Andreyev v. Sealink, Inc.

• Decision Date: 25 May 2001
• Docket Number: No. Civ. 00-1834(PG).,Civ. 00-1834(PG).
• Citation: 143 F.Supp.2d 192
• Parties: Hennady ANDREYEV, Plaintiff, v. SEALINK INC, et. al; Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico

143 F.Supp.2d 192

Hennady ANDREYEV, Plaintiff, v. SEALINK INC, et. al; Defendants.

No. Civ. 00-1834(PG).

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

May 25, 2001.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Fernando D. Castro-Maldonado, Goldman Antonetti & Cordova, San Juan, PR, Richard J. Dodson, Kenneth H. Hooks III, Baton Rouge, LA, for Hennadiy Andreyev, plaintiff.

Jose F. Sarraga-Venegas, San Juan, PR, for Sealink, Inc., defendant.

Juan R. Rivera-Morales, Jimenez, Graffam & Lausell, San Juan, PR, for Terra Nova Insurance Company Limited, defendant.

OPINION & ORDER

JUAN M. PEREZ-GIMENEZ, District Judge.

Now before the Court is Defendant Terra Nova Insurance Company's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. After meticulously considering the record and pertinent case law, the Court DENIES Defendant's motion.

FACTUAL & PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The Plaintiff is a Ukrainian national who was employed as a seaman by Defendants Kristian Meszaros and Sealink Inc., abroad the vessel M/V "Sealink Express". On October 14, 1999, while the vessel was in port in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, an accident occurred. The hydrophrone tank of the vessel exploded while Plaintiff was servicing it — causing severe injuries. Plaintiff brought suit in the District Court of Puerto Rico against the owners of the vessel and Terra Nova Insurance Company (Terra Nova) to recover for the injuries suffered and lost wages. Terra Nova reacted by submitting a motion to dismiss on personal jurisdiction grounds.

The M/V Sealink Express displays a Panamanian flag. The vessel is owned by Defendant Sealink, Inc. which operates the vessel out of Isla Verde, Carolina, Puerto Rico. The company is a corporation with its principal office in Puerto Rico¹. The ultimate individual owner of the corporation and the vessel is Defendant Kristian Meszaros, a citizen of the United States and resident of Puerto Rico.

At the time of the accident, Sealink Express was insured by Defendant Terra Nova. Terra Nova is a corporation organized and existing by virtue of the laws of the United Kingdom with principal place of business at London, England. The company is not registered and/or authorized to conduct business under the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, nor are any affiliates, subsidiaries or related companies incorporated or registered to do business in Puerto Rico. Terra Nova has never operated an office in Puerto Rico. It does not keep a telephone listing in Puerto Rico, nor does it maintain insurance agents as employees or independent contractors in Puerto Rico. The company does not advertise or hire employees in Puerto Rico.

The insurance policy in question identifies Sealink, Inc. as the assured and "Sealink Express" as the assured vessel. The trading region of the assured vessel is declared explicitly as "American Gulf/West Indies". Claims which are brought in "USA Jurisdictions" are recognized by the policy and carry a larger deductible. Moreover, some claims recognized by the United States are excluded by the policy.

The insurance coverage was not negotiated or arranged within Puerto Rico. Instead it was entered into at London, England, by Sealink's brokers. No officer or other representative of Terra Nova traveled to Puerto Rico in order to solicit or execute the contract of insurance.

SPECIFIC OR GENERAL PERSONAL JURISDICTION

In personam jurisdiction relates to the power of the Court over a Defendant. It has two varieties: the general and the specific. General personal jurisdiction is the power of the Court over a Defendant "which may be asserted in connection with suits not directly founded on forum based conduct...." Donatelli v. National Hockey League, 893 F.2d 459, 462-463 (1st Cir.1990). General jurisdiction may be asserted when defendant has engaged in "continuous and systematic activity, unrelated to the suit, in the forum state". United Elec. Workers v. 163 Pleasant St. Corp., 960 F.2d 1080, 1088 (1st Cir.1992). Specific jurisdiction, on the other hand, may be relied upon "where the cause of action arises directly out of, or relates to, the defendant's forum based conduct." Id. at 1088-1089.

When personal jurisdiction is contested, plaintiffs bear the burden of proving the facts upon which the existence of jurisdiction depends. See McNutt v. General Motors Acceptance Corp., 298 U.S. 178, 189, 56 S.Ct. 780, 80 L.Ed. 1135 (1936); General Contracting and Trading Company v. Interpole, Inc., 899 F.2d 109, 115 (1st Cir.1990). It is Plaintiffs' burden to establish sufficient facts to sustain general personal jurisdiction. See Ticketmaster-New York, Inc. v. Alioto, 26 F.3d 201, 207 n. 9 (1st Cir.1994). Nothing in the record before the Court, however, suggests that Terra Nova engaged in continuous and systematic activity within Puerto Rico. Plaintiff has thus failed to carry their burden as to general personal jurisdiction. The Court will assume that general jurisdiction is lacking and will focus exclusively on specific jurisdiction. See Pritzker, 42 F.3d at 60 (where the Court assumed no general jurisdiction because the record was silent as to whether defendant engaged in continuous and systematic activity within the forum state).

PUERTO RICO'S LONG-ARM STATUTE

Congress has not authorized nationwide service of process in admiralty cases. Consequently, Puerto Rico's long arm statute must be applied when determining whether Defendant Terra Nova is amenable to suit in this Court. See Colon v. Gulf Trading Co., 609 F.Supp. 1469, 1474-1475 (D.P.R.1985) (Court must use Puerto Rican long-arm statute because admiralty statutes do not provide for nation-wide service of process); Klinghoffer v. S.N.C. Achille Lauro Ed Altri-Gestione Motonave Achille Lauro in Amministrazione Straordinaria, 937 F.2d 44 (2nd Cir. 1991) (Stating that the law of the forum state — here, New York — governs the issue of personal jurisdiction in admiralty cases); See Also DeJames v. Magnificence Carriers, Inc., 654 F.2d 280, 283 (3rd Cir.1981).

Puerto Rico's long arm statute provides that a Puerto Rico based court may extend jurisdiction over a person not domiciled in Puerto Rico "if the action or claim arises because said person ... transacted business in Puerto Rico personally or through an agent...." P.R.Laws Ann. tit. 32, app. III, R.4.7(a)(1) (1984 & Supp. 1989)². The statute extends personal jurisdiction to the full extent of constitutional authority. See Pritzker v. Yari, 42 F.3d 53, 60 (1st Cir.1994) (citing Dalmau Rodriguez v. Hughes Aircraft Co., 781 F.2d 9, 10 (1st Cir.1986)) and Mangual v. General Battery Corp., 710 F.2d 15, 19 (1st Cir. 1983). That is, the exercise of personal jurisdiction by Puerto Rican courts is limited only by the due process analysis of International Shoe and succeeding Supreme Court cases. Colocotroni, 628 F.2d at 668.

Before extending personal jurisdiction, this Court is required to find that (1) personal jurisdiction is authorized by the local statute and (2) the exercise jurisdiction does not violate the due process requirement of "minimum contacts". Commonwealth of Puerto Rico v. SS Zoe Colocotroni, 628 F.2d 652, 667 (1st Cir. 1980); Citing World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286, 289, 100 S.Ct. 559, 62 L.Ed.2d 490 (1980) and International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 316, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945). Given that the Puerto Rican statute extends personal jurisdiction to the full extent of constitutional authority, the state long arm statute analysis and due process analysis merge into one. The sole question before the Court is whether it is constitutionally permissible to require Terra Nova to litigate in the Federal District Court seated in Puerto Rico.

DUE PROCESS

Due process protects individuals defendants from being bound by judgments of a forum with which they lack meaningful relations. Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 471-72, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 85 L.Ed.2d 528 (1985). The constitutional protection requires that individuals have "fair warning that a particular activity may subject [them] to the jurisdiction of a foreign sovereign." Shaffer v. Heitner, 433 U.S. 186, 218, 97 S.Ct. 2569, 53 L.Ed.2d 683 (1977) (Stewart, J., concurring in the judgment), before personal jurisdiction is extended. The "fair warning" requirement permits potential defendants to structure their conduct "with some minimum assurance as to where that conduct will and will not render them liable to suit." World-Wide Volkswagen Corp., 444 U.S. at 297, 100 S.Ct. 559, 62 L.Ed.2d 490 (1980); See Also Burger King Corp., 471 U.S. at 471, 105 S.Ct. 2174. "The constitutional touchstone remains whether the defendant purposefully established `minimum contacts' in the forum," Burger King Corp., 471 U.S. at 474, 105 S.Ct. 2174, "such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend `traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice'" International Shoe Corp., 326 U.S. at 316, 66 S.Ct. 154.

The inquiry into minimum contacts is far from exact: "the criteria by which we mark the boundary line between those activities which justify the subjection of a corporation to suit, and those which do not, cannot be simply mechanical or quantitative". See United Electrical Workers v. 163 Pleasant St., 960 F.2d 1080, 1088 (1st Cir.1992) citing International Shoe, 326 U.S. at 319, 66 S.Ct. 154. The inquiry is highly idiosyncratic, involving individualized assessment and factual analysis of the precise mix of contacts that characterize each case. See United Electrical Workers, 960 F.2d at 1088. "In construing such a weighbeam, the measuring points will rarely be written in gleaming black or glistening white. `The greys are dominant and even among them the shades are innumerable.'" Id. citing Estin v. Estin, 334 U.S. 541, 545, 68 S.Ct. 1213, 92 L.Ed. 1561 (1948).

To sharpen the logic of the minimum contacts inquiry, the First Circuit has developed a tripartite analysis:

First, the claim underlying the litigation must directly...