H. J. Heinz Company v. Duke

116 S.W.2d 1039, 196 Ark. 180, 1938 Ark. LEXIS 161
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedMay 16, 1938
Docket4-5074
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 116 S.W.2d 1039 (H. J. Heinz Company v. Duke) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
H. J. Heinz Company v. Duke, 116 S.W.2d 1039, 196 Ark. 180, 1938 Ark. LEXIS 161 (Ark. 1938).

Opinion

Donham, J.

Appellant, Heinz Company, is a Pennsylvania corporation, not authorized to do business in Arkansas. Appellant, Hollis E. Luck, operates Luck’s Tourist Camp about one mile south of Hope, in Hemp-stead county, Arkansas, and, in connection with his camp, operates a cafe. Appellee, Roy L. Duke, lives at Prescott, Nevada county, Arkansas, and is an automobile salesman for De Lamar Chevrolet Company.

On November 2, 1937, between four and five o’clock in the afternoon, Duke ate a portion of a can of Heinz chili at Luck’s said tourist camp in Hope. Mrs. Lucille Luck, an old friend of Duke’s, served the chili to Duke, and stood across the counter talking to him while he ate the chili. Duke made no complaint about the chili, but did not eat it all. After eating the chili, Duke went on about his business, but at one o’clock that night became sick and began vomiting. He went back to bed, but had a headache the balance of the night. He drank a cup of coffee next morning and vomited it up. He worked the next day, but felt bad and threw up his lunch. That afternoon his bowels began running off. That night he tried to eat supper and got sick — had painful cramps and had to be put to bed. He was in bed from Wednesday night, November 3, 1937, to November '29th, or 30th, 1937. During a portion of this time he was very ill. At times he was unconscious. He suffered greatly from what his physician diagnosed as food poisoning.

Duke filed the present suit for damages on December 1, 1937, making II. J. Heinz Company, the manufacturer, and Hollis E. Luck, the retailer, defendants.

The allegation of negligence relied on as to Heinz Company was as follows:

“Heinz Company negligently prepared, packed and sold said chili for human consumption when it knew or should have known it contained some nauseating, poisonous substance which rendered the chili dangerous 'as a food and unfit for human consumption.”

The allegation of negligence relied on as to Luck was as follows:

“Luck negligently sold said chili to plaintiff when he knew or should have known it contained some nauseating, poisonous substance and was unfit for human consumption.”

Duke caused a summons for Heinz Company to be served on the State Auditor, and another on the Secretary of State, contending that Heinz Company was doing-business in Arkansas without authority, and that such service was authorized under § 2250 of Pope’s Digest.

Defendant, Heinz Company, appearing- specially and limiting its appearance solely to its motion, filed its motion to quash the service on the ground that it was not doing business in Arkansas. Testimony was taken upon this question; and the court overruled the motion to quash, and defendant, Heinz Company, duly excepted.

On the-motion to quash, defendant, Heinz Company, introduced C. A. Thompson, manager of the Memphis Branch of Heinz Company, who testified that the company did not do business in Arkansas, other than to send its traveling- salesmen over the state to solicit orders, which were sent to Memphis for acceptance or rejection by the Memphis Branch. The company does not maintain a branch office in Arkansas, all orders being- filled and all shipments being made from the Memphis Branch. The company does not maintain an office of any kind in Arkansas, nor does it maintain a warehouse or place to store goods in Arkansas. All goods are sold f.o.b. Memphis. The salesmen are authorized to accept payment when a customer desires to pay them. All forced collections are made out of Memphis. Salesmen take samples of the Heinz products with them as they go about over the state soliciting orders, but do not carry merchandise other than these samples. Salesmen are not permitted by the company to sell direct from their cars or to peddle. The company discharges a salesman who refuses to. obey instructions. L. J. Bryson, Avho worked as a salesman a few months in 1934, was discharged because he would not folio ay instructions. Bryson testified that he sold goods from his car, Avhich goods were shipped to him a.t Fort Smith; but that he only worked four or five months in 1934. He admitted that he Avas discharged for disobeying the instructions of the company. One of the company’s agents, a Mr. Dare, made one isolated sale of oven bailed beans to one Odell Garrett in February or March of 1937, and delivered same at the time of the sale from his car. At the time of the trial, Dare was not in the company employment. C. A. Thompson, manager of the Memphis Branch of Heinz Company, testified that he kneAv nothing of this isolated sale by Dare to Garrett.

The record contains nothing, other than as above stated, to show that Heinz 'Company was doing an intrastate business in Arkansas.

Upon a trial of the issues, a verdict and judgment were rendered for the plaintiff against both defendants in the sum of $12,500. Motion for new trial was filed, Avhich motion was overruled, and thereupon defendants prayed and were granted an appeal to this court.

At every stage of the proceedings Heinz Company preserved its objections to the service and denied the jurisdiction of the court. The first question, therefore, to be determined on this appeal is whether the trial court erred in overruling the motion of Heinz Company to quash service. As hereinabove stated, the service was had upon the Auditor and Secretary of State under the provisions of act 215 of the Acts of 1927, a part of the act being § 2250 of Pope’s Digest. Section 2 of said act provides: * ‘ This act shall not be effective in cases where its enforcement conflicts 'with the power of Congress or federal laws to regulate commerce between the states.”

Said act does not and could not authorize service on a foreign corporation doing an exclusive interstate business in Arkansas.' The rule is stated in the case of Philadelphia & Reading Ry. Co. v. McKibbin, 243 U. S. 264, 37 S. Ct. 280, 61 L. Ed. 710, as follows: “A foreign corporation is amenable to process to enforce a personal liability, in the absence of consent, only if it is doing business within the state in such manner and to such extent as to warrant the inference that it is present there.”

In the case of Order of Railway Conductors of America v. Bandy, 111 Ark. 694, 8 S. W. 2d 448, the service of summons was on the Insurance Commissioner; and this court held that since it affirmatively appeared that the appellant, a foreign corporation, had not domesticated itself, and there was no attempt to acquire jurisdiction by seizing any of its property in this state, no jurisdiction had been acquired or could be acquired and, therefore, a writ of prohibition should be awarded. This holding of the court was subsequently approved in the cases of Caldwell v. Dodge, 179 Ark. 235, 15 S. W. 2d 318, and Stewart v. California Grape Juice Corporation, 181 Ark. 1140, 29 S. W. 2d 1077.

Formerly it was held by this court that in cases where there was no proper service of process, the party appealing from the judgment of the court, even though he had done all he could to protect himself at every step in the progress of the trial by reserving his rights, yet he entered his appearance by taking the appeal.

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Bluebook (online)
116 S.W.2d 1039, 196 Ark. 180, 1938 Ark. LEXIS 161, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/h-j-heinz-company-v-duke-ark-1938.