Judge v. American Motors Corp.

908 F.2d 1565, 1990 WL 110118
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedAugust 21, 1990
DocketNo. 89-3698
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 908 F.2d 1565 (Judge v. American Motors Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Judge v. American Motors Corp., 908 F.2d 1565, 1990 WL 110118 (11th Cir. 1990).

Opinions

ATKINS, Senior District Judge:

This is an appeal from two dispositive district court orders. In the first order, the district court concluded that because the substantive law of Mexico controlled the appellant’s claim for wrongful death, the appellant could not pursue that claim. In the second order, the district court held as a matter of law that the appellant’s claim for misleading and deceptive advertising could not be maintained. For the following reasons, we VACATE the district court’s first order and REMAND that portion of the case for further proceedings. We AFFIRM summarily the district court’s second order.

A.

Facts and Background Information.

In September, 1987, the appellant, his wife, and David and Beverly Smith flew from Florida to Mexico for a vacation. All four were Florida residents. When the vacationers arrived in Mexico, they rented a Jeep CJ-7 vehicle from a local rental company. On September 7, 1987, while travel-ling south from Cancún, Mexico, the vacationers’ rented vehicle allegedly swerved to the right. When Mr. Smith, the driver, tried to steer the vehicle back to the left, the vehicle allegedly started to roll over. The vehicle then went out of control, swerved across the road, and collided with an oncoming vehicle. The appellant’s wife and Mr. Smith died in the collision.

The appellant thereafter filed the present action for wrongful death in’the Middle District of Florida. The amended complaint named as defendants American Motors Corporation, Jeep Corporation, and American Motors Sales Corporation (collectively, “the appellees”). Although they are incorporated in various states, all three ap-pellees have their principal place of business in Michigan. The record reveals that pursuant to their ordinary course of business, the appellees designed and manufactured Jeep-type vehicles, including the CJ-7 line of vehicles. The particular vehicle involved in the present case was manufactured and assembled in Mexico by a Mexican corporation, Vehiculas Automotores Mexicanos, S.A. (“VAM”). VAM was, from October, 1983 until August, 1987, a wholly-owned subsidiary of appellees American Motors Corporation and Jeep Corporation. VAM is not now, and has never been, a party to the present action.

[1567]*1567The gist of the appellant’s amended complaint is that the appellees designed the CJ-7 line of vehicles in a defective, unreasonably dangerous manner.1 Specifically, the appellant seeks compensatory and punitive damages on the theory that the CJ-7 vehicles, including the vehicle the appellant rented in Mexico, “experienced handling, control and stability problems ... by virtue of their design characteristics.” Amended Complaint, para. 10(a). The record reveals that although the appellant’s vehicle was assembled to accord generally with the CJ-7 design specifications formulated by the appellees, VAM, in assembling the vehicle, did not adhere strictly to the appel-lees’ design specifications. See Kieb Depo., Rl:9 & 63-64 (noting that appellant’s CJ-7 had different roll bars, wheels, trims, and the like). The record does not, however, reveal whether the design specifications formulated by the appellees or the deviations undertaken by VAM constituted the proximate cause of the appellant’s wife’s death. See infra § B(2) (conflict-of-laws analysis focuses in part on place where the conduct causing the injury occurred).

After the parties completed discovery, the appellees filed a motion for summary judgment. The motion asserted that under Florida’s conflict-of-laws principles, the district court was required to apply Mexican substantive law to the appellant’s wrongful death claim. Because Mexican law does not recognize a cause of action for wrongful death, the appellees argued that the court was obligated to dismiss the appellant’s wrongful death claim. In response, the appellant argued that Florida substantive law controlled the claim. Because Florida law does recognize causes of action for wrongful death, the court, the appellant argued, was obligated to deny the appel-lees’ motion and proceed to trial on the merits.

The district court granted the appellees’ motion. The court first recited that Mexico does not recognize causes of action for wrongful death. Pursuant to Florida’s conflict-of-laws principles, the court then analyzed whether Mexico or Florida had the most “significant relationship” with the appellant's wrongful death claim. At the close of this analysis, the court concluded that Mexico had the most significant relationship. The court therefore applied the substantive law of Mexico and dismissed the appellant’s claim. Final Judgment was entered shortly thereafter. This appeal followed.

B.

Discussion.

1. Florida’s Conflict-of-Laws Principles.

The present conflict-of-laws analysis begins with certain core principles. Because the appellant filed this diversity action in the Middle District of Florida, we must look to Florida’s conflict-of-laws rules to resolve the present dispute. Trans Caribbean Lines, Inc. v. Tracor Marine, Inc., 748 F.2d 568, 570 (11th Cir.1984) (citing Klaxon Co. v. Stentor Elec. Mfg. Co., 313 U.S. 487, 61 S.Ct. 1020, 85 L.Ed. 1477 (1941)). These rules are set forth in Bishop v. Florida Specialty Paint Co., 389 So.2d 999 (Fla.1980). In Bishop, the Florida Supreme Court abandoned the strict doctrine of lex loci delicti and held that conflicts questions, including those which involve questions of tort, should henceforth be decided with reference to the principles delineated in the Restatement (Second) of Conflicts of Laws (1971) (hereinafter, “Restatement (Second)”). Bishop, 389 So.2d at 1001; see also State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Olsen, 406 So.2d 1109 (Fla.1981) (reaffirming Florida’s adherence to Restatement (Second) test); Garcia v. Public Health Trust of Dade County, 841 F.2d 1062, 1064 (11th Cir.1988) (in conflict-of-laws inquiry, court must determine wheth[1568]*1568er “the specific issue at hand [is] a problem of law of contracts, torts, property, etc.” and then “determine what choice of law rule the state ... applies to that type of legal issue”) (quoting Acme Circus Operating Co., Inc. v. Kuperstock, 711 F.2d 1538, 1540 (11th Cir.1983)). Section 145 of the Restatement (Second) provides:

Section H5: The General Principle.

(1) The rights and liabilities of the parties with respect to an issue in tort are determined by the local law of the state which, with respect to that issue, has the most significant relationship to the occurrence and the parties under the principles stated in § 6.
(2) Contacts to be taken into account in applying the principles of § 6 to determine the law applicable to an issue include:
(a) the place where the injury occurred;
(b) the place where the conduct causing the injury occurred;
(c) the domicil, residence, nationality, place of incorporation and place of business of the parties; and

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Judge v. American Motors Corporation
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Bluebook (online)
908 F.2d 1565, 1990 WL 110118, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/judge-v-american-motors-corp-ca11-1990.