Long v. Burdette Manufacturing Co.

294 F. Supp. 784, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8020
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. North Carolina
DecidedSeptember 12, 1968
DocketCiv. A. No. 2693
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 294 F. Supp. 784 (Long v. Burdette Manufacturing Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Long v. Burdette Manufacturing Co., 294 F. Supp. 784, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8020 (W.D.N.C. 1968).

Opinion

[785]*785MEMORANDUM OF DECISION.

WOODROW WILSON JONES, Chief Judge.

This is a civil action to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained by the plaintiff as a result of the negligence and carelessness of the defendant in the manufacture of a metal mobile table. Plaintiff alleges that the defendant negligently and carelessly manufactured and distributed said table with a thin, sharp, unprotected and exposed edge existing on the lower shelf of said table, and that on September 7, 1964, while using said table according to its intended purpose, she received a severe cut on her left leg resulting in permanent injuries. Plaintiff is a resident citizen of Buncombe County, and the defendant is a corporation duly organized, created and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the State of South Carolina.

Jurisdiction is based on diversity of citizenship, and service of summons was made on the defendant by serving the Secretary of State of North Carolina pursuant to North Carolina statutes for substituted service.

The defendant has made a Special Appearance, and moved to dismiss the action on the ground that the defendant is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of South Carolina, and was not and is not subject to service of process within the Western District of North Carolina or within the State of North Carolina, and that therefore this Court has no jurisdiction of the defendant.

In the State of North Carolina there are two relevant statutes dealing with the service of process upon foreign corporations. Section 55-144 of the General Statutes of North Carolina reads as follows:

“Whenever a foreign corporation shall transact business in this State without first procuring a certificate of authority so to do from the Secretary of State or after its certificate of authority shall have been withdrawn,

294 F.Supp. — 50

suspended, or revoked, then the Secretary of State shall be an agent of such corporation upon whom process, notice, or demand in any suit upon a cause of action arising out of such business may be served.”

Section 55-145 of the General Statutes of North Carolina reads in part as follows:

“(a) Every foreign corporation shall be subject to suit in this State, by a resident of this State or by a person having a usual place of business in this State, whether or not such foreign corporation is transacting or has transacted business in this State and whether or not it is engaged exclusively in interstate or foreign .commerce, on any cause of action arising as follows: * * *

(3) Out of the production, manufacture, or distribution of goods by such corporation with the reasonable expectation that those goods are to be used or consumed in this State and are so used or consumed, regardless of how or where the goods were produced, manufactured, marketed, or sold or whether or not through the medium of independent contractors or dealers; or * * *

“(c) * * * In any case where a foreign corporation is subject to suit under this section and has failed to appoint and maintain a registered agent upon whom process might be served, or whenever such registered agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the address given, then the Secretary of State shall be an agent of such corporation upon whom any process in any such cause of action may be served.”

The Court must determine two questions: (1) whether the service of summons in this instance is valid under the North Carolina statutes referred to above; and (2) if so, whether under the facts of this case, it would be offensive to the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution to sustain jurisdiction. The answer to these questions will [786]*786be determined to a large extent by the factual evaluation of the nature and extent of the defendant’s business activities in North Carolina. After consideration of the pleadings, affidavits, and argument of counsel, the Court makes the following findings:

That the plaintiff is a resident citizen of the State of North Carolina, and on September 7, 1964 was employed as a librarian in the Buncombe County, North Carolina, public school system, and that the defendant is a South Carolina corporation with its principal place of business located at Roebuck, South Carolina, and that it had not obtained a certificate of authority from the Secretary of State of North Carolina to transact business in said State.

That on September 7, 1964 and for several years prior thereto, the defendant produced, manufactured and distributed fabricated metal furnishings for schools and churches, including mobile metal tables, one of which was being used by the plaintiff at the time of her alleged injury. That during the years 1961, 1962 and 1963, the defendant, Burdette Manufacturing Co., manufactured and sold these mobile metal tables to Southern School Service, Inc., a North Carolina corporation, with its principal place of business located in Canton, North Carolina, and said School Service was engaged in the business of selling and delivering to the public school system of North Carolina school furnishings, including mobile metal tables; that these business transactions began when Thomas C. Burdette, President of the defendant, Burdette Manufacturing Co., and one George Caldwell, called on Southern School Service, Inc., in its office in Canton, North Carolina, and, upon request, furnished prices for mobile metal tables. That the said Southern School Service, Inc. had in its possession the type, shape and size of a table it desired and that Mr. Burdette took these specifications to South Carolina and copied said table and manufactured and sold to the said Southern School Service, Inc., said tables in units of one hundred (100). That the orders for said tables were made by mail to Burdette Manufacturing Co., at Roebuck, South Carolina, and accepted by said Company at its home office. That the metal tables and other products were shipped from Roebuck, South Carolina, to Southern School Service in Canton, North Carolina, and payment was made by mail to the defendant at Roebuck, South Carolina. That these business transactions continued from November 1961 through February 1963. That the President of the defendant corporation and one George Caldwell called upon Southern School Service, Inc. approximately five or six times during the years 1961, 1962 and 1963. That all of the defendant’s plants, equipment and personnel are located in the State of South Carolina and that no agent resides in the State of North Carolina.

The plaintiff in her brief contends that this service of process is valid under either General Statutes 55-144 or General Statutes 55-145(a) (3). The Court is of the opinion and so holds that the business transactions conducted by the defendant in this case in the State of North Carolina are not sufficient to constitute “transacting business” in this State as contemplated by General Statutes 55-144. As the Court said in Bowman v. Curt G. Joa, Inc., 361 F.2d 706 (4th Circuit 1966):

“N.C.G.S. § 55-144 concerns ‘foreign corporations transacting business in the State’ and, therefore, necessarily seems to be more restrictive in its application than G.S. 55-145, the latter section dealing with ‘foreign corporations not transacting business’ in the State. Such an interpretation has been given in Worley’s Beverages, Inc. v. Bubble Up Corp., 167 F.Supp.

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Bluebook (online)
294 F. Supp. 784, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8020, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/long-v-burdette-manufacturing-co-ncwd-1968.