Simeone v. Federal Press Co.

485 A.2d 587, 40 Conn. Super. Ct. 173, 40 Conn. Supp. 173, 1984 Conn. Super. LEXIS 182
CourtConnecticut Superior Court
DecidedSeptember 27, 1984
DocketFile 228759
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 485 A.2d 587 (Simeone v. Federal Press Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Connecticut Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Simeone v. Federal Press Co., 485 A.2d 587, 40 Conn. Super. Ct. 173, 40 Conn. Supp. 173, 1984 Conn. Super. LEXIS 182 (Colo. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

Higgins, J.

The plaintiff brings this products liability action against the Federal Press Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the state of Indiana. The plaintiff was injured while operating an allegedly defective machine manufactured by the defendant. The injury occurred in Connecticut at Echlin, Inc., the plaintiffs place of employment. The press was sold to Echlin by the Beisel Machinery Company.

The defendant moves to dismiss this action claiming that the court lacks personal jurisdiction over a foreign corporation which does not transact business in this state and is not subject to suit by reason of Connecticut’s long arm statute. General Statutes § 33-411.

A motion to dismiss is the proper vehicle to assert the court’s lack of jurisdiction over the defendant. Practice Book § 143. When the motion does not seek to introduce facts outside of the record it admits all well pleaded facts, the complaint being construed most favorably to the plaintiff. American Laundry Machinery, Inc. v. State, 190 Conn. 212, 217, 459 A.2d 1031 (1983). However, “[w]hen a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction raises a factual question which is not determinable from the face of the record, the burden of proof is on the plaintiff to present evidence which will establish jurisdiction.” Standard Tallow Corporation v. Jowdy, 190 Conn. 48, 54, 459 A.2d 503 (1983).

The determination of jurisdiction over the defendant “requires a two-tiered consideration of (1) whether the appropriate state statute reaches the foreign corporation and (2) whether such statutory reach exceeds the constitutional ‘minimum contacts’ test required by due process. International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 316, 66 S. Ct. 154, 90 L. Ed. 95 (1945) . . . .” *175 McFaddin v. National Executive Search, Inc., 354 F. Sup. 1166, 1168 (D. Conn. 1973); see also Lombard Bros., Inc. v. General Asset Management Co., 190 Conn. 245, 250, 460 A.2d 481 (1983).

Initially it must be determined whether § 33-411 (e) potentially reaches the defendant. The plaintiff argues that subsections (3) and (4) apply: “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 such 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 (4) out of tortious conduct in this state, whether arising out of repeated activity or single acts, and whether arising out of misfeasance or nonfeasance.”

In determining the applicability of § 33-411 (c) (3), the court is aided by the affidavit of James Hays, customer service manager of Federal Press, submitted by the defendant. Essentially, the affidavit states that Federal Press does not solicit business, advertise or regularly make sales in Connecticut. The affidavit does state, however, that “[o]n a number of occasions, Federal Press Co. has shipped power presses to the Echlin Company after the Beisel Machinery Co. sold Federal Press Co.’s power presses to Echlin.” The plaintiff also submits an affidavit in which he states that the defendant manufactured the allegedly defective press and shipped it to Connecticut. On the basis of the defendant’s own *176 admission that it shipped presses to Echlin, the court concludes that the defendant produced, manufactured or distributed goods with the reasonable expectation that such goods would be used in Connecticut. Therefore § 33-411 (c) (3) reaches the defendant. This is not the end of the inquiry, however. Having determined that § 33-411 (c) (3) reaches the defendant, this court must next decide whether the operation of that statute comports with due process.

“[D]ue process requires only that in order to subject a defendant to a judgment in personam, if he be not present within the territory of the forum, he have certain minimum contacts with it such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.” (Emphasis added.) International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 316, 66 S. Ct. 154, 90 L. Ed. 95 (1945).

Essentially the plaintiff argues that minimum contacts have been established because the defendant admits to having shipped presses to Echlin on several occasions. The defendant claims that minimum contacts are not established solely by proving that a manufacturer could have foreseen that some of its products would be distributed or used in the forum state. The defendant relies heavily upon the fact that it had no direct sales relationship with Connecticut, the presses having been sold to Echlin by an intermediate company. The parties therefore raise the issue of whether the defendant’s act of shipping presses into Connecticut, the defendant’s sole contact with the state, satisfies the due process requirements.

Particularly instructive in answering this question is the ease of World-Wide Volkswagen Corporation v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286, 100 S. Ct. 559, 62 L. Ed. 2d 490 (1980), in whiehthe United States Supreme Court held that jurisdiction over an out-of-state automobile *177 distributor is not supported by the mere fact that its product could foreseeably cause an injury in the forum state. Although World-Wide Volkswagen involved a distributor, the court addressed the jurisdictional test with regard to manufacturers when it stated (at pp. 297-98): “if the sale of a product of a manufacturer . . . is not simply an isolated occurrence, but arises from the efforts of the manufacturer ... to serve, directly or indirectly, the market for its product in other States, it is not unreasonable to subject it to suit in one of those States if its allegedly defective merchandise has there been the source of injury to its owner or to others. The forum State does not exceed its powers under the Due Process Clause if it asserts personal jurisdiction over a corporation that delivers its products into the stream of commerce with the expectation that they will be purchased by consumers in the forum State. Cf. Gray

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Bluebook (online)
485 A.2d 587, 40 Conn. Super. Ct. 173, 40 Conn. Supp. 173, 1984 Conn. Super. LEXIS 182, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/simeone-v-federal-press-co-connsuperct-1984.