such person to use, consume, or be affected by the goods in this state, provided that he also regularly does or solicits business, or engages in any other persistent course of conduct, or derives substantial revenue from goods used or consumed or services rendered in this state;
(6) Causing tortious injury in this state to any person by an act outside this state committed with the purpose of injuring persons, when he might reasonably-have expected that some person would be injured thereby in this state;

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Bluebook (online)
89 F.R.D. 70, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10661, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ginter-v-strickland-ohsd-1981.