Haas v. Four Seasons Campground, Inc., 2543 EDA 2007

• Decision Date: 26 June 2008
• Docket Number: No. 2543 EDA 2007,2543 EDA 2007
• Citation: 952 A.2d 688,2008 PA Super 136
• Parties: John and Susan HAAS, H/W, Appellants v. FOUR SEASONS CAMPGROUND, INC., Appellee.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

952 A.2d 688

2008 PA Super 136

John and Susan HAAS, H/W, Appellants v. FOUR SEASONS CAMPGROUND, INC., Appellee.

No. 2543 EDA 2007

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued May 14, 2008.

Filed June 26, 2008.

David B. Rodden, Philadelphia, for appellants.

Marc H. Myers, Philadelphia, for appellee.

BEFORE: BOWES, GANTMAN and TAMILIA, JJ.

OPINION BY TAMILIA, J.:

¶ 1 John and Susan Haas appeal from the September 14, 2007, Order dismissing their complaint and sustaining Four Seasons Campground's preliminary objections. The following facts relevant to our disposition and adduced by the trial court are as follows.

¶ 2 Four Seasons Campground, incorporated in New Jersey, rents campground spaces to recreational vehicle owners and persons who opt to rent cabin space. Appellants, residents of Pennsylvania, viewed appellee's website, www.fourseasons camping.com, and decided they wanted to lease campground space. Appellee's website, however, did not allow seasonal contract purchases to be made on-line. Appellants, therefore, drove to New Jersey, where appellee is located, and signed a seasonal contract whereby they would spend several months during the year at the campsite.

On or about October 16, 2006, [appellant] John Haas and his family rented a campsite at the Four Seasons Camp Ground, in Pilesgrove, New Jersey. A branch fell from a tree on the camp site, striking John Haas in the head, and causing him to fall into a brick fireplace and then to the ground. This case arises from that incident.

Following the filing of [appellants'] complaint, [appellee] Four Seasons filed preliminary objections alleging a lack of jurisdiction over the New Jersey campground. On June 27, 2007 [the trial court] ordered the parties to conduct discovery on the issue of jurisdiction and file supplemental memoranda. On July 12, 2007 [the trial court] granted an extension of the time for discovery and supplemental memoranda. On August 17, 2007 a discovery motion filed by [appellants] was listed for a hearing, but the motion was dismissed as moot, upon agreement of the parties.

On September 12, 2007, [the trial court] entered an order dismissing the complaint for lack of jurisdiction over [appellee] Four Seasons, without prejudice to file in New Jersey. This appeal followed.

Trial Court Opinion, Manfredi, J., 12/27/07, at 1-2. Appellants' sole issue on appeal is as follows:

Did the trial court commit an error of law by determining, through use of outdated precedent, that appellee has not established sufficient contacts with Pennsylvania to allow Pennsylvania Courts to exercise jurisdiction?

Appellants' brief at 2.

¶ 3 The scope of review in determining whether a trial court erred in sustaining preliminary objections and dismissing a complaint is plenary. See Connor v. Archdiocese of Philadelphia, 933 A.2d 92, 96 (Pa.Super.2007).

In determining whether the trial court properly sustained preliminary objections, the appellate court must examine the averments in the complaint, together with the documents and exhibits attached thereto, in order to evaluate the sufficiency of the facts averred. When sustaining the trial court's ruling will result in the denial of claim or a dismissal of suit, preliminary objections will be sustained only where the case is free and clear of doubt, and this Court will reverse the trial court's decision regarding preliminary objections only where there has been an error of law or an abuse of discretion.

Rambo v. Greene, 906 A.2d 1232, 1235 (Pa.Super.2006) (citations omitted). In addition, the burden of proof initially rests upon the party contesting jurisdiction; once that party has provided proof, the burden then shifts to the non-moving party to adduce evidence demonstrating there is a basis for asserting jurisdiction over the moving party. McCall v. Formu-3 Int'l, Inc., 437 Pa.Super. 575, 650 A.2d 903, 904 (1994), appeal denied 541 Pa. 640, 663 A.2d 692 (1995).

¶ 4 Appellants contend appellee is subject to both specific jurisdiction and general jurisdiction under Pennsylvania's Long-Arm Statute, 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5301(a)(2)(iii),¹ Persons, (a) General rule, (2) Corporations; 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5322(a)(1)², Bases of personal jurisdiction over persons outside this Commonwealth, (a) General rule, Transacting any business in this Commonwealth. Appellants' brief at 4-5; see also Trial Court Opinion at 2. Appellants further contend that appellee has availed itself of Pennsylvania jurisdiction because of the existence of appellee's interactive website under 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5322(a)(1). Appellants' brief at 5.

¶ 5 The Pennsylvania long-arm statute permits the exercise of jurisdiction "to the fullest extent allowed under the Constitution of the United States and may be based on the most minimum contact with this Commonwealth allowed under the Constitution of the United States," Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5322(b), Bases of personal jurisdiction over persons outside this Commonwealth, (b) Exercise of full constitutional power over nonresidents; See Nutrition Management Services Co. v. Hinchcliff, 926 A.2d 531, 537 (Pa.Super.2007). In order to determine whether appellee has garnered sufficient contacts with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania such that specific personal jurisdiction could be established, we have to ascertain the "nature and quality of commercial activity that an entity conducts over the Internet." Efford v. Jockey Club, 796 A.2d 370, 374 (Pa.Super.2002).

Regardless of whether general or specific in personam jurisdiction is asserted, the propriety of such an exercise must be tested against the Pennsylvania long-arm statute and the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In order to meet constitutional muster, a defendant's contacts with the forum state must be such that the defendant could reasonably anticipate being called to defend itself in the forum. Random, fortuitous and attenuated contacts cannot reasonably notify a party that it may be called to defend itself in a foreign forum and, thus, cannot support the exercise of personal jurisdiction. That is, the defendant must have purposefully directed its activities to the forum and conducted itself in a manner indicating that it has availed itself to the forum's privileges and benefits such that it should also be subjected to the forum state's laws and regulations.

Id. at 373 (citations omitted), quoting General Motors Acceptance Corp. v. Keller, 737 A.2d 279, 281 (Pa.Super.1999). In other words, the inquiry distills to whether the defendant has availed itself of the minimum contacts necessary to vest the Commonwealth with jurisdiction such that it comports with fair play and substantial justice. See General Motors Acceptance Corp. v. Keller 737 A.2d 279, 283 (Pa.Super.1999). With regard to specific personal jurisdiction, our focus is narrow in scope; we examine the particular events that gave rise to the underlying claim. Id. at 281.

¶ 6 Appellants urge this Court to adopt the sliding scale test, as pronounced in Efford, to assess specific jurisdiction. We decline to do so; the facts of this case are not such that the underlying cause of action arose from appellants' use of appellee's website. Appellants' arguments premised on Efford are more specifically aimed to a general jurisdiction attack.

Specific jurisdiction

¶ 7 Generally our specific jurisdiction inquiry focuses on the party's course of dealing and the known benefits incurred by contracting with a party from the forum state. See, e.g., Keller at 282, (holding that a party contracting with a resident of Pennsylvania despite not physically signing the contract in Pennsylvania, was sufficient to determine purposeful availment and vest Pennsylvania with jurisdiction given that the party mailed the contract to Pennsylvania, directed payments to Pennsylvania, and conducted business with the same Pennsylvania company repeatedly).

¶ 8 Here, appellee's web site and brochures are not sufficient to subject it to specific jurisdiction in Pennsylvania. Appellants claim they found appellee's campgrounds as a result of an internet search. The mere presence of a website without more, however, is not sufficient to subject a business to specific jurisdiction. The internet website must target users of the forum state, and the use of the internet website must engage the party in such a way that the underlying transaction that gives rise to the claim occurs as a result of using the website.

¶ 9 Appellee's seasonal contracts were not available for transmission via personal computer to appellee's business in New Jersey. Appellee's website, therefore, was merely passive in that respect, as a customer could not purchase the rights to reside on the campsite seasonally through the website. Appellants drove into the state of New Jersey to sign the seasonal contract for the camping site. The accident happened in New Jersey, on the campgrounds appellants occupied, under the contract signed in New Jersey. In addition, the continuous nature of the business relationship between appellants and appellee occurred as a direct result of appellants renewing their seasonal contract in New Jersey, not in the forum state. Accordingly, it cannot be said that appellee purposely availed itself to the Commonwealth such that it was put on notice that it would have to defend itself in the forum.

¶ 10 Moreover, the cases on which appellants rely to support their claim that specific jurisdiction lies are inapposite to the current case, as those cases analyzed the propriety of subjecting a foreign company with websites featuring its services to general jurisdiction based on the interactiveness of the website. The other forms of communication appellants posit for our review which would subject appellee to jurisdiction in our state courts, namely that customers can reserve campgrounds on the website and that a significant amount of reservations are made through appellee's website, is more...