Goettman v. North Fork Valley Restaurant

176 P.3d 60, 2007 Colo. LEXIS 1136, 2007 WL 4373981
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedDecember 17, 2007
Docket07SA167
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 176 P.3d 60 (Goettman v. North Fork Valley Restaurant) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Goettman v. North Fork Valley Restaurant, 176 P.3d 60, 2007 Colo. LEXIS 1136, 2007 WL 4373981 (Colo. 2007).

Opinions

Justice BENDER

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

I.Summary

Defendant-Petitioner Hydramatic Engineering, Pty. Ltd., an Australian limited liability company, petitioned for relief pursuant to C.A.R. 21 from the trial court’s order that denied Hydramatic’s motion to dismiss this wrongful death action for lack of personal jurisdiction. Plaintiff-Respondent Andrea Goettman argues an agency theory of personal jurisdiction over Hydramatic, alleging that the death of her husband, Michael Goettman, was caused by the negligent and reckless operation of a motor vehicle by Phillip Dunn; that Dunn, up to and at the time of the fatal automobile accident, was an employee of Hydramatic and was acting within the course and scope of his employment; and that Hydramatic, as Dunn’s employer, is vicariously liable for Dunn’s tortious conduct.

We issued a rule to show cause and now conclude that the jurisdictional facts alleged by Goettman establish minimum contacts and that exercise of personal jurisdiction over Hydramatic comports with traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice under a due process analysis. It is our determination that the jurisdictional facts support a reasonable inference of specific jurisdiction and demonstrate that the exercise of personal jurisdiction in this case is reasonable.

Hence, we hold that Hydramatic is subject to personal jurisdiction in Colorado because these jurisdictional facts support a prima fa-cie showing of an agency theory of personal jurisdiction under this state’s long-arm statute. Accordingly, we discharge the rule to show cause.

II.Original Jurisdiction

Exercise of our original jurisdiction is within our sole discretion. C.A.R. 21(a)(1). Relief under C.A.R. 21 is proper where the trial court proceeds without or in excess of its jurisdiction. Keefe v. Kirschenbaum & Kirsckenbaum, P.C., 40 P.3d 1267, 1270 (Colo.2002). “[A] challenge to the personal jurisdiction of the court over someone not present in the state raises the question whether it is unfair to force such a party to defend here at all.” Id. For this reason, “we have on previous occasions entertained challenges at this stage of the proceedings to the exercise of personal jurisdiction by district courts over out-of-state defendants.” Id.

III.Facts and Proceedings Below

This wrongful death action arises out of an automobile accident near Hotchkiss, Colorado, in which Michael Goettman was killed. Goettman was a passenger in an automobile driven by Phillip Dunn when the vehicle went off the right side of the road about five miles from their motel. Goettman was not wearing his seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle when it rolled. Prior to the accident, the two men were at the North Fork Valley Restaurant and Thirsty Parrot Pub in Hotchkiss, where they had consumed alcoholic beverages. The police report indicates that Dunn’s blood alcohol content was 0.187 after he arrived at the hospital. The autopsy report indicates that Goettman’s blood alcohol content was 0.300.

Goettman was a Pennsylvania resident and an employee of ARO Mining Products USA, Inc. Dunn is an Australian citizen who, at the time of the automobile accident, was an employee of Hydramatic Engineering, Pty. Ltd. [65]*65ARO, a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Pennsylvania, is Hy-dramatic’s subsidiary and sole United States seller and distributor.

At ARO’s request, Hydramatie sent Dunn, one of Hydramatic’s “technical support people,” to ARO’s headquarters in Pennsylvania to assist ARO with service issues. Hydra-matie’s finance director, Paul Pittard, authorized Dunn’s trip with knowledge that Dunn might visit an ARO customer in Utah. While in the United States, Dunn performed services under the direction of ARO’s vice president, Paul Spedding. Dunn volunteered to go to Colorado when he learned that Michael Goettman was traveling there to service a Hydramatie product in the West Elk Mine in Somerset, Colorado, for an ARO customer. Spedding agreed to allow Dunn to accompany Goettman to Colorado. Until the time of the accident, Pittard did not know that Dunn was traveling to Colorado. In her amended complaint, Goettman alleges that Dunn traveled to and worked in not only Pennsylvania, but also Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. Goettman also alleges that Hydramatie paid for Dunn’s costs and expenses, including those he incurred in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming for renting cars, staying in motels, and eating in restaurants.

The night of the automobile accident, Goettman and Dunn went to the North Fork Valley Restaurant and Thirsty Parrot Pub for dinner, as their motel did not have a restaurant. The men remained at the restaurant and pub and continued to consume alcoholic beverages until about 1:00 a.m., when they left in a vehicle driven by Dunn.

Several months after the accident, Dunn pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide. To recover compensation benefits for the death of her husband, Plaintiff-Respondent Andrea Goettman filed a fatal claim petition against ARO with the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Office of Adjudication. In that forum, the workers’ compensation judge approved the award of compensation benefits based on his finding that Michael Goettman was a traveling employee acting within the scope of his employment at the time of his death. Following that decision, Goettman filed this wrongful death action in Delta County against the North Fork Valley Restaurant and Thirsty Parrot Pub and its employees who allegedly served alcohol to Michael Goettman and Dunn. Thereafter, Goettman amended her complaint to add Dunn, Hydramatie, and ARO as defendants in this case.

Goettman attempted to serve her complaint on Hydramatie under Colorado’s long-arm statute.1 Pursuant to C.R.C.P. 12(b)(2), Hydramatie filed a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. In a ruling from the bench, the trial court summarily denied Hy-dramatie’s motion. Hydramatie then petitioned this court for review pursuant to C.A.R. 21, and we issued a rule to show cause.

IV. Analysis

In this opinion, we first explain the procedure for addressing a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. We then evaluate whether the jurisdictional facts set forth in the documentary evidence in this case satisfy the due process analysis under which courts evaluate such a motion.

A. Procedure for Addressing a Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction

Our recent decision in Archangel Diamond Corp. v. Lukoil, 123 P.3d 1187 (Colo.2005), articulates the principles that govern the type of jurisdictional challenge that presents itself here. Id. at 1191-95. In its discretion, a court may address a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction on documentary evidence alone or by holding an evidentiary hearing. Id. at 1192. When [66]*66making this determination, a court should consider whether, in the circumstances of the case, “it is unfair to force an out-of-state defendant to incur the expense and burden of a trial on the merits in the local forum without first requiring” an evidentiary hearing on the issue of personal jurisdiction. Id. at 1193 (internal quotation omitted).

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Goettman v. North Fork Valley Restaurant
176 P.3d 60 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
176 P.3d 60, 2007 Colo. LEXIS 1136, 2007 WL 4373981, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/goettman-v-north-fork-valley-restaurant-colo-2007.