Gregonis v. Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co.
Decision Date | 06 March 1923 |
Citation | 235 N.Y. 152,139 N.E. 223 |
Parties | GREGONIS v. PHILADELPHIA & READING COAL & IRON CO. |
Court | New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
Action by Benny Gregonis against the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company. Judgment for plaintiff entered on a verdict of a jury was unanimously reversed, and the complaint was dismissed by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court for the Second Department (188 App. Div. 975,176 N. Y. Supp. 901), and plaintiff appeals.
Judgment of Appellate Division reversed, and that of Trial Term affirmed.
See, also, 201 App. Div. 861,93 N. Y. Supp. 935.
Appeal from Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second department.
John C. Robinson and Morris A. Wainger, both of New York City, for appellant.
Pierce M. Brown, of New York City, for respondent.
This action was brought to recover for personal injuries received while working for the defendant in its coal mines in Pennsylvania. At the time of the accident, December 28, 1915, the plaintiff was a resident of the state of Pennsylvania. Before bringing this action he had, however, moved into the state of New York, and there was sufficient evidence introduced on the trial to warrant the jury in answering the questions submitted by the court in the plaintiff's favor. These questions were as follows: Was the plaintiff a bona fide resident of the state of New York at the time he commencedthis action? The answer was, ‘Yes.’ Was the plaintiff's sole object in coming to New York to maintain this action? The answer was, ‘No.’
The judgment entered upon a verdict for the plaintiff was reversed by the Appellate Division, which by a resettled order, entered the 17th day of April, 1922, made the following direction:
[1][2][3][4] The Appellate Division dismissed the complaint. As there was evidence sufficient to create a question of fact as to residence, the Appellate Division might have reversed upon the weight of evidence and granted a new trial, but could not dismiss the complaint. Woicianowicz v. Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co., 232 N. Y. 256, 133 N. E. 579. It went further, however, and assumed that, if the plaintiff were a resident of the state of New York, the Supreme Court had the discretion and the power to dismiss the complaint because the tort happened in Pennsylvania, and was governed somewhat by the statutes of that state. The question is, therefore, squarely presented to us, whether or not the Supreme Court has any such power over an action brought by a resident of the state of New York. Torts are transitory actions and can be brought, as a general rule, in any state where the courts have jurisdiction over the parties. Crashley v. Press Publishing Co., 179 N. Y. 27, 71 N. E. 258, 1 Ann. Cas. 196. The courts of this state may entertain jurisdiction of a negligence case arising in another state, where the plaintiff is a resident or nonresident of this state. As to nonresidents, the courts have many times refused to entertain jurisdiction in the exercise of their discretion. As to a resident, however, a different question arises and a different law is applicable. Can the Supreme Court refuse to hear a case against a foreign corporation brought by one resident of this state, where the tort occurred outside the state, and entertain jurisdiction for another resident upon the same state of facts? If it has discretion to refuse jurisdiction in the one instance, it must have a like discretion to entertain it in the other. Discretion implies a power to make a choice. We do not think that, as to a resident of this state, the court has any such discretion. The statutes from a very early date have controlled or regulated somewhat the right of a resident to bring an action against a nonresident corporation. In Robinson v. Oceanic Steam Navigation Co. (112 N. Y. 315, 322,19 N. E. 625, 626 (2 L. R. A. 636) it was said:
We find as early as 2 Revised Statutes, pt. 3, c. 8, tit. 4, art. 1, § 15, the following provision:
‘Suits brought in the Supreme Court by a resident of this state, against any corporation created by or under the laws of any other state, government or country, for the recovery of any debt or damages, may be commenced by attachment.’
The notes of the revisers had this to say:
‘The fair protection of our own citizens requires that some provision should be made to render such corporations amenable to our laws and in our own courts.’
An amendment by chapter 107 of the Laws of 1849 reads as follows:
The Code of Procedure (Laws of 1849, c. 438) contained the following provision:
‘Sec. 427. An action against a corporation, created by, or under the laws of any other state, government, or country may be brought in the Supreme Court, the Superior Court of the city of New York, or in the Court of Common Pleas for the city and county of New York in the following cases:
‘1. By a resident of this state for any cause of action;
These provisions passed over into the Code of Civil Procedure (§ 1780), wherein they were changed to read as follows:
‘An action against a foreign corporation may be maintained by a resident of the state, or by a domestic corporation, for any cause of action. An action against a foreign corporation may be maintained by another foreign corporation, or by a nonresident, in one of the following cases only:
‘1. Where the action is brought to recover damages for the breach of a contract made within the state, or relating to property situated within the state, at the time of the making thereof.
‘2. Where it is brought to recover real property situated within the state, or a chattel, which is replevied within the state.
By an amendment (chapter 60, Laws of 1913) a fourth provision was added:
Prior to the provisions of the Revised Statutes, the Supreme Court had no jurisdiction against a foreign corporation unless it could obtain jurisdiction of the person of such corporation. Thereafter jurisdiction might be obtained by attachment in favor of a resident of the state. Ladenburg v. Commercial Bank, 87 Hun, 269, 33 N. Y. Supp. 821, affirmed 146 N. Y. 406, 42 N. E. 543. Then came the provisions of the Code and the Code of Civil Procedure, which extended the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to a resident of this state for any cause of action against a foreign corporation.
A distinction has always been maintained, however, by the statutes between a resident and a nonresident plaintiff. A thorough search of the authorities from the enactment of the Revised Statutes down to the present day has failed to disclose a single instance wherein the courts of this state have refused to entertain jurisdiction over a foreign corporation in behalf of a resident, for a cause of action arising out of the state. I do not refer to cases where the courts had not jurisdiction of the subject-matter of the litigation; I am speaking here of those transitory causes of action such as contract and tort cases, where the courts had jurisdiction of both parties. Never has the Supreme Court refused jurisdiction in such instances to a resident of the state. On the contrary, it has always assumed jurisdiction of such actions. Tullock v. Delaware, L. & W. R. Co., 147 App. Div. 524,132 N. Y. Supp. 88; affirmed 205 N. Y. 576, 98 N. E. 1117;...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Mooney v. Denver & R. G. W. R. Co.
...out of a tort committed in a sister state where both the plaintiff and defendant are nonresidents. Gregonis v. Philadelphia & R. Coal & I. Co., 235 N.Y. 152, 160, 139 N.E. 223, 32 A.L.R. 1, and cases cited. While no controlling reason compelled, the Special Term refused to assume jurisdicti......
-
Alcoa Steamship Company, Inc. v. M/V Nordic Regent
...practice of giving favored jurisdictional treatment to resident plaintiffs. The Court's citation of Gregonis v. Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co., 235 N.Y. 152, 139 N.E. 223 (1923), which held that New York courts could not refuse to exercise jurisdiction in a tort action by a resident......
-
Gulf Oil Corporation v. Gilbert
...Wedemann v. United States Trus Co. of New York, 258 N.Y. 315, 179 N.E. 712, 79 A.L.R. 1320; see Gregonis v. Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co., 235 N.Y. 152, 139 N.E. 223, 32 A.L.R. 1. It would not be profitable, therefore, to pursue inquiry as to the source from which our rule must Tur......
-
Reyno v. Piper Aircraft Co.
...determine that law. 123123 Wertheim v. Clergue, 53 App.Div. 122, 65 N.Y.Supp. 750 (1st Dep't 1900); see Gregonis v. Philadelphia & R. C. & I. Co., 235 N.Y. 152, 139 N.E. 223, 225 (1923). The Wertheim case reversed dismissal of an action based upon false representations in the inducement and......