Dagesse v. Plant Hotel N.V.

• Citation: 113 F.Supp.2d 211
• Decision Date: 05 January 2000
• Docket Number: No. CIV. 98-713-B.,CIV. 98-713-B.
• Parties: Daniel DAGESSE & Elaine Dagesse v. PLANT HOTEL N.V., Oranjestad Property Management N.V., and Marriott International
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of New Hampshire

113 F.Supp.2d 211

Daniel DAGESSE & Elaine Dagesse v. PLANT HOTEL N.V., Oranjestad Property Management N.V., and Marriott International

No. CIV. 98-713-B.

United States District Court, D. New Hampshire.

January 5, 2000.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Tanya G. Richmond, Crisp & Associates, Concord, NH, for Plaintiffs.

Catherine C. Miller, Friedman, Babcock & Gaythwaite Portland, ME, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

BARBADORO, Chief Judge.

Daniel Dagesse contends that he suffered serious injuries when he slipped and fell in his hotel room at the Aruba Marriott Resort. He sued Plant Hotel N.V., the limited liability company that owns the resort, Oranjestad Property Management N.V., Plant Hotel's parent company, Marriott Aruba N.V., the company that manages the resort, and Marriott International, Inc., a corporation that Dagesse claims was an agent and management company for Plant Hotel and Oranjestad. Elaine Dagesse, Daniel's wife, has sued the same defendants alleging loss of consortium.

In a previous order, I granted Marriott Aruba's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. See Dagesse v. Marriott Aruba N.V., Civil No. 98-713-B (D.N.H. Aug. 19, 1999). Plant Hotel and Oranjestad have now filed similar motions.

The Dagesses cite two new jurisdictional facts to support their claim that the court has personal jurisdiction over Plant Hotel and Oranjestad. In addition to the New Hampshire contacts they presented in opposition to Marriott Aruba's motion to dismiss, the Dagesses contend that Marriott International, acting as an agent for Plant Hotel and Oranjestad, (1) maintained an interactive internet web site that was accessible from New Hampshire; and (2) was responsible for television advertisements for the Aruba Marriott Resort that Elaine Dagesse viewed from her New Hampshire home. In the discussion that follows, I consider these new allegations in combination with the jurisdictional facts previously alleged by the Dagesses.

I. Background¹

Daniel and Elaine Degasse made travel arrangements for a trip to Aruba in November 1995. The Dagesses booked their flights through Berlin Travel, a travel agency located in Berlin, New Hampshire, but made their own hotel reservations at the Aruba Marriott Resort in Oranjestad, Aruba. They made and confirmed their hotel reservation from New Hampshire through a representative of Marriott International by calling the company's toll-free telephone reservation line. A Marriott reservations officer accepted and confirmed the reservation and mailed a confirmation letter to the Dagesses's New Hampshire residence. The Dagesses had never been guests at the resort before, but selected it because of Marriott's general reputation for comfort and quality. The Dagesses never contacted the Aruba Marriott Resort directly, and at all times were under the impression that they were dealing with Marriott International. Before the Dagesses made their travel arrangements, Elaine Dagesse saw television advertisements for the Aruba Marriott Resort while at her home in New Hampshire. See Pls.' Objection (Doc. # 25) at 2, 6, 10, 14, and attached Elaine Dagesse Aff. ¶ 3.

The Dagesses made their trip to Aruba in November 1995. On or about November 25, 1995, Daniel Dagesse walked into the bathroom of his guestroom at the resort and slipped and fell in a pool of standing water that apparently had accumulated because of an unspecified plumbing problem. Dagesse allegedly suffered severe injuries as a result of the fall.

The Dagesses claim that Plant Hotel, as the owner of the Aruba Marriott Resort, owed them a duty of care to maintain their guestroom in a reasonably safe condition and to correct or warn them of any dangerous conditions therein. The Dagesses assert that Plant Hotel either knew of the plumbing problem in its guestroom or should have known about it through the exercise of reasonable care. Accordingly, the Dagesses maintain that their injuries are the result of Plant Hotel's negligent maintenance of their guestroom and/or Plant Hotel's failure to warn them of the hazardous conditions present therein.

The Dagesses also claim that Oranjestad, as the parent company of Plant Hotel, owed them a duty to ensure that its subsidiary company maintained the Aruba Marriott Resort in a reasonably safe condition, and that its failure to supervise the business affairs of Plant Hotel ultimately led to the accident. Similarly, the Dagesses claim that defendant Marriott International, the alleged management company for Plant Hotel and Oranjestad, owed them a duty to ensure that the Aruban defendants maintained the Marriott Aruba Resort in a reasonably safe condition, and that its failure to do so ultimately led to the accident.

Plant Hotel is a limited liability company under the laws of Aruba. See Defs.' Mot. to Dismiss (Doc. # 20), attached Scott Ringer Aff. ¶ 2. Plant Hotel has a principal place of business in Palm Beach, Aruba, and is authorized to do business only in Aruba. See id. ¶¶ 2, 3. Oranjestad, Plant Hotel's parent company, is an Aruban corporation that is not authorized to conduct business in the state of New Hampshire. See id., attached Oranjestad Property Management, N.V. Representative Aff. (Ebbo Ruiter) ¶¶ 2, 3. Oranjestad does not have a registered agent in New Hampshire, nor does it have any employees, mailing address, bank account or office in New Hampshire. See id. ¶¶ 4, 5, 6, 8, 9. The Dagesses claim that Marriott International serves as the management company for Plant Hotel and Oranjestad, a claim that Marriott International denies. See Rider to Writ of Summons (Doc. # 4) ¶ 26; Def. Marriott International Inc.'s Answer To Pls.' Compl. (Doc. # 6) ¶ 26.

The Dagesses also contend that Marriott International maintains an interactive internet web site that is accessible in New Hampshire. According to evidence provided by the Dagesses, the web site advertises the Aruba Marriott Resort, provides a toll-free number for making reservations by telephone, and allows users to make hotel reservations over the internet. See Pls.' Objection (Doc. # 25) at 2, 6, 8, 10, and attached Pls.' Ex. B.

II. Standard of Review

When a defendant contests personal jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(2), the plaintiff bears the burden of showing that a basis for asserting jurisdiction exists. See Massachusetts School of Law at Andover, Inc. v. American Bar Ass'n, 142 F.3d 26, 34 (1st Cir.1998); Rodriguez v. Fullerton Tires Corp., 115 F.3d 81, 83 (1st Cir. 1997). In this case, in which no evidentiary hearing has been held, I hold the Dagesses to a prima facie standard. See Sawtelle v. Farrell, 70 F.3d 1381, 1386 n. 1 (1st Cir.1995) (citing United Elec. Radio and Mach. Workers of Am. (UE) v. 163 Pleasant St. Corp., 987 F.2d 39, 43 (1st Cir.1993) [hereinafter Pleasant St. II]).

To make a prima facie showing of jurisdiction, a plaintiff may not rest on the pleadings. Rather, he or she must "adduce evidence of specific facts" that support jurisdiction. Foster-Miller, Inc. v. Babcock & Wilcox Canada, 46 F.3d 138, 145 (1st Cir.1995); Pleasant St. II, 987 F.2d at 44. In conducting my analysis, I take the facts offered by the plaintiff as true and construe them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff's jurisdictional claim. See Massachusetts School of Law, 142 F.3d at 34; Foster-Miller, 46 F.3d at 145. I do not act as a fact-finder; instead I determine "whether the facts duly proffered, [when] fully credited, support the exercise of personal jurisdiction." Rodriguez, 115 F.3d at 84 (citing Boit v. Gar-Tec Prods., Inc., 967 F.2d 671, 675 (1st Cir.1992)).

While the prima facie standard is liberal, I need not "`credit conclusory allegations or draw farfetched inferences.'" Massachusetts School of Law, 142 F.3d at 34 (quoting Ticketmaster-New York, Inc. v. Alioto, 26 F.3d 201, 203 (1st Cir.1994)). I also consider facts offered by the defendants, but only to the extent that they are uncontradicted. See id.

III. Analysis

For purposes of assessing personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant, "a federal court exercising diversity jurisdiction `is the functional equivalent of a state court sitting in the forum state.'" Sawtelle, 70 F.3d at 1387 (quoting Ticket-master-New York, 26 F.3d at 204). Accordingly, I must determine whether jurisdiction is proper under both the New Hampshire long-arm statute and the due process requirements of the federal constitution. See id.; Foster-Miller, 46 F.3d at 144. The New Hampshire long-arm statute applicable to foreign corporations, see Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293-A:15.10 (Supp.1998), has been interpreted to be coterminous with federal constitutional limits on jurisdiction. See Phillips Exeter Academy v. Howard Phillips Fund, Inc., 196 F.3d 284, 287 (1st Cir.1999); Sawtelle, 70 F.3d at 1388 (citing McClary v. Erie Engine & Mfg. Co., 856 F.Supp. 52, 55 (D.N.H.1994)). Therefore, I proceed directly to the constitutional due process analysis.

The due process clause precludes a court from asserting jurisdiction over a defendant unless "the defendant's conduct and connection with the forum State are such that [it] should reasonably anticipate being haled into court there." World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286, 297, 100 S.Ct. 559, 62 L.Ed.2d 490 (1980). Because the constitutional inquiry is founded on "`traditional conception[s] of fair play and substantial justice,'" Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 464, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 85 L.Ed.2d 528 (1985) (quoting International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 320, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945)) (alteration in original), determining personal jurisdiction has always been "more an art than a science." Ticketmaster-New York, 26 F.3d at 206 (quoting Donatelli v. National Hockey League, 893 F.2d 459, 468 n. 7 (1st Cir.1990)).

The "constitutional touchstone" for personal jurisdiction is "whether the defendant purposefully established `minimum contacts' in the forum State." Burger King, 471 U.S. at 474, ...