Wiedemann v. Cunard Line Limited

380 N.E.2d 932, 63 Ill. App. 3d 1023, 20 Ill. Dec. 723, 1978 Ill. App. LEXIS 3256
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedAugust 21, 1978
Docket77-907
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 380 N.E.2d 932 (Wiedemann v. Cunard Line Limited) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wiedemann v. Cunard Line Limited, 380 N.E.2d 932, 63 Ill. App. 3d 1023, 20 Ill. Dec. 723, 1978 Ill. App. LEXIS 3256 (Ill. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE O’CONNOR

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, Joseph R. Wiedemann, appeals from the order of the circuit court of Cook County which granted the motion of defendant, Cunard Line Limited (Cunard), to quash the service of summons and dismiss the complaint against it. Plaintiff contends that defendant is subject to in personam jurisdiction of the Illinois courts because it has employees and agents in Illinois, advertises in Illinois and contracted with plaintiff in Illinois.

Plaintiff’s complaint seeks damages for personal injuries he suffered while using the ocean beach at the Hotel LaToc, located on the island of St. Lucia, West Indies. Count I of the complaint alleges that Cunard “owned, operated, managed, maintained and controlled” the hotel and its premises and that Cunard was doing business in Cook County, Illinois, “by and through its agents, employees, brochures, and advertisements.” It was further alleged that a co-defendant, GWV Travel Inc. (GWV), was a corporation in the business of booking and operating tours as an agent and servant of Cunard and which contracted with plaintiff in the City of Chicago for such a tour. Plaintiff alleged he was induced by brochures and advertisements of the defendants to contract, and did contract, with the defendants for the tour which included the beach and ocean facilities of the Hotel LaToc. Plaintiff alleged that the defendants had the duty to use reasonable care for the safety of the plaintiff as a hotel guest and the duty to warn the plaintiff of the unreasonably dangerous condition of the beach. It was alleged that the defendants breached these duties by negligent failure to warn plaintiff of the dangerous beach, negligent advertisement that plaintiff would have the use of a safe beach, negligent failure to provide a lifeguard, and negligent failure to erect and maintain a structure to prevent plaintiff from using the dangerous beach. It was alleged that plaintiff’s injuries were proximately caused by one or all of the above acts or omissions of the defendants.

Count II of the complaint alleged that defendants represented that the beach and ocean facilities were safe for wading and swimming, and that plaintiff contracted with defendants on the basis of this representation, but that the representations were false and misleading and the beach was not fit for the purpose advertised. It was alleged that plaintiff’s injuries were proximately caused by the breach of contract by defendants.

Service of process was made upon defendant Cunard in New York, New York. Cunard filed a special appearance and moved to quash service of summons, objecting to the court’s jurisdiction over the person of Cunard. Defendant GWV was served in Needham, Massachusetts, and also filed a special appearance and moved to quash on the ground of lack of personal jurisdiction of the Illinois courts.

Each defendant filed an affidavit in support of its motion to quash. Cunard’s affidavit, sworn to by a vice president of the company, states that Cunard is a corporation organized under the laws of Great Britain and maintains an office in New York. Further, Cunard has never been authorized to transact business in Illinois, it has not consented to be sued in Illinois, it owns no property in Illinois, and maintains no office in Illinois. None of Cunard’s employees or agents sells any passenger tickets or tickets for any tour or vacation tour in Illinois. The affidavit states that Cunard is in the oceanic shipping business and owns the “Cunard Adventurer,” which was the ship on which plaintiff had been given passage as part of the vacation package arranged by GWV. GWV arranged and operated the tour, including the making of all air, ship and hotel reservations; all reservations were made outside of the State of Illinois. Plaintiff purchased his tour ticket from Travel-Wide, an independent travel bureau in Northbrook, Illinois. Cunard’s affidavit further stated that Cunard had no contractual relationship with plaintiff; GWV reserved a number of spaces on the “Cunard Adventurer” and paid Cunard directly, and their transaction had no connection with the State of Illinois. Cunard had no contractual or other relationship to plaintiff concerning the Hotel LaToc. Cunard stated that no ownership or agency interest existed between itself and any of the other defendants, including Hotel LaToc, nor did Cunard have the right or power to control or direct any of their activities. Cunard denied that it, or its agents or employees, had made contact with plaintiff in Illinois to solicit the sale or to sell the torn: package plaintiff purchased from Travel-Wide. Cunard denied any responsibility for the condition of the beach at Hotel LaToc, and denied ever making any representation to plaintiff, in Illinois or elsewhere, that the beach was safe for wading or swimming. Cunard denied committing any tortious act in Illinois or elsewhere which would subject it to the jurisdiction of the Illinois courts, and denied that it had transacted any business in Illinois which would subject it to the jurisdiction of the Illinois courts in this case. Finally, Cunard states that, both at the time it contracted with GWV and at the time plaintiff purchased his ticket, Cunard did not and could not foresee that it would be required to defend a suit such as this in Illinois.

GWV’s affidavit, sworn to by its vice president-treasurer, states that it is a Delaware corporation, with its offices and principal place of business in Massachusetts. It owns no property and maintains no office in Illinois. None of its officers, employees or agents lives, works, solicits or transacts business in Illinois. GWV is not authorized to transact business in Illinois and it has not consented to be sued in Illinois. The affidavit states that GWV is in the business of organizing and operating vacation tours, which frequently include air and ship travel, as well as hotel accommodations.

With reference to the tour taken by plaintiff, GWV, after conceiving and planning the itinerary, reserved blocks of airline, steamship and hotel accommodations as an independent contractor. Tickets for the tour were sold by Travel-Wide, an independent travel bureau in Northbrook, Illinois, which retained 10% of plaintiff’s payment as its commission, then issued its own check to GWV in payment of the tour charge. Plaintiff’s purchased tour included a flight on Overseas National Airways from Chicago to San Juan, Puerto Rico; a cruise on the “Cunard Adventurer,” a ship owned and operated by defendant Cunard; one week’s accommodation at Hotel LaToc, St. Lucia, W.I.; ship transportation back to San Juan; and air transportation back to Chicago.

GWV’s affidavit stated further that the only involvement of Cunard was to provide ship accommodation and transport, and the voyage of the “Cunard Adventurer” had no contact with the State of Illinois. GWV denied having made contact with or having communicated with plaintiff in Illinois or soliciting in Illinois the sale of the vacation package purchased by plaintiff. GWV has no ownership or agency interest or relationship with Travel-Wide, Hotel LaToc, or any other defendant, nor does GWV have the power or authority to control or direct their activities. Conversely, GWV is not controlled or directed by any of the other defendants.

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Bluebook (online)
380 N.E.2d 932, 63 Ill. App. 3d 1023, 20 Ill. Dec. 723, 1978 Ill. App. LEXIS 3256, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wiedemann-v-cunard-line-limited-illappct-1978.