Madera v. Hall
| Citation | 717 F. Supp. 812 |
| Decision Date | 11 July 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-0914-Civ.,88-0914-Civ. |
| Parties | John MADERA, Plaintiff, v. Daryl HALL, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida |
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED
Garber & Guralnick by Mark S. Guralnick, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for plaintiff.
Parcher Arisohn & Hayes, Brian D. Caplan, New York City, and Beckham, McAliley & Schulz by Thomas W. McAliley, Miami, Fla., for defendant.
FINAL ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS
This cause came before the court on the defendant's motion to dismiss and motion for representation pro hac vice. Because this action is time-barred and because the court lacks personal jurisdiction over the defendant, the court grants the defendant's motion to dismiss.
The plaintiff claims that the defendant, Daryl Hall, made an allegedly libelous statement in a telephone interview with Music Connection, a magazine published in California. The defendant, a resident of New York, is an internationally famous musician and recording artist. Hall allegedly made the comment in New York to an interviewer in California. The statement was published in the November 24, 1986—December 14, 1986 issue of Music Connection. The statement read as follows:
I had my first disillusionment with the music business early on. I was working with this guy John Madera, in Philadelphia, and he wrote `AT THE HOP' and a whole bunch of things and he had his day in the sun, but he was pretty much a small time kind of guy. I was doing sessions with him, gettin' sic paid by him, bein' screwed by him basically.
This issue of Music Connection went on sale at newsstands and was generally distributed to the public on November 19 and 20, 1986. The issue had a national circulation of 10,000 issues, of which 18 copies were mailed to Florida. The plaintiff claims that the allegedly libelous statement damaged his reputation in the entertainment industry for professionalism and personal integrity. The plaintiff further claims that he has been subjected to disgrace, public humiliation and embarrassment and has suffered great mental pain and anguish.
The plaintiff untimely filed an action in federal district court in New York. The court dismissed the action as time-barred under New York's one year statute of limitations. Apparently, the plaintiff also unsuccessfully pursued an action on the same issue in California. The plaintiff then filed the present case in May, 1988, approximately 18 months after the November 24, 1986—December 14, 1986 issue of Music Connection was published.
The defendant moves the court to dismiss the plaintiff's action pursuant to Rules 12(b)(6) and 12(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Specifically, the defendant contends that the complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, as the applicable statutes of limitation have expired, and that the court lacks personal jurisdiction over the defendant.
This case is a clear example of forum shopping. Being time-barred in other jurisdictions where one, or perhaps two, previously filed actions were dismissed, the plaintiff seeks refuge in Florida's longer statute of limitations. To do so, he seeks to hale into court in Florida a resident of New York. The New York defendant's motion to dismiss presents the court with two issues: first, a choice of law among the statutes of limitations in three states, and, second, a determination of whether the court has personal jurisdiction over the defendant.
The defendant moves to dismiss the plaintiff's complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, contending that the plaintiff's action is time-barred by the applicable statute of limitations. The statute of limitations is either two years under Florida law, Fla. Stat. § 95.11(4)(g) (1987), or one year under either New York law, Civ.Prac.L. & R.N.Y. § 215(3), or California law, Cal.Code Civ. Proc. § 340(3).
In the motion to dismiss, the defendant urges that the Florida statute of limitations should not apply because the cause of action arose in another state. Specifically, the defendant states that Florida's "borrowing statute" bars maintenance of the suit in Florida. The statute provides as follows:
When the cause of action arose in another state or territory of the United States or in a foreign country, and its laws forbid the maintenance of the action because of lapse of time, no action shall be maintained in this state.
Fla.Stat. § 95.10 (1987). "The purpose of the statute is to discourage `forum shopping' and the filing of lawsuits in Florida that have already been barred in the jurisdiction where the cause of action arose." Celotex Corp. v. Meehan, 523 So.2d 141, 143 (Fla.1988). The first inquiry of the court, consequently, is to determine where the cause of action arose.
Three choices exist as to where the cause of action for libel arose. The cause arose either in New York, where the statement allegedly was made, or in California, where the statement was recorded, printed, published and released for circulation, or Florida, where eighteen copies of the magazine were circulated. As a further consideration, California is the plaintiff's legal residence and the place where he presumably conducts a majority of his professional business and has the majority of his professional contacts.
The borrowing statute comes into effect only upon determination that the cause of action arose in another state. Bates v. Cook, Inc., 509 So.2d 1112, 1115 (Fla.1987). For the purposes of the borrowing statute, Florida court's apply the "significant relationship" test to determine in which state the cause of action arose. Id. Under the significant relationship test, where courts are faced with conflicts of law questions concerning statutes of limitations as to tort actions involving more than one state, "the law of the state having the most significant relationship to the occurrence and the parties" is controlling. Id. at 1114. Thus, as between New York, California, and Florida, the statute of limitations in the state having the most significant relationship to the alleged libelous act and the parties is controlling.
The "occurrence" giving rise to a libel cause of action "is generally held to occur wherever the offending material is circulated." Stepanian v. Addis, 782 F.2d 902, 903 (11th Cir.1986) (citing Keeton v. Hustler Magazine, Inc., 465 U.S. 770, 777, 104 S.Ct. 1473, 1479, 79 L.Ed.2d 790 (1984)). When a person makes a libelous statement to a reporter, the tort can occur where the statement is circulated. Stepanian, 782 F.2d at 903 (). The mere fact that the statement was made in New York does not make New York's statute of limitations controlling, because the allegedly libelous material was published in California and circulated in Florida. Applying the significant relationship test, the court looks to the relationship of the parties and the occurrence to each state. As to the plaintiff, John Madera, he is a citizen and resident of the state of California. As a resident of California, the plaintiff presumably has significant professional contacts within that state. Any damage to his professional reputation would most likely have occurred in California, where Music Connection magazine is published and where circulation is the greatest. Indeed, it is likely that the plaintiff first became aware of the publication of these statements in California, and that that is where any actual damage suffered by the plaintiff occurred. See Lamphier v. Knight-Ridder Newspapers, 12 Med.L. Rep. 2154, 2156 (S.D.Fla.1986) ().
In his complaint, the plaintiff fails to allege any relationship to the state of Florida. The only connection to the state is the circulation of eighteen issues of Music Connection magazine, which contained the allegedly libelous statement. The plaintiff does not allege any professional connections with Florida, and does not allege any facts to show that circulation of the statement in Florida damaged his reputation in any way. Although damages are presumed where an injury is shown to the plaintiff's professional or business reputation, as a bare minimum, the plaintiff must show that he had a reputation to damage in the forum where the tort is alleged to have occurred. The plaintiff has not done that here nor has the plaintiff alleged any facts to show a relationship between himself and New York or between the occurrence and New York. The court, therefore, finds that the relationship between the plaintiff, the occurrence, and the state is far more significant in California than it is in New York or Florida.
As to the defendant, his relationship to the state of Florida is insignificant in that it is limited to some real estate holdings unrelated to this cause of action, the sale of his recordings in this state, and his live concert appearances. The latter two contacts, one entirely incidental and impersonal and the other sporadic and infrequent, do not create a significant relationship between the defendant and Florida and are only remotely related to this cause of action. Of course, his relationship with the state of New York is substantial since he is a New York resident. The relationship between the occurrence and New York is insignificant, because that is only where the statement was made in a private conversation. Based on the significance of the relationship between the plaintiff,...
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