Jackson v. Continental Trailways, Inc.

65 F.R.D. 451
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedNovember 22, 1974
DocketCiv. No. LV 2132 RDF
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 65 F.R.D. 451 (Jackson v. Continental Trailways, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jackson v. Continental Trailways, Inc., 65 F.R.D. 451 (D. Nev. 1974).

Opinion

ORDER ON MOTIONS

ROGER D. FOLEY, Chief Judge.

FACTS

This case involves a rather lengthy and complex personal injury action by plaintiffs against defendants, wherein plaintiff Theola Jackson alleges that due to defendants’ negligence in discharging her from a bus, owned and operated by them on which she was a paying passenger, on a public highway in the State of Louisiana rather than at a designated terminal, she was struck and severely injured by another vehicle being operated on the same public highway. Plaintiffs also allege that defendants breached their contractual duty owed to plaintiff Theola Jackson arising out of the contract of hire entered into between the parties when plaintiff purchased the bus ticket that entitled her to make the aforementioned trip.

On March 31, 1972, plaintiffs filed their original complaint in the Eighth Judicial District of the State of Nevada [453]*453in and for the County of Clark (case No. A99983) against defendant Continental Trailways and four John Does. On October 10, 1972, defendant Continental Trailways filed an answer to this complaint. Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on September 19, 1973, which added Continental Southern Lines, Inc., American Bus Lines, Inc., and Tommy L. Carroll as defendants. The amended complaint alleged that the added corporate defendants were subsidiaries of Continental Trailways, Inc., and the individual named defendant was the driver of the bus that plaintiff had alighted from immediately prior to her injury. On September 27, 1973, defendant Continental Trailways filed an answer to the amended complaint. On October 17, 1973, defendant American Bus Lines filed its answer to the amended complaint. On October 18, 1973, defendants Continental Trailways and American Bus Lines removed the action from State to Federal Court. On November 18, 1973, defendant Continental Southern Lines filed a motion to dismiss with this Court alleging lack of jurisdiction over the person, insufficiency of process and insufficiency of service of process. (This motion was subsequently granted.) On December 18, 1973, plaintiffs filed a motion to remand the case to State Court. This Court found that although defendant Continental Trailways had not timely removed, defendant American Bus Lines had timely removed, hence plaintiffs’ motion to remand to State Court was denied as to both defendants. (See Order of February 8,1974.)

Defendant Continental Southern Lines’ motion to dismiss was heard by the United States Magistrate on March 6, 1974, the parties having agreed to accept the Magistrate’s decision on the motion as the final decision of the District Court. On March 15, 1974, the Magistrate’s Order granting Continental Southern’s motion to dismiss was filed. This Order found that: (1) defendant Continental Southern Lines did not make a general appearance for the purposes of this litigation by appearing pursuant to the motion to dismiss, (2) that Continental Southern’s motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction over the person, (3) insufficiency of process, and (4) insufficiency of service of process be granted. On March 7, 1974, plaintiffs filed a motion for an order of issuance of process against defendants Continental Southern Lines and Tommy L. Carroll which was granted by the Magistrate on May 29, 1974, and service was made outside of the District of Nevada.

On June 21, 1974, the motion to dismiss that is currently pending before this Court was filed by defendants Continental Southern Lines and Tommy L. Carroll. This motion to dismiss is based on Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 12, lack of jurisdiction over the person. Defendant Continental Southern Lines, Inc., alleges that it was (at the time of plaintiffs’ complaint) and is now presently a corporation organized under the laws of Delaware and is not subject to service of process within the District of Nevada. It further alleges that the alleged tortious conduct which was the basis of plaintiffs’ action did not occur in the District of Nevada. Defendant Tommy L. Carroll alleges that he was (at the time of plaintiff’s accident) and is now presently a resident of the State of Louisiana, and is not subject to service of process in the District of Nevada, not being personally present here, nor domiciled here, nor having a personal representative for the purpose of receiving service of process here. He further alleges that the alleged tortious conduct which is the basis of the action did not occur in the District of Nevada. On July 2, 1974, plaintiffs filed their points and authorities in opposition to defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction over the person. Plaintiffs’ points and authorities were filed within the 15 day time limit set forth for such responses by Local Rule 16(c).

[454]*454On July 3, 1974, defendants Continental Southern Lines and Tommy L. Carroll filed a motion for protective order arising out of a notice to take deposition filed approximately June 26, 1974, by plaintiffs’ counsel. This is the second of defendants’ two motions that are currently pending before this Court. It must be noted at this time that plaintiffs have not filed a responsive memorandum to this motion for protective order as required under Local Rule 16(c), hence under Local Rule 16(e) the Court may consider the plaintiffs as having consented to the granting of defendants’ motion.

ISSUES

(1) Are defendants Continental Southern Lines and Tommy L. Carroll subject to the personal jurisdiction of this Court pursuant to Nevada’s Long Arm Statute (NRS § 14.065) ? (This issue must be further divided into two sub-issues.)

(A) Are defendants transacting any business within the State so as to come within the scope of the Statute?

(B) Is it possible to consider defendant Continental Southern Lines (a separate corporation) as comprising a single entity with defendant Continental Trailways (the alleged parent corporation over whom this Court already has personal jurisdiction) so that the Court could acquire jurisdiction over them in that fashion pursuant to the Long Arm Statute?

(2) Should defendants Continental Southern Lines and Tommy L. Carroll’s motion for protective order be granted?

CONCLUSION

The file in the instant case does not indicate whether at the time the accident occurred to plaintiff Theola Jackson the plaintiffs were Nevada domiciliaries temporarily in the State of Louisiana, or were Louisiana domiciliaries (or domiciliaries Vof some unknown third state) who subsequently moved to Las Vegas and commenced this action in the State Courts of Nevada. However, regardless of the location of plaintiffs’ domicile, all activities that gave rise to this lawsuit occurred wholly within the State of Louisiana. As noted supra, the plaintiffs originally filed a complaint only against defendant Continental Trailways, Inc., since apparently plaintiff Theola Jackson had been a ticketed passenger discharged from a bus marked with the insignia “Continental Trailways” immediately prior to her accident in the State of Louisiana. Subsequent to discovery done by their counsel, plaintiffs found that two additional separate corporations were in charge of the buses marked “Continental Trailways” that operated within the States of Nevada and Louisiana.

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Bluebook (online)
65 F.R.D. 451, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jackson-v-continental-trailways-inc-nvd-1974.