Morgan v. Coushatta Tribe of Indians of Louisiana

214 F.R.D. 202, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25243, 2001 WL 34084815
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Texas
DecidedSeptember 21, 2001
DocketNo. 1:00-CV-298
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 214 F.R.D. 202 (Morgan v. Coushatta Tribe of Indians of Louisiana) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morgan v. Coushatta Tribe of Indians of Louisiana, 214 F.R.D. 202, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25243, 2001 WL 34084815 (E.D. Tex. 2001).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION RE PERSONAL JURISDICTION, INDISPENSABLE PARTY, AND VENUE

HINES, United States Magistrate Judge.

Defendant, Grand Casinos of Louisiana, Ine.-Coushatta moves to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and for failure to join an indispensable party. Alternatively, it moves for a transfer of venue. By separate order entered simultaneously, the court has denied these motions. This opinion states the court’s reasoning and basis for denying the motions.

I. Parties and Nature of Suit

Plaintiff, Murrie S. Morgan, is a resident of Jefferson County, Texas. She brings suit individually and as independent administrator of the estate of her deceased husband, T.G. Morgan.1

Defendants are (1) Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana (“the Tribe”),2 (2) Grand Casinos of Louisiana, Inc.-Coushatta (“INC.”), and (3) Grand Casinos of Louisiana, LLC-Cous-hatta (“LLC”). The Tribe is an Indian Nation recognized by the United States of America. INC. and LLC are both Minnesota corporations authorized and licensed to conduct business in the state of Louisiana.

Plaintiff alleges that defendants own, occupy, and operate a commercial gambling casino in Kinder, Louisiana. The complaint avers that on August 4,1998, T.G. Morgan was a patron and business invitee of the casino. He slipped and fell in water standing on the tile floor of a restroom on defendants’ premises, and sustained personal injuries.

Invoking the court’s diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332, plaintiff asserts negligence-based causes of action. Specifically, plaintiff contends that water on the restroom floor was a hidden danger constituting an unreasonable risk of harm. Plaintiff further contends that defendants failed to use reasonable care to make and keep their premises safe. Plaintiff alleges that defendants breached their duty to inspect the premises to discover latent defects, and to either make them safe or give adequate warnings of hidden dangers. Finally, plaintiff contends that defendants’ negligence was a proximate cause of T.G. Morgan’s accident and injuries.

In behalf of the estate, plaintiff seeks to recover medical expenses and compensatory damages for physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, physical impairment, and disfigurement. Individually, plaintiff seeks to recover for loss of consortium.

II. Defendants’ Responses to Complaint

All three defendants are represented by the same counsel. However, each defendant has responded differently to plaintiffs complaint as follows:

Defendant Response
LLC An answer on the merits within the meaning of Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(a). (See Docket No. 5.)
[204]*204The Tribe A defense of lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, presented by motion under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1). (See Docket No. 3.)
INC. Defenses of lack of personal jurisdiction and failure to join a party, presented by motion under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(2) and (7), and, alternatively, a motion to transfer venue under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1404 and 1406. (See Docket No. 4.)

III. INC.’s Motion To Dismiss and Plaintiff Response

The motion to dismiss asserts first that INC. has not purposefully availed itself of conducting activities within Texas, and therefore has not established “minimum contacts” sufficient to support the exercise of Texas long-arm jurisdiction under the Due Process clause. INC. argues further that assumption of jurisdiction over it would offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice so as to be inconsistent with due process of law. Therefore, the action should be dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction.

INC. argues next that Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana — which is immune from suit — is indispensable to the resolution of this suit. In this respect, the motion contends that the Tribe owned and controlled the premises, and to proceed without the Tribe in this litigation would impair or impede the Tribe’s ability to protect its interests.

Finally, INC. argues that even were personal jurisdiction present, and even were the Tribe not an indispensable party, venue in the eastern district of Texas is inconvenient. The motion contends that venue is more convenient in the western district of Louisiana, and therefore the action should be transferred pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1404(a) and 1406(a). In this respect, INC. argues that the premises are located in Louisiana, that several witnesses reside in Louisiana, that Louisiana or tribal law will govern the action, and that trial in Louisiana will not be inconvenient to plaintiff.

Plaintiff responds that personal jurisdiction may be exercised over INC. because pervasive local advertisements within the eastern district of Texas constitute sufficient minimum contacts to satisfy Due Process concerns with respect to exercise of long-arm jurisdiction. Next, plaintiff argues that the Tribe is not immune from suit, but even if it were, it is not an indispensable party here because (a) complete relief can be granted without the Tribe as a party, (b) witnesses under the Tribe’s control are within the court’s subpoena power, and (c) continuation of the lawsuit will not impair or impede the Tribe’s interests. Finally, plaintiff — addressing separately eleven private and public interest factors relevant to the question of whether to transfer an action for convenience — argues that INC. fails to demonstrate that the balance of convenience and justice substantially weighs in favor of transfer.

IV. Discussion

A. Analytical Factors

The three issues now before the court— personal jurisdiction, indispensable party, and convenience of the chosen venue — have well-developed principles of analysis which both parties embrace. Accordingly, there is no occasion for another cumulative recitation of those principles. It suffices for present purposes to acknowledge only the rudiments in abbreviated form.

1. Factors of Analysis: Personal Jurisdiction

The threshold personal jurisdiction issue first requires a two-pronged inquiry into a defendant’s contacts with the forum state and a determination of whether such contacts are sufficient to support the exercise of specific or general jurisdiction. If so, the court must next determine whether exercise of jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant would offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice. The latter inquiry requires examination of five factors identified in Asahi Metal Ind. Co. v. Super. Ct. of Cal.,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
214 F.R.D. 202, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25243, 2001 WL 34084815, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morgan-v-coushatta-tribe-of-indians-of-louisiana-txed-2001.