Coletti v. Ovaltine Food Products
| Citation | 274 F. Supp. 719 |
| Decision Date | 27 October 1967 |
| Docket Number | Civ. No. 382-67. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico |
| Parties | Roland J. COLETTI, d/b/a R. J. Coletti & Co., Plaintiff, v. OVALTINE FOOD PRODUCTS, a Division of the Wander Company, and the Wander Company, Defendant. |
P. J. Santiago Lavandero, San Juan, P. R., for plaintiff.
McConnell, Valdes & Kelley, Gonzalo Sifre, San Juan, P. R., for defendant.
This case being before the Court on defendant's motion to dismiss the complaint for lack of jurisdiction, the parties having been heard and the Court otherwise fully informed on the premises, it is of the opinion that the motion to dismiss the complaint for lack of jurisdiction must be denied and the case remanded to the Superior Court of Puerto Rico, San Juan Part, from where it was improperly removed in accordance with Section 1447 of Title 28, U.S.C.A.
The defendant, Ovaltine Food Products, is a branch, section or business division of the Wander Co., which is a foreign corporation organized under the laws of the State of Delaware, with its principal place of business in Illinois.
The record before this Court clearly establishes that the defendant corporation carried out business transactions within the territory of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico during the period of time specifically covered by the complaint herein filed.
Defendant contends, in its motion to dismiss and in its supporting memorandum that, as far as jurisdiction is concerned, plaintiff has not met the all important jurisdictional requirements which Rule 4.7(a) (1) provides. Although the defendant has in his memorandum argued that the decision of this Court in La Electrónica, Inc. v. The Electric Storage Battery Co., et al., 260 F.Supp. 915, (D.C., 1966), regarding Rule 4.7 can be distinguished from the case at bar, this Court believes that in order to dispose of defendant's main argument regarding lack of jurisdiction over the person of the defendant corporation, a most decisive portion of the opinion in Executive Air Services v. Beech Aircraft Corp., 254 F.Supp. 415 (D.C., 1966), must be cited.
Regarding the requirements which must be met in order to obtain jurisdiction by means of Rule 4.7, this Court stated:
To obtain jurisdiction over a juridical person in the manner foreseen in Rule 4.7 of the Rules of Civil Procedure of Puerto Rico, it is enough that that person have the minimal contacts in Puerto Rico envisaged by the Supreme Court of the United States in International Shoe Co. v. State of Washington, (1945), 326 U.S. 310, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95 and McGee v. International Life Insurance Co., (1957), 355 U.S. 220, 78 S.Ct. 199, 2 L.Ed.2d 223.
It must be pointed out that the above rule follows very closely the modern trend which supports the expansion of state jurisdictional authority over nonresidents. Due process authorizes this approach in view of the problems which today arise in our greatly expanding economy.
The defendant corporation was properly served with process through the person of its legally designated agent, the Secretary of State of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, pursuant to Rule 4.7(b) of the Rules of Civil Procedure of 1958 for Puerto Rico. Furthermore, defendant expressly admitted that there was no objection on its part as to service of process.
Rule 4.7 of the Rules of Civil Procedure of 1958 for the General Court of Justice of Puerto Rico, as amended, provides as follows:
After a detailed examination of the remedial nature of the local law in controversy, this Court must therefore conclude that Rule 4.7(a) (1) of the Rules of Civil Procedure of Puerto Rico is completely applicable to the case at bar and that this Court has jurisdiction over the person of the defendant corporation. This has been previously decided by this Court in La Electrónica, Inc. v. Electric Battery Co., supra, and United Medical Equipment Corp. v. Blickman, Inc., 260 F.Supp. 912, (D.C., 1966), Executive Air Services, Inc. v. Beech Aircraft Corp., supra, Volkswagen Interamericana S. A. v. Rohlsen, 360 F.2d 437, (1966), Caribbean Sales Association, Inc. v. Hayes Industries, 273 F.Supp. 598, Order of August 17, 1967 of this Court.
The particular question of statutory construction raised by the defendant to the effect that Rule 4.7(a) (1) applies or serves as a legal base upon which to assume jurisdiction over a nonresident, when such nonresident carries on or otherwise executes any type of business transaction within Puerto Rico, excluding torts, tortious acts or omissions resulting from a business transaction, is completely groundless and without legal basis.
The fact that a particular section of a remedial procedural law, like Rule 4.7, is so broad in one of its parts that a subsequent section becomes repetitive is not in itself a valid argument to defeat the broad jurisdictional scope of this section.
Rule 4.7 includes the execution of tortious acts as grounds to assume personal jurisdiction over a nonresident. Such acts, of course, encompass the unilateral breach of a business contract which in itself constitutes a business transaction. This alone does not support the statutory construction which the defendant corporation prays for in its motion to dismiss...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Midwestern Distribution v. Paris Motor Freight Lines
...should never form the sole basis of a court's decision that a party has waived its right to seek remand. See Coletti v. Ovaltine Food Prod., 274 F.Supp. 719, 723 (D.P.R.1967) (there is no time limit within which plaintiff must file its petition for remand); Noethe v. Mann, 27 F.2d 451 (D.Mi......
-
Paradise Motors, Inc. v. Murphy, Civ. No. 1994-82.
...have ordered remand where there has been undue delay in providing notice of removal to the opposing party, see Coletti v. Ovaltine Food Prods., 274 F.Supp. 719, 723 (D.P.R.1967), that result is not warranted here. Respondent mailed a copy of his notice of removal to petitioner on June 9, 19......
-
Khalaf v. Bankers & Shippers Ins. Co.
...A.L.R. 1057 (1945).6 See Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 253, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283 (1958).7 Compare Coletti v. Ovaltine Food Products, 274 F.Supp. 719 (D.P.R.1967); and Frank Angelilli Construction Co., Inc. v. Sullivan & Son, Inc., 45 Misc.2d 171, 256 N.Y.S.2d 189, Aff'd 24 A.D.2......
-
Eddie Dassin, Inc. v. Darlene Knitwear, Inc.
...915 (D.C.P.R.1966); Caribbean Sales Associated, Inc. v. Hayes Industries, Inc., 273 F.Supp. 598 (D.C.P.R.1967); Coletti v. Ovaltine Food Products, 274 F.Supp. 719 (D.C.P.R.1967); San Juan Hotel Corp. v. Lefkowitz, 277 F.Supp. 28 (D.C.P.R.1967); Luce & Co. S. en C. v. Alimentos Borinqueños, ......