Hunt v. Schult Homes Corp.

657 So. 2d 124, 1995 WL 254779
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 3, 1995
Docket94-1592
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 657 So. 2d 124 (Hunt v. Schult Homes Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hunt v. Schult Homes Corp., 657 So. 2d 124, 1995 WL 254779 (La. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

657 So.2d 124 (1995)

Joseph Teurling HUNT, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
SCHULT HOMES CORPORATION, et al., Defendants-Appellants.

No. 94-1592.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

May 3, 1995.

*125 Elwood C. Stevens, Jr., Morgan City, for Joseph Teurling Hunt, et al.

Samuel E. Masur, Lafayette, Teanna W. Neskora, New Orleans, for Schult Homes Corp., et al.

Triwood Laminating Corp., pro se.

Vance A. Gibbs, Linda G. Rodrigue, Baton Rouge, for Georgia-Pacific Corp.

Jeffrey A. Rhoades, Lafayette, for Royer Mobile Homes of Opelousas, Inc.

Before DECUIR, AMY and SULLIVAN, JJ.

SULLIVAN, Judge.

Defendant/third-party plaintiff, Schult Homes Corporation, appeals the trial court's judgment rendered in favor of third-party defendant, Triwood Laminating Company, sustaining Triwood's declinatory exception of lack of personal jurisdiction. The sole issue before this court is whether the assertion of personal jurisdiction by Louisiana over Triwood meets the requirements of due process. Finding that it does not, we affirm.

FACTS

This suit was instituted by Joseph and Joan Hunt, individually and on behalf of their three minor children, against Royer Mobile Homes of Opelousas, Incorporated and Schult Homes Corporation. In their original petition, plaintiffs alleged that their mobile home, which was built by Schult in Texas and purchased by the Hunts from Royer, contained redhibitory defects justifying rescission of the sale and return of the purchase price. Additionally, plaintiffs alleged that certain components of the mobile home contained formaldehyde which caused them to suffer respiratory ailments, allergic reactions and other health problems.

Schult filed a third-party demand against Georgia-Pacific Corporation and Triwood for indemnity and, in the alternative, contribution in the event Schult was held liable for plaintiffs' injuries. After receiving service of the third-party demand and several of the previously filed pleadings pursuant to Louisiana's Long Arm Statute (La.R.S. 13:3204), Triwood filed an exception of lack of personal jurisdiction. Therein, Triwood asserted that, as a Texas corporation, it lacked sufficient contacts with Louisiana to support the exercise of personal jurisdiction. Triwood attached to the exception the affidavit of Harold Helmbrecht, its president. Helmbrecht represented that Triwood is not licensed and has never been licensed to do business in Louisiana. He also stated that Triwood has never had employees, representatives, agents for service of process, property, offices, bank accounts, loans or assets of any kind in Louisiana. Additionally, no Triwood officers, directors or shareholders reside in Louisiana. Helmbrecht also stated that Triwood never contracted with a distributor to market its products in Louisiana or advertised in Louisiana. Finally, Helmbrecht asserted that "the products sold by Triwood to Skyline Corporation in Bossier City were paper on sheetrock, not the wood products alleged to have been sold to Schult Homes."

Schult opposed Triwood's exception by filing a memorandum in opposition thereto. In support of its opposition, Schult filed the affidavit of Michael Barker, the manager of its Navasota, Texas manufacturing facility. *126 In his affidavit, Barker stated that Schult is a national manufacturer of homes with ten (10) manufacturing facilities in seven (7) states which distributes its homes in forty-two (42) states. Furthermore, Barker represented that the homes manufactured at the Navasota, Texas facility are distributed exclusively in Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas. The mobile home at issue was completed there on April 24, 1989 and delivered to Royer in Opelousas, Louisiana. Barker also stated as follows:

That during the period of time when the Schult home at issue in this case was being manufactured, Triwood Laminating Corporation ("Triwood") was the provider of the ½" particle board facestock, the ½" particle board stiles and luan paneling used by the Navasota, Texas manufacturing facility.
That the Schult home at issue in this case contains ½" particle board facestock, ½" particle board stiles and luan panels that were supplied to Schult by Triwood.
That Triwood has been the supplier of the ½" particle board facestock, ½" particle board stiles and luan paneling for the Texas manufacturing facility during the period from 1987 to the summer of 1994.
That the ½" particle board facestock, ½" particle board stiles and luan paneling supplied by Triwood were finished according to the specifications supplied by Schult.

The record indicates that the trial judge signed two separate and substantively consistent judgments sustaining Triwood's exception of lack of personal jurisdiction. The first such judgment reflects that it was rendered on October 3, 1994 and signed on October 4, 1994. The second judgment was signed on October 17, 1994. Both judgments reflect that a hearing on the matter was held on September 30, 1994. A review of the court minutes also reveals that a hearing was held on that date and that the matter was heard, argued by the parties and taken under advisement by the trial judge. However, a transcript of the hearing is not in the appellate record. Without a transcript of the hearing, we must decide this case based solely on the previously mentioned opposing affidavits which constitute the only evidence of record in this proceeding.

OPINION

On appeal, Schult contends that the trial court erred in refusing to assert personal jurisdiction over Triwood. In essence, Schult argues that the present suit is analogous to the case of World-Wide Volkswagen Corporation v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286, 100 S.Ct. 559, 62 L.Ed.2d 490 (1980), which established the "stream of commerce" analysis. Schult also relies upon Ruston Gas Turbines, Inc. v. Donaldson Company, Inc., 9 F.3d 415 (5 Cir.1993) and Bean Dredging Corporation v. Dredge Technology Corporation, 744 F.2d 1081 (5 Cir.1984), two United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals opinions in which that court applied the "stream of commerce" theory to find that out of state component part suppliers, whose product was placed into larger products by out of state manufacturers, were amenable to personal jurisdiction in the forum state because the component part suppliers placed the component parts in and moved them along a stream of commerce destined for retail sale throughout the United States. In essence, the "stream of commerce" theory holds that a defendant's placing of its product into the stream of commerce with the knowledge that the product will be used in the forum state is enough to constitute minimum contacts. Schult argues that, based on this line of cases, the assertion of personal jurisdiction over Triwood by Louisiana is fair, reasonable and consistent with due process.

On the other hand, Triwood contends that, in order to be amenable to personal jurisdiction in Louisiana, it must do more than merely place its product into the stream of commerce in Texas. Triwood urges that in order for the assertion of personal jurisdiction to comport with due process requirements, its activity must be more purposefully directed at the forum state, Louisiana, than the mere placing of its product in the stream of commerce. In support of its position, Triwood primarily relies on Asahi Metal Industry Co. v.

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Bluebook (online)
657 So. 2d 124, 1995 WL 254779, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hunt-v-schult-homes-corp-lactapp-1995.