Roosevelt Wright v. The Kansas City Southern Railway Company

Opinion

STATE OF LOUISIANA COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT

ROOSEVELT WRIGHT NO. 2019 CW 1369

VERSUS

THE KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN JAN 14 2020 RAILWAY COMPANY

In Re: The Kansas City Southern Railway Company, applying for supervisory writs, 19th Judicial District Court, Parish of East Baton Rouge, No. 679258.

BEFORE: WHIPPLE, C. J., GUIDRY, WELCH, LANIER AND BURRIS,' JJ.

WRIT GRANTED. The trial court' s September 16, 2019 judgment which denied the exception of lack of personal jurisdiction filed by defendant, The Kansas Southern City Railway Company, is reversed. Plaintiff, Roosevelt Wright, as the party asserting that personal jurisdiction is proper, had the initial burden of proving minimum contacts sufficient to give rise to specific personal jurisdiction or to general personal jurisdiction. Crosstex Energy Services, LP v. Texas Brine Co., LLC, 2017- 1405 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 4/ 25/ 18), 253 So. 3d 806, 811, writ denied, 2018- 0881 ( La. 9/ 28/ 18), 252 So. 3d 919. We find this is a case of general jurisdiction because the injury to plaintiff did not arise from work in or related to defendant' s activities in Louisiana. The general jurisdiction inquiry does not focus solely on the magnitude of defendant' s in- state contacts, but rather on an appraisal of a corporation' s activities in their entirety. BNSF Railway Co. v. Tyrrell, -- U. S. --, 137 S. Ct. 1549, 1559, 198 L. Ed. 2d 36 ( 2017). The facts relied upon by plaintiff herein are more related to his chosen residence in Louisiana than to activities of defendant directed to Louisiana. Plaintiff failed to meet his burden of

establishing that defendant' s Louisiana contacts are so

continuous and systematic as to render it essentially at home in Louisiana. BNSF Railway Co., 137 S. Ct. at 1558. Accordingly, the exception of lack of personal jurisdiction filed by defendant, The Kansas City Southern Railway Company, is granted, and plaintiff' s it claims against are dismissed, without prejudice.

JMG WIL WJB

Whipple, C. J., and Welch, J., dissent and the would deny writ.

COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT

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DEPUTY LERK OF COURT FOR THE COURT

1Judge William J. Burris, retired, serving pro tempore by special appointment of the Louisiana Supreme Court.