Pajak v. Rohm & Haas Co.

387 F. Supp. 3d 138
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedJuly 3, 2019
DocketCivil Action No. 19-10277-NMG
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 387 F. Supp. 3d 138 (Pajak v. Rohm & Haas Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pajak v. Rohm & Haas Co., 387 F. Supp. 3d 138 (D.D.C. 2019).

Opinion

In a diversity suit, this Court acts as "the functional equivalent of a state court sitting in the forum state." See Astro-Med, Inc. v. Nihon Kohden America, Inc., 591 F.3d 1, 8 (1st Cir. 2009). As such, this Court must determine whether 1) jurisdiction is permitted by the Massachusetts long-arm statute and 2) the exercise of jurisdiction coheres with the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution. Id. Alfa Laval does not contend that plaintiff has failed to satisfy the Massachusetts long-arm statute nor does plaintiff assert that Alfa Laval is subject to general personal jurisdiction in Massachusetts and thus this Court will focus on the requirements of specific personal jurisdiction.

This Court may exercise specific personal jurisdiction when defendants have certain "minimum contacts" with Massachusetts such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend "traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice". Int'l Shoe Co. v. State of Wash., Office of Unemployment Comp. & Placement, 326 U.S. 310, 316, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945) (internal quotation marks omitted). When assessing whether the exercise of jurisdiction comports with due process, the court evaluates

(1) whether the claim directly arises out of, or relates to, the defendant's forum state activities; (2) whether the defendant's in-state contacts represent a purposeful availment of the privilege of conducting activities in the forum state, thereby invoking the benefits and protections of that state's laws and making the defendant's involuntary presence before the state's courts foreseeable; and *144(3) whether the exercise of jurisdiction is reasonable.

Cossart v. United Excel Corp., 804 F.3d 13, 20 (1st Cir. 2015) (internal citation omitted).

To survive a motion to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to "state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). In considering the merits of a motion to dismiss, the Court may look only to the facts alleged in the pleadings, documents attached as exhibits or incorporated by reference in the complaint and matters of which judicial notice can be taken. Nollet v. Justices of Trial Court of Mass., 83 F. Supp. 2d 204, 208 (D. Mass. 2000), aff'd, 248 F.3d 1127 (1st Cir. 2000). Furthermore, the Court must accept all factual allegations in the complaint as true and draw all reasonable inferences in the plaintiff's favor. Langadinos v. Am. Airlines, Inc., 199 F.3d 68, 69 (1st Cir. 2000). Although a court must accept as true all of the factual allegations contained in a complaint, that doctrine is not applicable to legal conclusions. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009).

B. Application

Plaintiff concedes that at this stage it has insufficient information to identify the specific product at issue. He submits, however, that he has alleged enough facts to warrant some jurisdictional discovery before dismissing Alfa Laval from this case for lack of personal jurisdiction. See Negron-Torres v. Verizon Commc'ns, Inc., 478 F.3d 19, 27 (1st Cir. 2007) ("[A] diligent plaintiff who sues an out-of-state corporation and [states] a colorable [claim] for the existence of in personam jurisdiction may well be entitled to a modicum of jurisdictional discovery if the corporation interposes a jurisdictional defense." (quoting United States v. Swiss Am. Bank, Ltd., 274 F.3d 610, 626 (1st Cir. 2001) )).

Plaintiff has the burden of proving that Alfa Laval purposefully availed itself of Massachusetts by intentionally directing its products to the forum state in order for this Court to exercise specific personal jurisdiction. See Boit v. Gar-Tec Prods., Inc., 967 F.2d 671, 682-83 (1st Cir. 1992) (rejecting the "stream of commerce" theory of personal jurisdiction and holding that "mere awareness that a product may end up in the forum state does not constitute purposeful availment" for purposes of establishing specific personal jurisdiction (internal quotation marks omitted)).

The only allegations that Pajak makes to connect Alfa Laval to Massachusetts is that 1) his injuries occurred in Massachusetts and 2) those injuries were allegedly caused by a container purportedly manufactured, designed and/or placed into the channels of commerce by Alfa Laval. The place of injury is insufficient alone to establish specific personal jurisdiction.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
387 F. Supp. 3d 138, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pajak-v-rohm-haas-co-dcd-2019.