Ex parte Masonite Corp.
Decision Date | 05 January 2001 |
Citation | 789 So.2d 830 |
Parties | Ex parte MASONITE CORPORATION and International Paper Company. (In re Anthony Hall Archibald v. Masonite Corporation and International Paper Company). |
Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Warren B. Lightfoot, Mac M. Moorer, Lee M. Hollis, and Kevin E. Clark of Lightfoot, Franklin & White, L.L.C., Birmingham, for petitioners.
James H. Starnes, Birmingham; and Jerry L. Thornton, Hayneville, for respondent.
Masonite Corporation and International Paper Company (collectively, "Masonite") are defendants in an action pending in the Lowndes Circuit Court. Eleven of the plaintiffs in that action reside in Madison County. Masonite moved the Lowndes Circuit Court to sever the claims of those 11 plaintiffs from the Lowndes County action and to transfer those claims to the Madison Circuit Court pursuant to § 6-3-21.1, Ala.Code 1975, the forum non conveniens statute. The court denied the motion. Masonite petitions this Court for a writ of mandamus directing the Lowndes Circuit Court to vacate its order denying the motion to sever the Madison County plaintiffs' claims and to transfer those claims to the Madison Circuit Court.1 Because the facts of this case clearly show that Masonite is entitled to the relief authorized by the Legislature under the forum non conveniens statute, we grant the petition and issue the writ.
On July 14, 1998, Anthony Hall Archibald and 41 additional plaintiffs filed an action in the Lowndes Circuit Court against Masonite Corporation and its current parent company International Paper Corporation. Their claims alleged fraud, suppression, post-sale fraud, breach of express and implied warranties, negligence, and wantonness. The plaintiffs essentially alleged that they had purchased Masonite siding products and that those products were defective and had failed to perform as they had been advertised and warranted. The plaintiffs claimed to have suffered damage resulting from diminution in the value of their homes, damage in the form of expenses incurred to repair and/or replace the siding, mental anguish, and other consequential loss or damage. Fifteen plaintiffs were dismissed by a joint stipulation. It appears that 11 of the 27 remaining plaintiffs live in Madison County. Nothing before this Court indicates the Lowndes County action is a class action.
In Ex parte National Security Insurance Co., 727 So.2d 788 (Ala.1998), this Court analyzed the process for dealing with a defendant's motion for a change of venue:
Nothing in the record available to this Court indicates that any of the Madison County plaintiffs have ever resided in Lowndes County or owned homes there that had Masonite siding. According to interrogatory answers provided by the plaintiffs, none of the architects, designers, builders, contractors, or persons who have performed service or repair work on any of the plaintiffs' homes is located in Lowndes County. The record before us does not indicate that any tangible evidence, or any witness, is in Lowndes County. It does not indicate that any of the Madison County plaintiffs purchased any Masonite products in Lowndes County. In sum, this discrete group of 11 plaintiffs has no ascertainable connection to Lowndes County. Further, the Madison County plaintiffs have not alleged that Masonite has any office or physical presence in Lowndes County. The record indicates no witness, no transaction, no document, or anything else that gives the Madison County plaintiffs' claims a nexus with Lowndes County. Furthermore, we are swayed by the fact that of the total number of plaintiffs remaining in the case, 40% of them are residents of Madison County.
The Madison County plaintiffs argue that the requested transfer would make two lawsuits out of one and...
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...transfer is justified, based on the convenience of the parties and witnesses or based on the interest of justice." Ex parte Masonite Corp., 789 So.2d 830, 831 (Ala. 2001) (emphasis added). In this case, it is undisputed that venue is proper in both Bibb County and Shelby County. However, Eb......