Heins v. Wilhelm Loh Wetzlar Optical Machinery GmbH & Co. KG.

522 N.E.2d 989, 26 Mass. App. Ct. 14, 1988 Mass. App. LEXIS 330
CourtMassachusetts Appeals Court
DecidedMay 11, 1988
DocketNo. 87-193
StatusPublished
Cited by65 cases

This text of 522 N.E.2d 989 (Heins v. Wilhelm Loh Wetzlar Optical Machinery GmbH & Co. KG.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Appeals Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Heins v. Wilhelm Loh Wetzlar Optical Machinery GmbH & Co. KG., 522 N.E.2d 989, 26 Mass. App. Ct. 14, 1988 Mass. App. LEXIS 330 (Mass. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

Warner, J.

The plaintiff appeals from a judgment entered in the Superior Court, pursuant to Mass.R.Civ.P. 54(b), 365 Mass. 821 (1974), dismissing his action for lack of personal jurisdiction over the defendant. See Mass.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(2), 365 Mass. 755 (1974).

The defendant is a West German corporation which designed and manufactured an optical lens grinding machine purchased by the plaintiff’s employer, a Massachusetts corporation. The plaintiff, on theories of negligent design and manufacture and breach of warranty, sought damages for injuries sustained by him while setting up the machine in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.

On the defendant’s motion to dismiss under rule 12(b)(2), the parties submitted affidavits, answers to interrogatories and excerpts of the deposition testimony of the plaintiff. After argument, the judge filed a memorandum of decision and order and allowed the motion.

As he did before the Superior Court, the plaintiff argues on appeal that assertion of jurisdiction is authorized by certain provisions of our long arm statute (G. L. c. 223A) and is consistent with basic due process requirements. In particular, as to the statutory ground, the plaintiff says that the exercise [16]*16of personal jurisdiction over the defendant is proper under either of the following two provisions of G. L. c. 223A, § 3, as amended by St. 1969, c. 623: “A court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a person, who acts directly or by an agent, as to a cause of action in law or equity arising from the person’s (a) transacting any business in this commonwealth; [or] . . . (d) causing tortious injury in this commonwealth by an act or omission outside this commonwealth 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 commonwealth.”

“General Laws c. 223A, § 3 cannot authorize jurisdiction which is constitutionally unacceptable, even though the fact pattern asserted in support of jurisdiction apparently satisfies the statute’s literal requirements. Likewise, G. L. c. 223A, § 3, asserts jurisdiction over the person to the constitutional limit [see ‘Automatic’ Sprinkler Corp. v. Seneca Foods Corp., 361 Mass. 441, 443 (1972)] only when some basis for jurisdiction enumerated in the statute has been established.” Good Hope Indus., Inc. v. Ryder Scott Co., 378 Mass. 1, 6 (1979). The inquiry is twofold. We look first to see whether the plaintiff has satisfied his burden of establishing sufficient facts to support the assertion of personal jurisdiction over the defendant under the long arm statute. See id. at 3; Carlson Corp. v. University of Vermont, 380 Mass. 102, 105 (1980). In resolving the issue, we accept as true only the uncontroverted facts as they appear in the materials which were before the Superior Court judge. See id. at 104 n.4; C.H. Babb Co. v. A.M. Mfg. Co., 14 Mass. App. Ct. 291, 293 (1982).

1. The plaintiff first contends that his cause of action arises out of the defendant’s transaction of business in Massachusetts and, therefore, personal jurisdiction attached under G. L. c. 223A, § 3(a). The focus of the plaintiff’s argument, as well as of the defendant’s,' is blurred by a mix of considerations relevant to the statutory standard and those relevant to due process requirements. See Good Hope Indus., supra at 6-7, and cases cited; Bond Leather Co. v. Q.T. Shoe Mfg., Co., 764 F.2d 928, 932 (1st Cir. 1985). The inquiry, however, under [17]*17G. L. c. 223A, 3(a), is confined by the statutory language, although the “transacting any business” clause has been construed broadly. See Good Hope Indus., supra; Nova Biomedical Corp. v. Moller, 629 F.2d 190, 193-194 (1st Cir. 1980). “General Laws c. 223A, § 3(a), gives rise to jurisdiction if the defendant either directly or through an agent transacted any business in the Commonwealth, and if the alleged cause of action arose from such transaction of business’’’ (emphasis supplied). Good Hope Indus., supra at 6.

The facts, as found by the judge and supplemented by uncontroverted statements in the materials before her, which relate to the defendant’s transaction of business in Massachusetts are as follows. The defendant is a West German corporation with a principal place of business in West Germany, engaged in the design, manufacture and sale of optical machinery. Sales of the defendant’s machines in the United States are accomplished in the following manner. The defendant sells its machines outright to Loh Optikmaschinen, a Swiss corporation with a principal place of business in Switzerland which manufactures and trades in optical machinery. Loh Optical Machinery, Inc. (Loh Optical), an Illinois corporation with a principal place of business in Illinois, is the exclusive distributor of the defendant’s machines in the United States. Loh Optical purchases machines directly from Loh Optikmaschinen for resale to United States customers. The defendant has no control over or ownership interest in Loh Optical. The defendant does not have any control over the marketing, price or sales of its machines in the United States.1

The plaintiff’s employer inquired of Loh Optical regarding purchase of the machine which allegedly caused the plaintiff’s injuries. The plaintiff and another employee made the recommendation to purchase the machine after dealing exclusively with one Hans Mack, the president of Loh Optical, who visited [18]*18Massachusetts to discuss the purchase. The machine was delivered to the plaintiff’s employer in Sturbridge in July of 1982.2

On these facts, the plaintiff has failed to sustain his burden of showing a rational nexus between his cause of action and the transaction of any business in Massachusetts by the defendant within the literal meaning of G. L. c. 223A, § 3(a). See Good Hope Indus., supra at 6-7. Compare Nichols Associates, Inc. v. Starr, 4 Mass. App. Ct. 91, 96-97 (1976) (plaintiff’s choice to do some work in Massachusetts office and occasionally to take deliveries there is not “transacting any business” within meaning of § 3[a]); Walsh v. National Seating Co., 411 F. Supp. 564, 569-570 (D. Mass. 1976) (sporadic shipment of spare parts into Massachusetts does not meet requirement of a cause of action arising out of “transacting any business” within meaning of § 3[a]); Catrone v. Ogden Suffolk Downs, Inc., 647 F. Supp. 850, 858-859 (D. Mass. 1986) (plaintiff’s injury does not arise out of defendant’s contacts with Massachusetts within meaning of § 3[a]).3 Cf. Carlson Corp. v. University of Vermont, 380 Mass. at 105 (signing contract in Massachusetts, if cause of action arises from contract, is literally transacting business under § 3[a]); C.H. Babb Co. v. A.M. Mfg. Co., 14 Mass. App. Ct. at 292-293 (transacting business when nonresident defendant actively and purposefully acquires business in Massachusetts); Bond Leather Co. v. Q.T. Shoe Mfg. Co.,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Rancourt v. Meredith Corporation
D. Massachusetts, 2024
Sheldon v. DT Swiss AG
D. Massachusetts, 2023
Knox v. MetalForming Inc.
D. Massachusetts, 2018
Preferred Mut. Ins. Co. v. Stadler Form Aktiengesellschaft
308 F. Supp. 3d 463 (District of Columbia, 2018)
Knox v. MetalForming, Inc.
303 F. Supp. 3d 179 (District of Columbia, 2018)
Katz v. Spiniello Companies
244 F. Supp. 3d 237 (D. Massachusetts, 2017)
Anaqua, Inc. v. Bullard
33 Mass. L. Rptr. 106 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 2014)
Hongyu Luo v. Tao Ceramics Corp.
32 Mass. L. Rptr. 134 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 2014)
Rolivia, Inc. v. Emporium Nostrum, Inc.
2013 Mass. App. Div. 145 (Mass. Dist. Ct., App. Div., 2013)
Askenazy v. Tremont Group Holdings, Inc.
29 Mass. L. Rptr. 340 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 2012)
OneBeacon America Insurance v. Argonaut Insurance
29 Mass. L. Rptr. 136 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 2011)
City Sanitation LLC v. Beck
2010 Mass. App. Div. 92 (Mass. Dist. Ct., App. Div., 2010)
Commonwealth v. H&R Block, Inc.
25 Mass. L. Rptr. 92 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 2008)
Mass Web Printing Co. v. Nuffield Publishing, LLC
25 Mass. L. Rptr. 10 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 2008)
Williams-White v. Orangeland Vistas, Inc.
2008 Mass. App. Div. 83 (Mass. Dist. Ct., App. Div., 2008)
Vermont Mutual Insurance v. Belkin Components
23 Mass. L. Rptr. 249 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 2007)
Gray v. Michael Stapleton Associates, Ltd.
22 Mass. L. Rptr. 480 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 2007)
Miller v. Miller
861 N.E.2d 393 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
522 N.E.2d 989, 26 Mass. App. Ct. 14, 1988 Mass. App. LEXIS 330, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/heins-v-wilhelm-loh-wetzlar-optical-machinery-gmbh-co-kg-massappct-1988.