Kohn v. La Manufacture Francaise Des Pneumatiques Michelin

476 N.W.2d 184, 1991 Minn. App. LEXIS 995, 1991 WL 210386
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedOctober 22, 1991
DocketC8-91-873, CX-91-874
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 476 N.W.2d 184 (Kohn v. La Manufacture Francaise Des Pneumatiques Michelin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kohn v. La Manufacture Francaise Des Pneumatiques Michelin, 476 N.W.2d 184, 1991 Minn. App. LEXIS 995, 1991 WL 210386 (Mich. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinions

OPINION

LANSING, Judge.

A product manufacturer and designer appeal the trial court’s denial of an alternative motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) or new trial on a jury determination of product defect. We affirm the trial court’s rulings on the admissibility of tire compression test results, the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict, and the denial of a collateral source reduction. The French design company separately appeals the denial of JNOV for lack of personal jurisdiction, and we reverse.

FACTS

Mark Kohn was seriously injured when he attempted to mount a 16-inch Michelin light truck tire on a 16.5-inch rim. As Kohn inflated the tire, one of two bead wire bundles broke, causing an explosive decompression which flung the tire from the mounting machine and into Kohn. The jury found that the tire was defectively designed and unreasonably dangerous. The jury’s special verdict apportioned joint and several liability against Michelin Tire Corporation, the American manufacturer and distributor of the tire and La Manufacture Francaise Des Pneumatiques Michelin, the French company that designed the tire.

ISSUES

1. Are the French company’s contacts with Minnesota sufficient to permit the exercise of personal jurisdiction?

2. Did the trial court err in admitting the results of tire compression and bead bundle studies?

3. Does the evidence sustain the jury’s finding of design defect?

4. Does the insurer’s assignment of its worker’s compensation subrogation interest to the injured employee preclude assertion of that interest under the collateral source rule?

ANALYSIS

I

Minnesota may assert personal jurisdiction over a foreign corporation when the corporation commits an act causing in[187]*187jury or property damage in Minnesota. Minn.Stat. § 543.19, subd. 1 (1986). The statute’s jurisdictional reach is limited if (1) Minnesota has no substantial interest in providing a forum, or (2) the exercise of jurisdiction would violate fairness and substantial justice. Id.

Minnesota has a substantial interest in providing a forum for its citizens injured by acts of foreign corporations. See Minn. Const, art. I, § 8. As applied to Kohn, that interest is diminished by the availability of full recovery from Michelin, the manufacturer and distributor of the tire. See Larsen v. General Motors Corp., 391 F.2d 495, 501 (8th Cir.1968); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 397 (1965). Michelin, as a co-defendant, is also jointly and severally liable for the entire verdict. See Hosley v. Armstrong Cork Co., 383 N.W.2d 289, 292 (Minn.1986). The unavailability of a complete remedy is not a primary consideration.

The second statutory requirement, that jurisdiction be consistent with fairness and substantial justice, essentially codifies the “minimum contacts” test of International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 316, 66 S.Ct. 154, 158, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945). See Vikse v. Flaby, 316 N.W.2d 276, 282 (Minn.1982). Minimum contacts are measured by evidence of purposeful availment of the privilege of conducting activities within the jurisdiction. Rostad v. On-Deck, Inc., 372 N.W.2d 717, 719 (Minn.1985) (citing Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 253, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 1239, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283 (1958)), cert. den. 474 U.S. 1006, 106 S.Ct. 528, 88 L.Ed.2d 460 (1985).

The trial court correctly analyzed the French company’s activities under a stream-of-commerce theory that applies to products placed into commerce for purchase by consumers in the forum state. World-Wide Volkswagon Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286, 297-98, 100 S.Ct. 559, 567, 62 L.Ed.2d 490 (1980). The stream-of-commerce analysis takes into account indirect contacts, but still requires that a claimant show that the foreign company purposefully established enough contacts with Minnesota to justify jurisdiction. See As-ahi Metal Indus. Co. v. Superior Court of Cal., Salano County, 480 U.S. 102, 107 S.Ct. 1026, 94 L.Ed.2d 92 (1987); Rostad, 372 N.W.2d at 720-21.

In Asahi, the Supreme Court rejected California’s exercise of personal jurisdiction over the Japanese manufacturer of a component part of a defective tire. Four justices concluded that a foreign manufacturer’s placing a component product in commerce with the awareness that it would be marketed in a complete product to the forum state did not satisfy the minimum contacts requirement. Id., 107 S.Ct. at 1032. Four justices disagreed with that analysis but concurred in the judgment. Id. at 1034. (Brennan, concurring in part). The remaining justice, also concurring in the judgment, distinguished mere knowledge from purposeful availment, and concluded that the jurisdictional analysis should turn on the volume, value and hazardous character of the components. Id. at 1037 (Stevens, concurring in part).1

Although the French company provided the design, not a component part of Michelin’s tire, Asahi’s holding is instructive. However, without more evidence on the relationship between Michelin and the French company or evidence of the contents of their agreement or volume of their enterprise, Kohn has not met his burden to establish jurisdiction. See McNutt v. General Motors Acceptance Corp., 298 U.S. 178, 56 S.Ct. 780, 80 L.Ed. 1135 (1936).

The record demonstrates that the French company has no offices, agents, employees, property or bank accounts in Minnesota; nor does it advertise here. Although Kohn argues that the French company specifically designed the tire for sale throughout the United States, including Minnesota, there is nothing in the record to support this propo[188]*188sition. The licensing agreement is not in evidence. It is undisputed that Michelin and the French company are sister corporations, but there is no evidence of the volume or extent of their common enterprise. The evidence of communication between the French company and Michelin’s New York office does not constitute acts purposefully directed to Minnesota and, without more connecting evidence, Michelin’s acts cannot be attributed to the French company.

Courts have more closely examined relationships among foreign designers, manufacturers, and distributors when a state’s interest in obtaining full relief for its injured citizens is at risk. See Warren v. Honda Motor Co., 669 F.Supp. 365 (D.Utah 1987). Kohn’s ability to obtain full recovery from Michelin and the extremely limited evidence of the nature of the relationship between the French company and Michelin distinguishes this case from the

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Kohn v. La Manufacture Francaise Des Pneumatiques Michelin
476 N.W.2d 184 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1991)

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Bluebook (online)
476 N.W.2d 184, 1991 Minn. App. LEXIS 995, 1991 WL 210386, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kohn-v-la-manufacture-francaise-des-pneumatiques-michelin-minnctapp-1991.