Bryan v. Associated Container Transp.(ACT)

• Decision Date: 04 November 1993
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 92-2933.
• Citation: 837 F. Supp. 633
• Parties: Robert BRYAN and Rosemary Bryan, Plaintiffs, v. ASSOCIATED CONTAINER TRANSPORTATION (A.C.T.) and/or Blue Star Pace, Ltd., Weddel Crown, Ltd., and/or John Doe(s) 1 to 5, a fictitious name currently used to designate unknown parties, J/S/A/, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey

837 F. Supp. 633

Robert BRYAN and Rosemary Bryan, Plaintiffs, v. ASSOCIATED CONTAINER TRANSPORTATION (A.C.T.) and/or Blue Star Pace, Ltd., Weddel Crown, Ltd., and/or John Doe(s) 1 to 5, a fictitious name currently used to designate unknown parties, J/S/A/, Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 92-2933.

United States District Court, D. New Jersey.

November 4, 1993.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Louis George Hasner, Hockfield, Hasner, Weiss & Rosenberg, Cherry Hill, NJ, for plaintiffs.

Christopher Raleigh, Hill, Betts & Nash, Jersey City, NJ, for defendants, Associated Container Transp. (A.C.T.) and Blue Star Pace, Ltd.

Stephen J. DeFeo, Brown & Connery, Westmont, NJ, for defendant, Weddel Crown, Ltd.

OPINION

SIMANDLE, District Judge:

This action was brought by plaintiffs to recover for injuries sustained as a result of an accident which occurred while plaintiff Robert Bryan was unloading a container packed with boxes of frozen beef shipped by defendant A.C.T./Blue Star Pace, Ltd. The initial complaint was filed against only defendants A.C.T/Blue Star and John Does 1-5 in the Superior Court of New Jersey. The case was subsequently removed to federal court, and leave was granted by the Honorable Joel B. Rosen, U.S. Magistrate Judge, on March 5, 1993 to allow plaintiffs to amend their complaint to add an additional defendant, Weddel Crown., Ltd. (now known as Weddel New Zealand, Ltd.). Weddel moves pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b) to dismiss the claims against it on the grounds of lack of personal and subject matter jurisdiction, and on the additional ground that the action against it is barred by the applicable statute of limitations.

Discussion

The principal issues for decision are: (a) whether personal jurisdiction exists in New Jersey over a New Zealand meatpacking corporation which packed an ocean-going shipping container with its products and delivered the product to a shipping line in Wellington, New Zealand for transport to the shipper's terminal in New Jersey with respect to injuries to a worker unloading the container allegedly caused by the foreign corporation's negligent packing of the container; and (b) whether plaintiffs' complaint naming a John Doe defendant was consistent with N.J.Ct.R. 4:26-4, which would apply to toll the New Jersey two-year statute of limitations (N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2) by operation of Rule 15(c)(1), Fed.R.Civ.P.

A. Personal Jurisdiction

Plaintiff Robert Bryan alleges that he was an employee of Holt Cargo Systems, Inc., in Gloucester, New Jersey, on August 21, 1990, when he took delivery of a 40-foot ocean container from A.C.T./Pace Line's terminal and transported same across the street to a refrigerated warehouse for unpacking. As he opened the door of the container, he claims that 20 to 30 cartons of frozen beef fell out of the container onto his body, striking him and causing injuries. His complaint alleges that these injuries were caused by the negligent, careless or improper stacking of the boxes by defendants in the container. He alleges essentially that defendant Weddel loaded the ocean container with its beef products in New Zealand and delivered the sealed container to defendant A.C.T. for shipping to A.C.T.'s Port Philadelphia terminal in Gloucester, New Jersey, and that Weddel's allegedly negligent stacking of the container in New Zealand caused his injuries when he opened the container at the end of its voyage in New Jersey.

Defendant Weddel is a New Zealand company engaged in the businesses of slaughtering and processing livestock and the sale of meat and meat by-products. Follett-Clarke Aff. ¶ 2. Weddel was apparently brought into this lawsuit as a result of discovery engaged in by plaintiffs and defendant A.C.T./Blue Star which revealed that Weddel's name appeared on the container involved in plaintiff's accident and on the shipping documents for the container's contents. It is Weddel's contention that its contacts with the state of New Jersey are insufficient to support this court's exercise of personal jurisdiction over it.

A federal district court may assert personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant to the extent permitted by the law of the forum in which the court is located. Fed. R.Civ.P. 4(e). New Jersey's long-arm statute, N.J.Ct.R. 4:4-4(c), provides for personal jurisdiction over nonresidents to the outermost limits provided by the United States Constitution. DeJames v. Magnificence Carriers, Inc., 654 F.2d 280, 284 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1085, 102 S.Ct. 642, 70 L.Ed.2d 620 (1981); Giangola v. Walt Disney World Co., 753 F.Supp. 148, 154 (D.N.J. 1990); Charles Gendler & Co. v. Telecom Equip. Corp., 102 N.J. 460, 469, 508 A.2d 1127 (1986). Thus, this court's inquiry is limited to whether personal jurisdiction over defendant comports with the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. DeJames, 654 F.2d at 284; Gitomer v. Rosefielde, 726 F.Supp. 109, 110 (D.N.J.1989).

Absent proof of personal service in New Jersey, the basic criterion for evaluating whether the exercise of jurisdiction comports with due process was set forth by the Supreme Court in International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945), wherein the Supreme Court recognized the following:

In order to subject a defendant to a judgment in personam, if he be not present within the territory of the forum, he have certain minimum contacts with the forum such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend "traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice."

Id. at 316, 66 S.Ct. at 158 (quoting Milliken v. Meyer, 311 U.S. 457, 463, 61 S.Ct. 339, 342, 85 L.Ed. 278 (1940)). In order for an individual's contacts with the forum state to constitute the requisite "minimum contacts," the connection with the forum state must be sufficient so that the individual "should reasonably anticipate being haled into court there." Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 474, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 2183, 85 L.Ed.2d 528 (1985) (quoting World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286, 295, 100 S.Ct. 559, 566, 62 L.Ed.2d 490 (1980)). Implicit in the requirement of minimum contacts is the necessity that there be some act or acts by virtue of which the defendant has purposely availed himself of the benefits and protections of the laws of the forum state. Burger King, 471 U.S. at 474-76, 105 S.Ct. at 2183-84; Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 253, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 1239, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283 (1958).

The Supreme Court has established a two-part analysis for determining whether a forum state can assert personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant in accordance with due process. See Burger King, 471 U.S. at 476-77, 105 S.Ct. at 2184; see also Mesalic v. Fiberfloat Corp., 897 F.2d 696, 701 (3d Cir.1990) (applying two-part test for assertion of personal jurisdiction over nonresident defendant). First, a court must determine whether "minimum contacts" exist between the nonresident defendant and the forum state. Id. Second, a court must consider these minimum contacts in light of "other factors" to determine whether the assertion of personal jurisdiction would comport with notions of fair play and substantial justice inherent in the Due Process Clause. Id. Such "other factors" include "the burden on the defendant, the forum State's interest in adjudicating the dispute, the plaintiff's interest in obtaining convenient and effective relief, the interstate judicial system's interest in obtaining the most efficient resolution of controversies, and the shared interest of the several States in furthering fundamental substantive social policies." Id. 471 U.S. at 477, 105 S.Ct. at 2184 (quoting World-Wide Volkswagen, 444 U.S. at 292, 100 S.Ct. at 564).

As a preliminary proposition, jurisdiction is not proper if the connection between the defendant and the State of New Jersey is found to be the "result of `random,' `fortuitous,' or `attenuated' contacts." Id. 471 U.S. at 475, 105 S.Ct. at 2183 (citations omitted). Therefore, plaintiffs, as the party with the burden of proving the existence of personal jurisdiction, must demonstrate more than "random," "fortuitous," or "attenuated" contacts with the State of New Jersey by defendant Weddel.

The Third Circuit has distinguished between "personal jurisdiction in cases where the defendant's forum-related activities do not give rise to the claim, and personal jurisdiction in cases where the claim arises out of a specific forum-related act or series of acts." Paolino v. Channel Home Centers, 668 F.2d 721, 724 (3d Cir.1981). When the claim at issue is not premised on the defendant's activities in the forum state, the plaintiff must show that contacts between the defendant and the forum are substantial, continuous and systematic ("general jurisdiction"). Reliance Steel Products Co. v. Watson, Ess, Marshal & Enggas, 675 F.2d 587, 588 (3d Cir.1982). When the cause of action arises out of the defendant's activities within the forum ("specific jurisdiction"), the court must determine "whether the relationship of the transaction at issue to the forum justifies the forum state's assertion of jurisdiction over the defendant." Electro-Catheter Corp. v. Surgical Specialties Instrument Co., Inc., 587 F.Supp. 1446, 1449 (D.N.J.1984) (citing Paolino, 668 F.2d at 724; Reliance Steel, 675 F.2d at 588).

The burden of establishing "general jurisdiction" is more difficult "for the facts required to assert general jurisdiction must be extensive and persuasive." Reliance Steel, 675 F.2d at 589; see also Compagnie Des Bauxites De Guinne v. L'Union, 723 F.2d 357, 362 (3d Cir.1983) (recognizing that where the cause of action arises from an event unrelated to the forum "the defendant's contacts with the forum must be qualitatively and quantitatively greater than where the cause of action is forum-related"). Here, however, I consider only whether specific jurisdiction is adequately supported and need not consider whether Weddel's contacts with New Jersey...