Davis v. PM Video, Inc.

• Decision Date: 01 March 1982
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. CA 81-1135-Mc.
• Citation: 532 F. Supp. 1012
• Parties: William DAVIS, Jr., Plaintiff, v. P. M. VIDEO, INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts

532 F. Supp. 1012

William DAVIS, Jr., Plaintiff, v. P. M. VIDEO, INC., Defendant.

Civ. A. No. CA 81-1135-Mc.

United States District Court, D. Massachusetts.

March 1, 1982.

R. Christian Haufler, Jr., Haufler Associates, Norwell, Mass., for plaintiff.

Vincent P. Cahalane, Jr., Brockton, Mass., for defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

McNAUGHT, District Judge.

The plaintiff in this civil action, a resident of Marshfield, Massachusetts, seeks to recover for injuries which he allegedly sustained on February 6, 1981 when he fell from a ladder in Kingston, Rhode Island. At the time of the incident, the plaintiff was "undergoing employment training" at the defendant's job site in Rhode Island. He was then being instructed and supervised by one Daniel Cole, an employee of the defendant corporation. The complaint alleges that the plaintiff was injured due to negligence on the part of Mr. Cole in failing to secure a ladder properly. The defendant (whose correct name is P. M. Video Network, Inc.) was organized under the laws of the State of Delaware and has a principal place of business in Warwick, Rhode Island. The action came on to be heard on the defendant's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction over the defendant. Rule 12(b)(2) F.R.Civ.P.

The question submitted for resolution is whether the conduct or actions of the defendant were such that this court may exercise personal jurisdiction pursuant to Mass. General Laws, c. 223A (the long-arm statute).

The plaintiff relies upon Section 3(a) of Chapter 223A inasmuch as it provides that: "A court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a person, who acts directly or by an agent, as to a cause of action in law or equity arising from the person's: (a) transacting any business in this Commonwealth; ...".

In support of his position, the plaintiff submitted affidavits of Mr. Davis, Jr. and his friend, William Meech. These affidavits are to the effect that before February 1, 1981, plaintiff and Mr. Meech were requested to meet with a John Puma and Steven Meehan, officers of defendant. "This meeting took place at a house in Walpole, Massachusetts, being rented at the time by Mr. Puma and Mr. Meehan. One purpose of the meeting was to discuss potential employment with P. M. Video. Following these negotiations, a second meeting was arranged for February 1, 1981 at the same location. At this meeting, Mr. Puma offered both the plaintiff and Mr. Meech a job with P. M. Video, which was accepted. Pursuant to this agreement, plaintiff and Mr. Meech again met with Mr. Meehan and Mr. Puma on February 4, 1981, at the same location, to follow them to their place of business in Warwick, Rhode Island. On or about February 6, 1981, while undergoing employment training at the defendant's job site in Rhode Island, the plaintiff sustained severe personal injury when he fell from a residential roof."

This is the activity principally relied upon by the plaintiff as constituting the transaction of business in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Plaintiff, then, relies upon "the formation of the employment agreement in Massachusetts" as well as the fact that representatives of the defendant picked up various supplies (antennae, cables, decoders, etc.), work orders and checks from New England Subscription T.V. in Norwood, Massachusetts.

As counsel for the plaintiff argued at the hearing of this motion, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts intended the function of its long-arm statute as an assertion of jurisdiction over the person "to the limits allowed...