K. J. Schwartzbaum, Inc. v. Evans, Inc.

44 F.R.D. 589, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12239, 1968 Trade Cas. (CCH) 72,439
District Court, S.D. New York·Decided May 7, 1968·No. No. 68 Civ. 104·Published·Cited by 18 cases

Opinion

OPINION

TENNEY, District Judge.

This is a motion by defendant, pursuant to Rules 4 and 12 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, seeking to dismiss the action on the grounds that this Court does not have jurisdiction over the person of defendant, or, in the alternative, to quash service of process.

The issue herein is primarily whether defendant, a company engaged in the merchandising and sale of furs, fur coats and related fur products, which does little if any business in this District, is subject to the jurisdiction of this Court in an anti-trust action under the provisions of § 12 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 22, by reason of certain activities of one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries located within this District.

The complaint alleges that defendant has leased the fur departments of department stores in a number of cities and thereby has deprived plaintiff of a market for its product in those particular stores, in violation of §§ 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act and §§ 3 and 7 of the Clayton Act.

Section 12 of the Clayton Act (hereinafter referred to as “Section 12”) provides in pertinent part:

“Any suit, action, or proceeding under the antitrust laws against a corporation may be brought not only in the judicial district whereof it is an inhabitant, but also in any district, wherein it may be found or transacts business * * *.” (Emphasis added.)

Over the years, courts have differed as to what activities constitute the-transacting of business by a foreign corporation so as to bring it within the scope of Section 12. Where a corporate-organization consisted of a parent company and an affiliated wholly-owned subsidiary, the early cases stressing the-formal separation and independence of each corporate entity from the other followed a line of thinking best expressed in Cannon Mfg. Co. v. Cudahy Packing Co., 267 U.S. 333, 45 S.Ct. 250, 69 L.Ed. 634 (1925) when, in the words of Mr.. Justice Brandéis delivering the opinion of the court, he stated that “[t]he corporate separation, though perhaps merely formal, was real. It was not pure fiction.” (Emphasis added.) Id. at 337; Global Publishing Corp. v. Grolier, Inc., 273 F.Supp. 637, 639 (D.Mass. 1967). However, there are many ways, in which the corporate veil can be lowered to conceal the true structure of a. corporate enterprise. Because of this, and in light of the fact that the standard for “transacting business” as a measure of venue under Section 12 is easier to-satisfy than the test for “doing business” necessary for jurisdictional purposes, Friedman v. United States Trunk Co., 30 F.R.D. 148, 150 (S.D.N.Y.1962); Raul Int’l Corp. v. Nu-Era Gear Corp., 28 F.R.D. 368, 370 (S.D.N.Y.1961); see United States v. Scophony Corp., 333 U.S. 795, 807, 68 S.Ct. 855, 92 L.Ed. 1091 (1948), where a corporation has-a wholly-owned subsidiary performing services which would ordinarily be per[591] formed by its own service employees, or where its subsidiary exists for the purpose of making product purchases which otherwise would be made by purchasing agents of defendant corporation, the parent company should not be allowed to hide behind the corporate fiction but, rather, should be required to submit to the jurisdiction of the court located in that District in which the parent corporation, for all intents and purposes, transacts its business. Hoffman Motors Corp. v. Alfa Romeo Sp.A., 244 F.Supp. 70, 76 (S.D.N.Y.1965); Friedman v. United States Trunk Co., supra; Raul Int’l Corp. v. Nu-Era Gear Corp., supra 28 F.R.D. at 370-371; Waldron v. British Petroleum Co., 149 F.Supp. 830, 835 (S.D.N.Y.1957); see United States v. Imperial Chem. Indus., 100 F.Supp. 504, 511 (S.D.N.Y.1951); cf. Eastman Kodak Co. v. Southern Photo Material Co., 273 U.S. 359, 372-374, 47 S.Ct. 400, 71 L.Ed. 684 (1927).

In the instant action, defendant’s first contention is that it does not come within the jurisdiction of this Court pursuant to the venue provision of 15 U.S.C. § 22 in that: (1) Defendant is á Delaware corporation with its .principal place of business in Chicago, Illinois (Meltzer Affid., at 1); (2) The officers and directors of defendant have their principal offices and reside outside the State of New York (id. at 1, 2); (3) Defendant is not engaged in the business of buying and selling furs in New York, although its subsidiary, Evans Fur Company of New York, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as “Evans of New York”) does engage in that activity (Romberg Affid., at 2, 3); (4) Defendant is not licensed to do business in New York nor has it ■designated any agents for purposes of ■doing such business (Meltzer Affid., at 1, 2); (5) Defendant maintains no offices in the State of New York (id. at 2); (6) Defendant, its officers and employees do not transact any substantial business in New York nor do they come to New York on any regular or periodic basis (ibid.); (7) Defendant has not designated any agent for process in the State of New York (id. at 1, 2); (8) Defendant is not listed in the New York telephone directory (Romberg Affid., at 2); and (9) Defendant’s New York subsidiary maintains its own books and records, maintains its own bank account from which the salaries of its officers and employees are paid and files its own tax returns (ibid). These facts merely indicate that defendant owns a subsidiary which, in form, is totally independent of its parent corporation. However, the real issues before this Court, as indicated by the above-cited cases, are what part the subsidiary plays in the business activity of the parent company and what degree of control the parent corporation exercises over the day-to-day operations of the subsidiary.

In a private anti-trust suit, the burden is on plaintiff to- establish the jurisdiction of the court over foreign corporate defendants, River Plate Corp. v. Forestal Land, Timber & Ry., 185 F.Supp. 832, 836 (S.D.N.Y.1960), and, barring exceptional circumstances, to establish the defendant’s relationship with the District over which the court has jurisdiction as of the time that the lawsuit, was commenced. Gem Corrugated Box Corp. v. Mead Corp., 189 F.Supp. 584, 586 (S.D.N.Y.1960).

On January 15, 1968, the time that the summons and complaint were filed in the within action, Evans of New York was conducting its activities within this District.

Considering defendant’s various publications, with a view to determining the company’s own thoughts as to its relationship with its New York subsidiary, defendant, in its Letter to Stockholders contained within the Annual Report of [592] Evans, Inc., dated February 28, 1966, stated:

“New York Office
Our New York wholesale buying office, design studio and distribution center is located at 333 Seventh Avenue, in the heart of New York’s fur district. This office serves customers who have seen our ‘Minerva Collection’ advertised in such fashion magazines as ‘Vogue’, ‘Harper’s Bazaar’, and ‘Town & Country’.”

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K. J. Schwartzbaum, Inc. v. Evans, Inc., 44 F.R.D. 589, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12239, 1968 Trade Cas. (CCH) 72,439 (S.D.N.Y. 1968).

44 F.R.D. 589 (K. J. Schwartzbaum, Inc. v. Evans, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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