Sarne v. Fiesta Motel

79 F.R.D. 567, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16940
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 28, 1978
DocketCiv. A. No. 76-562
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 79 F.R.D. 567 (Sarne v. Fiesta Motel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sarne v. Fiesta Motel, 79 F.R.D. 567, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16940 (E.D. Pa. 1978).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

DITTER, District Judge.

In this diversity action, suit was brought against a New Jersey partnership, service of process being made under Pennsylvania’s Long Arm Statute. During trial, a motion amending the complaint in order to join one of the partners as a defendant was allowed. The jury found for the plaintiff and awarded her compensatory and punitive damages. Presently before the court is the individual partner’s post-trial motion questioning the court’s jurisdiction over him. For the reasons which follow, I conclude the judgment entered against the individual defendant was void and must be set aside under the provisions of Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b)(4).

Plaintiff, Carmel Same, brought this action against Fiesta Motel, located in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Miss Same’s complaint alleges that while she was a guest at Fiesta in June 1975, its manager assaulted her with a police stick without justification or excuse, causing severe and permanent injury. Through subsequent discovery, Marcel Arsenis, a resident of New Jersey and a partner in the operation of Fiesta, was identified as the manager in question. The complaint was served on the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 8303, 8304, and 5301, the Pennsylvania Long Arm Statutes. Jurisdiction was based on a pattern of advertising by the motel in Pennsylvania newspapers. A copy of the complaint was sent by registered mail to the motel and was received by George Arsenis, the brother and partner of Marcel Arsenis. The answer contended the court lacked jurisdiction over the defendant and over the subject matter of suit. Counsel for Fiesta’s insurance carrier entered his appearance for the motel, but stated that even though a defense was being provided, coverage would be denied because the policy did not afford coverage for wilful violation of a penal statute. The trial was bifurcated and after all the evidence on the question of liability had been received, the jury found that Marcel Arsenis had committed an assault and battery on plaintiff. At the conclusion of the evidence on damages, counsel for plaintiff moved to amend the complaint to name as defendants, “Fiesta Motel, a partnership, and Marcel Arsenis, an individual.” This amendment was allowed over the objection of defense counsel. In response to special interrogatories, the jury found that when Marcel Arsenis had committed the assault and battery upon plaintiff, he was not acting to further the business of Fiesta. It also awarded $13,000 and $5,000 as compensatory and punitive damages respectively. Originally judgment was [570]*570entered for plaintiff against both Fiesta and Arsenis, but by subsequent correction was entered for plaintiff and against Arsenis only.

Arsenis now contends that the court improperly granted the motion during trial which permitted the amendment of the complaint to include the words, “a partnership” and to add him as a defendant. He argues that he was never served with the original or an amended complaint, the original complaint did not name him as a defendant, and he had no opportunity to raise any defenses to his being joined. Relying on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure No. 50, he asks that a verdict be directed in his favor.

Little need be said about the amendment of the complaint insofar as it added the words “a partnership.” This merely identified Fiesta’s legal status. Under the Uniform Partnership law, adopted in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania, a partnership is an entity separate from the individuals composing it. Adding the descriptive words after the name, “Fiesta Motel,” did not change the nature of the action. Moreover, since judgment was entered for Fiesta, any assertion of prejudice is now moot.

The designation of Marcel Arsenis as an individual defendant is another matter. It is apparent in retrospect that permitting his joinder on plaintiff’s motion contravened the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and was prejudicial.

The original complaint named only Fiesta Motel as a defendant. Subsequently plaintiff learned Fiesta was a partnership and that Marcel Arsenis was its manager. Nonetheless, Marcel Arsenis was not served with process or put on notice that a claim was being asserted against him individually. The motion to amend to join Arsenis as a defendant was granted over objection on the fifth day of trial, after the question of liability had been determined and all of the evidence on damages received.

The court lacked jurisdiction to grant this motion to amend. The foundation of jurisdiction is physical power over a defendant. McDonald v. Mabee, 243 U.S. 90, 91, 37 S.Ct. 343, 343, 61 L.Ed. 608, 609 (1917). The basic purpose of serving original process is to assert that power, inform the defendant of suit, and advise him as to the nature of the claim. Here, the original service of process made on Fiesta Motel was effective since the partnership was then doing business in Pennsylvania. However, this did not confer jurisdiction over Arsenis. An action prosecuted against a partnership in its firm name as contrasted with an action prosecuted against individuals trading as a partnership, does not impose liability upon the individual partners nor permit a writ of execution to be issued against their individual property. Eule v. Eule Motor Sales, 34 N.J. 537, 170 A.2d 241 (1961); Gozdonovic v. Pleasant Hills Realty Co., 357 Pa. 23, 53 A.2d 73 (1947). Service of process on one partner may be sufficient to bind the assets of the partnership, but will not be sufficient to permit the obtaining of a personal judgment against another partner in his individual capacity. 68 C.J.S. Partnership § 213. Therefore, only Fiesta was before the court when trial started. Although under the provisions of Fed.R.Civ.P. 21, parties may be added by order of court on motion or on its own initiative at any stage of the action, the terms of joinder must be just. The party to be added must be properly brought before the court or no judgment can be entered or enforced. The requirements of due process must be met. Moore v. Knowles, 482 F.2d 1069, 1075 (5th Cir. 1973). If permission to add a party defendant is granted, plaintiff must comply with the provisions of Rules 3 and 4 relating to the issuance of summons and service. C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure, § 1688. It is true that Arsenis had been present in the court room during the entire trial and had appeared as a witness. His presence and testimony, however, did not amount to a submission to the jurisdiction of the court. Schuckman v. Rubenstein, 164 F.2d 952, 956 (6th Cir. 1947); First Regular Baptist Church v. Allison, 304 Pa. 1, 12, 154 A. 913 (1931).

[571]

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

McA Financial Group, Ltd. v. Enterprise Bank & Trust
341 P.3d 1161 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2014)
State ex rel. Shumaker v. Nichols
2013 Ohio 4732 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2013)
Nisenzon v. Sadowski
689 A.2d 1037 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 1997)
Spudnuts, Inc. v. Lane
676 P.2d 669 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1984)
Pope v. Intermountain Gas Co.
646 P.2d 988 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1982)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
79 F.R.D. 567, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16940, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sarne-v-fiesta-motel-paed-1978.