Grange Insurance Ass'n v. State

757 P.2d 933, 110 Wash. 2d 752
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedJune 16, 1988
Docket54634-7
StatusPublished
Cited by67 cases

This text of 757 P.2d 933 (Grange Insurance Ass'n v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Grange Insurance Ass'n v. State, 757 P.2d 933, 110 Wash. 2d 752 (Wash. 1988).

Opinion

Durham, J.

Due process precludes Washington courts from extending long-arm jurisdiction over an out-of-state *754 defendant unless that defendant has purposefully established minimum contacts here. At issue in the present case is if the State of Idaho purposefully established minimum contacts when it certified that particular cows were free of disease or infection, knowing that the cows would be immediately shipped to farmers in this state. Idaho inspected the cows in cooperation with a federal program designed to eradicate the outbreak of brucellosis, and consequently was acting at least in part for the benefit of citizens of this state. Because Idaho did not purposefully avail itself of Washington's markets in the usual commercial sense, we conclude that it did not purposefully establish minimum contacts here and long-arm jurisdiction cannot be maintained.

Facts

In 1976 and 1977, Harold and Rose Marie Holloway purchased dairy cattle from an Idaho dealer. They later learned that some of the cattle were infected with brucel-losis. Brucellosis is an infectious disease which primarily affects calving in dairy cattle. It is particularly difficult to eradicate or control because the infecting organism has an incubation period that ranges from 2 weeks to more than a year, during which time the animal displays no visible signs of infection.

The Holloways are Lewis County dairy farmers who also operate a cattle dealership and auction business. In 1977, they sold cattle to Whatcom County buyers, whose dairy herds, and those of some of their neighbors, subsequently became infected with brucellosis. These farmers sued the Holloways, alleging that the brucellosis came from the Holloway farm. 1 They recovered a total judgment of $2.9 million. The Grange Insurance Association settled the claims *755 of the Whatcom County plaintiffs by paying $1.5 million, in return for which the Holloways assigned to Grange their claims relating to this dispute.

Grange sought contribution for its damages by suing the States of Washington and Idaho, several of their employees, and the Idaho individual who sold the cattle to the Hollo-ways. 2 Grange argued that both states were negligent in failing to prevent the Idaho brucellosis outbreak from spreading to Washington dairy herds.

Idaho moved for dismissal based on a lack of personal jurisdiction. Idaho's contacts with this State are as follows. A veterinarian employed by the State of Idaho conducted a brucellosis test on the cattle being sold to the Holloways. An affidavit from an Idaho state official indicates that "Idaho requires all cattle being sold for dairy production purposes be tested on change of ownership." Idaho's inspection was part of a cooperative effort with the federal government in controlling and eradicating brucellosis. See Idaho Code § 25-601 (1987). The veterinarian found no sign of brucellosis and signed certificates stating: "I have inspected the animals described hereon and find them to be free from visible signs of infectious, contagious, or communicable disease." Each certificate also indicated that the destination address for the cattle was that of a Washington buyer. All of Idaho's acts took place within its own state borders.

The trial court concluded that these contacts provided an insufficient basis for Washington courts to impose jurisdiction over the State of Idaho and dismissed Idaho from the case. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that Idaho was subject to the jurisdiction of Washington courts under *756 this state's long-arm statute, RCW 4.28.185, and the due process clause of the federal constitution. Grange Ins. Ass'n v. State, 49 Wn. App. 551, 744 P.2d 366 (1987).

Idaho filed a petition for review in this court, challenging the constitutional analysis engaged in by the Court of Appeals. The State of Washington joined in seeking review on these grounds and also argued that jurisdiction should be declined as a matter of comity. We granted review.

Analysis

Analysis of jurisdiction under a long-arm statute involves two separate issues: (1) does the statutory language purport to extend jurisdiction, and (2) would imposing jurisdiction violate constitutional principles. See Werner v. Werner, 84 Wn.2d 360, 364, 526 P.2d 370 (1974) (long-arm jurisdiction is intended to operate "to the full extent allowed by due process except where limited by the terms of the statute"). Courts should address the statutory issue before reaching the constitutional issue. Lake v. Lake, 817 F.2d 1416, 1420 (9th Cir. 1987); Wolf v. Richmond Cy. Hosp. Auth., 745 F.2d 904, 909 (9th Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 826 (1985). In this analysis, the burden of proof rests with the party asserting jurisdiction. In re Marriage of Hall, 25 Wn. App. 530, 536, 607 P.2d 898 (1980); Access Rd. Builders v. Christenson Elec. Contracting Eng'g Co., 19 Wn. App. 477, 576 P.2d 71 (1978). 3

A

Interpretation of the Long-Arm Statute

Washington's long-arm statute reads in relevant part as follows:

*757 (1) Any person, whether or not a citizen or resident of this state, who . . . does any of the acts in this section enumerated, thereby submits said person ... to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state as to any cause of action arising from the doing of any of said acts:
(b) The commission of a tortious act within this state;
(3) Only causes of action arising from acts enumerated herein may be asserted against a defendant in an action in which jurisdiction over him is based upon this section.

RCW 4.28.185.

There is no dispute that the current cause of action arose from Idaho's contacts here. The only question is if Idaho committed a "tortious act" within Washington, when all of its actions occurred outside this state. 4 This court has held many times that when an injury occurs in Washington, it is an inseparable part of the "tortious act" and that act is deemed to have occurred in this state for purposes of the long-arm statute. See, e.g., Smith v. York Food Mach. Co., 81 Wn.2d 719, 722, 504 P.2d 782 (1972); Bowen v. Bateman, 76 Wn.2d 567, 575, 458 P.2d 269 (1969).

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Bluebook (online)
757 P.2d 933, 110 Wash. 2d 752, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grange-insurance-assn-v-state-wash-1988.