Bergquist v. Medtronic, Inc.

• Decision Date: 03 January 1986
• Docket Number: No. C6-84-1243,C6-84-1243
• Citation: 379 N.W.2d 508
• Parties: Edward W. BERGQUIST, as Trustee for the heirs of Erik Henry Boteus, decedent, Respondent, v. MEDTRONIC, INC., et al., petitioners, Appellants.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Page 508

379 N.W.2d 508

Edward W. BERGQUIST, as Trustee for the heirs of Erik Henry

Boteus, decedent, Respondent, v. MEDTRONIC, INC., et al., petitioners, Appellants.

No. C6-84-1243.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Jan. 3, 1986.

Syllabus by the Court

1. In deciding motions to dismiss on grounds of forum non conveniens, the presumption given the plaintiff's choice of forum shall have less effect when the plaintiff is foreign. Minnesota adopts the rule of Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno, 454 U.S. 235, 102 S.Ct. 252, 70 L.Ed.2d 419 (1981).

2. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing the cause of action on grounds of forum non conveniens.

3. While the cause of action is dismissed, it may be brought again in the Minnesota courts if the case cannot be litigated in Sweden.

C. Alan Cunningham, Scott W. Johnson, Minneapolis, for appellants.

Bradlee Karan, Minneapolis, for respondent.

Heard, considered and decided by the court en banc.

YETKA, Justice.

On April 19, 1983, respondent Edward W. Bergquist, as trustee for the heirs of Erik Henry Boteus, filed a complaint in Hennepin County District Court against appellants Medtronic, Inc., and Medtronic Blood Systems, Inc. Defendants filed an answer on June 2, 1983, denying all of plaintiff's allegations and affirmatively alleging that venue was improper. On February 22, 1984, defendants moved for dismissal on the grounds of forum non conveniens. The district court denied the motion on March 12, 1984, but on defendants' motion for reconsideration, the court granted the motion and dismissed the action on April 16, 1984. Bergquist appealed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals, which reversed the district court on April 2, 1985, 364 N.W.2d 887. Medtronic, Inc., and Medtronic Blood Systems, Inc., petitioned this court for further review on April 8, 1985, and the court granted the motion on June 14, 1985. We reverse.

This wrongful death action was brought in Hennepin County District Court by respondent Edward W. Bergquist as trustee for the heirs of Erik Henry Boteus against Medtronic, Inc., and its subsidiary, Medtronic Blood Systems, Inc., Minnesota corporations with their principal places of business in Minnesota ¹ (hereinafter jointly referred to as Medtronic). Boteus was a 55-year-old resident and citizen of Sweden and executive of a Swedish transportation company who underwent heart surgery in the Sahlgrenska Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden, on April 13, 1981. ² The physicians and hospital personnel attending Boteus were all Swedish citizens and hospital records concerning the operation remain in Sweden. The surgery involved implantation of a 29 mm. prosthetic aortic valve designed, manufactured and distributed by Medtronic. Boteus died of cardiac arrest on April 14, 1981. Bergquist maintains that a moving part of the valve, the occular disc, fractured and chipped, causing the valve to malfunction and Boteus to die.

Bergquist filed a complaint in the Hennepin County District Court on April 19, 1984, alleging that Medtronic was liable for the wrongful death of Boteus on strict liability, breach of warranty, and negligence grounds. Medtronic made a general denial and affirmatively alleged that the risk was on the buyer, that any malfunction was caused by third parties, that Swedish law governed the case, and that venue was improper. ³

On February 22, 1984, Medtronic moved for dismissal on forum non conveniens grounds. Medtronic also submitted an affidavit of a Swedish lawyer stating that Sweden was an alternative forum in which the defendants would be subject to involuntary service. On March 9, 1984, the district court denied the motion, finding that Medtronic failed to meet the burden of proof set forth by this court in Hague v. Allstate Insurance Co., 289 N.W.2d 43 (Minn.1978), aff'd, 449 U.S. 302, 101 S.Ct. 633, 66 L.Ed.2d 521 (1981), reh'g denied, 450 U.S. 971, 101 S.Ct. 1494, 67 L.Ed.2d 623 (1981). The court based its ruling on Medtronic's failure to show that it intended to call Swedish witnesses or had difficulty obtaining evidence from Sweden. Medtronic appealed the order to the Minnesota Court of Appeals and also moved the district court for reconsideration.

In support of the motion to reconsider, Medtronic's attorney submitted an affidavit stating that the defense was having difficulty obtaining cooperation from Swedish physicians and hospital personnel and requesting the production of documents now in Sweden. He further stated that the district court lacked jurisdiction to compel the appearance of these witnesses or the production of the documents. On April 5, 1984, the district court heard the motion to reconsider. At the hearing, the court granted the request of Bergquist's counsel to submit opposing affidavits. Bergquist then submitted a personal affidavit and affidavits from his attorneys maintaining that there had been no demand made of them for documents and that records requested would be delivered to Medtronic in the normal course of discovery. Bergquist also maintained that Medtronic had improperly attempted to obtain documents from the Sahlgrenska Hospital without the authorization of the Boteus family.

On April 17, 1984, the district court vacated its March 12 order and granted Medtronic's motion to dismiss on forum non conveniens grounds. The court heard and considered the appropriate public and private interest factors as set forth by the United States Supreme Court in Gulf Oil Corp. v. Gilbert, 330 U.S. 501, 67 S.Ct. 839, 91 L.Ed. 1055 (1947), and adopted by this court in Hague, 289 N.W.2d at 46. Especially important in the district court's analysis was the affidavit of Medtronic's attorney concerning the evidentiary problems faced by the defense if the suit were litigated in Minnesota.

The court of appeals vacated Medtronic's appeal on April 30, 1984. Bergquist then appealed from the district court dismissal on July 11, 1984.

On April 2, 1985, the court of appeals reversed the district court, finding the dismissal on grounds of forum non conveniens was prematurely granted. Bergquist v. Medtronic, Inc., 364 N.W.2d 887 (Minn.Ct.App.1985). The court analyzed the motion under the Gulf Oil public and private interest factors. Operating with the premise that a plaintiff's choice of forum should rarely be disturbed unless it is to "vex" or "harass" the defendant, the court reweighed the Gulf Oil private and public interest factors in forum non conveniens analysis and found that they did not rebut the presumption against dismissal. The court stated that there was no proof that the Swedish witnesses were uncooperative or that depositions could not be taken. Boteus' status as a foreign citizen did not affect the court's analysis since it found that the federal rule distinguishing foreign from domestic plaintiffs set forth in Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno, 454 U.S. 235, 102 S.Ct. 252, 70 L.Ed.2d 419 (1981), had not been adopted in Minnesota. Therefore, the court ruled that the dismissal had been prematurely granted and reversed the district court. The court further held, however, that the motion to dismiss on grounds of forum non conveniens could be renewed by Medtronic if it were demonstrated that the Swedish witnesses were uncooperative or unavailable.

Medtronic petitioned this court for further review of the court of appeals decision, which the court granted on June 14, 1985.

The issues raised on appeal are:

1. Did the court of appeals apply the appropriate law?

2. Was the court of appeals correct in reversing the district court?

Minnesota forum non conveniens law is patterned after the doctrine set forth by the United States Supreme Court in Gulf Oil. We explicitly followed Gulf Oil in Hague, 289 N.W.2d 43.

These cases establish a strong presumption in favor of the plaintiff's choice of forum. Gulf Oil, 330 U.S. at 508, 67 S.Ct. at 843; Hague, 289 N.W.2d at 46. The trial court must balance a series of public and private interest factors in determining whether the defendant has successfully rebutted the presumption that the plaintiff's choice of forum will not be disturbed. ⁴ This court will not reverse the decision of the trial court unless it finds that there has been an abuse of discretion. See In re Florance, 360 N.W.2d 626 (Minn.1985).

In reviewing the trial court's forum non conveniens dismissal, the court of appeals declined to follow Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno, 454 U.S. 235, 102 S.Ct. 252, 70 L.Ed.2d 419, a more recent U.S. Supreme Court decision establishing a lesser degree of deference in the federal courts to a foreign plaintiff's choice of forum. The court of appeals did not follow Piper since it found that the case had not been adopted by this court. While it is true that we have not heretofore followed Piper, it is simply because the precise issue has not been before the court. ⁵ We now hold that we will adopt the Piper rule in Minnesota forum non conveniens analysis.

In Piper, the United States Supreme Court held that the presumption given a plaintiff's choice of forum should apply with "less than maximum force" when the plaintiff is foreign. Piper, 454 U.S. at 261, 102 S.Ct. at 268. The Court reasoned:

When the home forum has been chosen, it is reasonable to assume that this choice is convenient. When the plaintiff is foreign, however, this assumption is much less reasonable. Because the central purpose of any forum non conveniens inquiry is to ensure that the trial is convenient, a foreign plaintiff's choice deserves less deference.

Id. at 255-56, 102 S.Ct. at 265-66. We agree. Why should the United States taxpayers, or taxpayers of Minnesota in the present case, be presumed to pay for the costs of trial for a plaintiff who is a citizen of a foreign nation; who has a remedy in his own country; and whose defendant consents to being sued in the foreign country? Sweden is an enlightened, progressive nation; plaintiff apparently has some remedy in that nation; and the rights of its own citizens are better...