Columbus Show Case Co. v. Cee Contracting, Inc.

• Decision Date: 02 July 1992
• Docket Number: 92-LW-2798,92AP-279
• Citation: Columbus Show Case Co. v. Cee Contracting, Inc., 92-LW-2798, 92AP-279 (Ohio App. Jul 02, 1992)
• Parties: Columbus Show Case Company, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CEE Contracting, Inc., Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: Ohio Court of Appeals

Columbus Show Case Company Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CEE Contracting, Inc., Defendant-Appellee.

No. 92AP-279

92-LW-2798 (10th)

Court of Appeals of Ohio, Tenth District Franklin.

July 2, 1992

Postlewaite & Smith, Jeffrey H. Jordan, Scott E. Smith and Charles C Postlewaite, for appellant.

Robert J. Morje, for appellee.

APPEAL from the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.

O P I N I O N

TYACK J.

On September 11, 1991, Columbus Show Case Company filed suit against CEE Contracting, Inc. of West Islip, New York in the Court of Common Pleas of Franklin County, Ohio. After service was obtained, the president of CEE Contracting, Inc. ("CEE") sent a letter to the clerk of courts which indicated:

"In response to complaint filed against CEE Contracting Inc. by Columbus Showcase [sic] Co. Case #9ICVHO9-7373 in the Court of Common Pleas, Franklin County, Ohio we wish to answer as follows: ***"

Columbus Show Case Company then filed a motion for a default judgment, since the letter did not constitute a responsive pleading on behalf of a corporation.

As a result, CEE obtained counsel, who filed a memorandum contra the motion for default judgment and a motion requesting an extension of the time to move or' plead.

The trial judge signed a judgment entry overruling the motion for default judgment and granting CEE leave to 'move or plead. CEE then filed a motion to dismiss the case based upon a purported lack of personal jurisdiction. In support of the motion to dismiss, CEE filed an affidavit from the president of CEE which included:

"***

"2. CEE Contracting, Inc., is a corporation chartered under the law of the State of New York with its principal and sole place of business located at 23 Sexton Drive, West Islip, New York 11795; and,

"3. CEE Contracting, Inc., maintains no physical presence of any kind in the State of Ohio and specifically does not maintain any office or other physical setting in the State of Ohio, nor does it retain any employees, independent sales agents, or other personnel in the State of Ohio; and,

"4. With respect to the contract subject of this action, all communication leading up to the contract was done by telephone or mail between defendant's office in the State of New York and the plaintiff's office in Columbus, Ohio; and,

"5. At no time did Affiant or any employee or agent of CEE Contracting, Inc., physically enter the State of Ohio with respect to this contract; and,

"6. To the extent that there were personal meetings between Affiant or other employees of CEE Contracting, Inc., and representative [sic] or employees or agents of Columbus Show Case Company, said personal meetings took place either in the State of New York or in the State of New Jersey, the situs of delivery of the goods subject of this contract; and,

"7. The subject matter of this contract were certain show cases, counters and store fixtures to be installed in certain Macy's-Lancome Stores located in Rockway [sic] and Tom's River, New Jersey; and,

"8. The documents attached hereto as Exhibit 'A1' and 'A2' are true and accurate copies of the quotation or bid telefaxed to defendant by plaintiff as offers to supply the subject materials; and

"9. Those documents attached hereto as exhibit[s] 'B1' and 'B2' are true and accurate copies of the letters issued by defendant authorizing performance by plaintiff of the work proposed in Exhibits 'A1' and 'A2'; and,

"10. Defendant CEE Contracting, Inc., has never and does not currently do business in the State of Ohio; and,

"11. Defendant's only contact with the State of Ohio was the above-described communication with Columbus Show Case Company. ***"

Exhibits "A1" and "A2" attached to the affidavit are, as indicated in the body of the affidavit, quotations for the installation of showcases in Macy's Department Stores in Rockaway, New Jersey and Tom's River, New Jersey, respectively. Exhibits "B1" and "B2" are authorizations to perform the work at the two stores. The authorizations were sent from New York to Ohio.

Columbus Show Case Company filed a memorandum contra the motion to dismiss. Attached to the memorandum was an affidavit signed by an employee of Columbus Show Case Company which indicated that CEE solicited the quotations from Columbus Show Case Company in a telephone call to a different employee of Columbus Show Case Company.

The trial court sustained the motion to dismiss via an entry which reiterated the court's earlier ruling on the motion for default judgment filed on behalf of Columbus Show Case Company. Columbus Show Case Company (hereinafter "appellant") has now appealed, assigning two errors for our consideration:

"I. THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED AN ERROR PREJUDICIAL TO APPELLANT BY OVERRULING APPELLANT'S MOTION FOR DEFAULT JUDGMENT.

"II. THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED AN ERROR PREJUDICIAL TO APPELLANT BY SUSTAINING APPELLEE'S MOTION TO DISMISS FOR LACK OF PERSONAL JURISDICTION."

The first assignment of error alleges that the trial court abused its discretion in failing to grant the motion for default judgment. Apparently, the president of CEE was unaware that he could not represent "his" corporation in an Ohio court of law and that his letter/answer did not constitute a pleading such as to put the issues in a posture of being contested. Upon learning of the problem, he then obtained counsel who properly opposed the motion for default judgment. Under the circumstances, the trial court appropriately overruled the motion for default judgment. Obviously, significant issues are present in this action, not the least of them being the existence or lack of personal jurisdiction.

The first assignment of error is overruled.

The second assignment of error presents the difficult issue of personal jurisdiction. What quality and/or quantity of contacts with Ohio are necessary to permit a lawsuit against a "foreign" person or entity to go forward in Ohio's courts?

For guidance, this court turns to the recent Ohio Supreme Court ruling in Kentucky Oaks Hall Co. v. Mitchell's Formal Wear, Inc. (1990), 53 Ohio St.3d 73. According to Kentucky Oaks Hall, a two-part test should be utilized to determine if personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant is available. First, it must be determined if the defendant's conduct falls within Ohio's "long-arm statute" or applicable civil rule, giving rise to personal jurisdiction; and then the court must determine whether a grant of jurisdiction to Ohio courts comports with the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Id. at 75.

The syllabus in Kentucky Oaks Hall reads:

"A commercial nonresident lessee, for purposes of personal jurisdiction, is 'transacting any business' within the plain and common meaning of the phrase, where the lessee negotiates, and through the course of dealing becomes obligated, to make payments to its lessor in Ohio-R.C. 2307.382(A) (1) and Civ. R. 4.3(A) (1), construed and applied."

R.C. 2307.382(A) (1) reads:

"A court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a person who acts directly or by an, agent, as to a cause of action arising from the person's:

"Transacting any business in this state[.]"

Civ. R. 4.3(A) (1) states:

"Service of process may be made outside of this state, as provided in this rule, in any action in this state, upon a person who, at the time of service of process, is a nonresident of this state or is a resident of this state who is absent from this state. 'Person' includes an individual, his executor, administrator, or other personal representative, or a corporation, partnership, association, or any other legal or commercial entity, who, acting directly or by an agent, has caused an event to occur out of which the claim that is the subject of the complaint arose, from the person's:

"Transacting any business in this state[.]"

Although the syllabus provides the law of the case in the Kentucky Oaks Hall case, we are not at liberty to ignore the body of the opinion, which states:

"It is clear that R.C. 2307.382(A) (1) and Civ. R. 4.3(A) (1) are very broadly worded and permit jurisdiction over nonresident defendants who are transacting any business in Ohio. 'Transact,' as defined by Black's Law Dictionary (5 Ed. 1979) 1341, '*** means to prosecute negotiations; to carry on business; to have dealings ***. The word embraces in its meaning the carrying on or prosecution of business negotiations but it is a broader term

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