Matthews v. Brookstone Stores, Inc.

Decision Date11 January 2007
Docket NumberCivil Action No. 05-0369-WS-C.
Citation469 F.Supp.2d 1056
CourtU.S. District Court — Southern District of Alabama
PartiesLaura MATTHEWS, Plaintiff, v. BROOKSTONE STORES, INC., et al., Defendants. Brookstone Stores, Inc., Third-Party Plaintiff, v. D & M Sales, Inc., Third-Party Defendant.

Benjamen T. Rowe, Donald J. Stewart, Patrick H. Sims, Cabaniss, Johnston, Gardner, Dumas & O'Neal, Mobile, AL, Enrique Jose Gimenez, Jere F. White, Jr., Stephen J. Rowe, Lightfoot, Franklin & White, Birmingham, AL, for Plaintiff.

C. Lee Reeves, James Bruce Carlson, Anthony R. Smith, Sirote & Permutt, P.C., Birmingham, AL, T. Julian Motes, Sirote & Permutt, P.C., Mobile, AL, for Defendants and Third-Party Plaintiff.

AMENDED ORDER

STEELE, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on defendant D & M Sales, Inc.'s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs Second Amended Class Action Complaint (doc. 100). The Motion has been briefed and is ripe for disposition.1

I. Background.

In her Second Amended Class Action Complaint (doc. 94), plaintiff Laura Matthews brings claims arising from her purchase of a "Pure-Ion" air purifier from a Brookstone retail store in Georgia in December 2004. Plaintiff maintains that she purchased her air purifier from defendants Brookstone, Inc. ("Brookstone, Inc."), Brookstone Company, Inc. ("Brookstone Company") and Brookstone Stores, Inc. ("Brookstone Stores") (collectively, "Brookstone"), and that the unit was designed, manufactured, distributed and sold by Brookstone and defendant' D & M Sales, Inc. ("D & M"). According to plaintiff, this device does not perform the functions that it was marketed and warranted to perform, inasmuch as it fails to remove dust, pollen and other impurities from the air, and instead exposes consumers to hazardous levels of ozone. On behalf of herself and purportedly on behalf of all consumers in the United States who have purchased air purifier units from Brookstone within the last six years, Matthews advances claims against all three Brookstone entities and D & M for fraud, negligent/reckless misrepresentation, breach of implied warranty, money had and received, unjust enrichment, conspiracy and permanent injunction, plus separate claims against the Brookstone entities for breach of contract and breach of express warranty. A hearing on plaintiff's Motion for Class Certification was conducted before Magistrate Judge Cassady on April 27, 2006, and that motion has been taken under submission.

This Court is now called upon to assess D & M's jurisdictional status. Defendant D & M was not named in the Complaint, but was initially brought into the case by defendant Brookstone Stores as a third-party defendant on September 20, 2005. (See doc. 23.) Plaintiff followed by submitting a First Amended Complaint (doc. 52) in November 2005, naming D & M as an additional party defendant. Almost five months later, D & M moved to dismiss plaintiff's claims against it for lack of personal jurisdiction, as well as various claimspecific defects. On May 24, 2006, the undersigned entered an Order (doc. 175) determining that D & M's personal jurisdiction defense was not waived or abandoned by virtue of the delay in asserting it, and authorizing a deposition of D & M to afford plaintiff a reasonable opportunity to investigate the jurisdictional allegations. Following that deposition, Matthews and D & M supplemented the record as to the Rule 12(b)(2) issue with some 43 pages of supplemental briefing and 26 additional exhibits.

II. Legal Standard for Personal Jurisdiction Defense.

Where a district court in its discretion decides a personal jurisdiction issue without an evidentiary hearing, it is the plaintiff's burden to establish a prima facie case of personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant. Meier ex rel. Meier v. Sun Int'l Hotels, Ltd., 288 F.3d 1264, 1269 (11th Cir.2002); S.E.C. v. Carrillo, 115 F.3d 1540, 1542 (11th Cir.1997). Such a showing requires the presentation of evidence sufficient to withstand a motion for directed verdict. Id. In considering the adequacy of a plaintiff's proffer, district courts accept as true all facts alleged in the complaint, to the extent they are uncontroverted by a defendant's affidavits. Id. Where a plaintiff pleads sufficient material facts to show a basis for personal jurisdiction and where a defendant submits affidavits controverting those allegations, "the burden traditionally shifts back to the plaintiff to produce evidence supporting jurisdiction[,] unless those affidavits contain only conclusory assertions that the defendant is not subject to jurisdiction." Meier, 288 F.3d at 1269. If the plaintiff's complaint and supporting evidence conflict with the defendant's affidavits, then all reasonable inferences must be construed in the plaintiffs favor. See id.

"When a defendant challenges personal jurisdiction, the plaintiff has the twin burdens of establishing that personal jurisdiction over the defendant comports with (1) the forum state's long-arm provision and (2) the requirements of the due-process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution." Lasalle Bank N.A. v. Mobile Hotel Properties, LLC, 274 F.Supp.2d 1293, 1296 (S.D.Ala. 2003) (citations omitted); see also Horizon Aggressive. Growth, L.P. v. Rothstein-Kass, P.A., 421 F.3d 1162, 1166 (11th Cir. 2005) (similar). In Alabama, this two-pronged inquiry collapses into a single question because Alabama's long-arm provision permits its courts to exercise personal jurisdiction to the full extent permitted by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. See Mutual Service Ins. Co. v. Frit Industries, Inc., 358 F.3d 1312, 1319 (11th Cir.2004) ("Alabama's long-arm statute authorizes Alabama courts to assert jurisdiction to the fullest extent constitutionally permissible," such that the sole issue is whether exercise of jurisdiction would violate due process); Ruiz de Molina v. Merritt & Furman Ins. Agency, Inc., 207 F.3d 1351, 1356 (11th Cir.2000); Lasalle Bank, 274 F.Supp.2d at 1296; Reliance Nat'l Indemnity Co. v. Pinnacle Cas. Assur. Corp., 160 F.Supp.2d 1327, 1332 (M.D.Ala.2001). Accordingly, the critical question here is whether the exercise of personal jurisdiction over D M conforms to constitutional safeguards.

Due process authorizes the exercise of personal jurisdiction when "(1) the nonresident defendant has purposefully established minimum contacts with the forum;" and "(2) the exercise of jurisdiction will not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice." Carrillo, 115 F.3d at 1542 (quoting Francosteel Corp., Unimetal-Normandy v. M/V Charm, Tiki, Mortensen & Lange, 19 F.3d 624, 627 (11th Cir.1994)); see also Horizon, 421 F.3d at 1166; Molina, 207 F.3d at 1356.

The minimum contacts analysis varies depending on whether the type of jurisdiction asserted is general or specific. Indeed, facts supporting "[p]ersonal jurisdiction may be general, which arise from the party's contacts with the forum state that are unrelated to the claim, or specific, which arise from the party's contacts with the forum state that are related to the claim." Nippon Credit Bank, Ltd. v. Matthews, 291 F.3d 738, 747 (11th Cir.2002). Under general jurisdiction, there must be a showing of "continuous and systematic" contacts between the defendant and the forum state even if those contacts are unrelated to the plaintiffs claims. Id. By contrast, specific jurisdiction is proper where (i) the defendant's contacts with the forum state are related or give rise to the plaintiffs cause of action, (ii) the contacts involve some act by which the defendant purposefully avails itself of the privilege of conducting activities within the forum, and (iii) the defendant's contacts with the forum are such that the defendant should reasonably anticipate being haled into court there. See, e.g., McGow v. McCurry, 412 F.3d 1207, 1214 (11th Cir.2005); Carrillo, 115 F.3d at 1542; Vermeulen v. Renault, U.S.A., Inc., 985 F.2d 1534, 1546 (11th Cir.1993).

III. Analysis of D & M Motion.

Defendant D & M seeks dismissal of this action for lack of personal jurisdiction, in addition to asserting various grounds for dismissal of particular claims for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), Fed. R.Civ.P.2 D & M maintains that specific jurisdiction is improper because there are no allegations tending to show a relationship among Matthews, D & M, the Complaint, and the State of Alabama. Furthermore, D & M asserts that general jurisdiction cannot properly be wielded against it because its connections with the forum state are too isolated and remote to satisfy the "continuous and systematic" threshold.3 Based on information secured during jurisdictional discovery, Matthews disagrees.

A. Relevant Facts.4

During the course of jurisdictional discovery, plaintiff has uncovered and submitted the following relevant facts: D & M was formed in March 2003 as a Massachusetts corporation by Christopher Lozzio, its president and sole officer. (Lozzio Dep., at 9; Lozzio Aff., ¶ 2; Plaintiffs Exh. E.)5 The uncontroverted evidence is that D & M never received any purchase orders or conducted any business within the State of Alabama. (Lozzio Dep., at 91-92, 153.) D & M has never owned any property in Alabama and has never contracted to supply any goods or services in Alabama. (Id. at 153.)

According to its articles of incorporation, D & M's purpose was to act as a sales representative for companies in the United States and abroad. (Id. at 10-11.) In that regard, D & M representatives traveled across the country to meet with various national big-box retailers (in states other than Alabama) in marketing LumiPure ionizing air purifiers produced by a Chinese company called VisionTac. (Id. at 101-03)6 D & M's arrangement with VisionTac was that D & M would sell products designed, manufactured and shipped by VisionTac in China to...

To continue reading

Request your trial
28 cases
  • Brown v. Kerkhoff
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of Iowa
    • August 23, 2007
    ...466 F.2d 65, 68 & n. 1 (10th Cir.1972); Richards v. Duke Univ., 480 F.Supp.2d 222, 229 (D.D.C.2007); Matthews v. Brookstone Stores, Inc., 469 F.Supp.2d 1056, 1066-67 (S.D.Ala. 2007); FC Inv. Group LC v. IFX Markets, Ltd., 479 F.Supp.2d 30, 41 (D.D.C.2007); Am. Copper & Brass, Inc. v. Muelle......
  • Drummond Co. v. Collingsworth
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama
    • August 1, 2017
    ...defendant ... Alabama courts have recognized and adopted the conspiracy theory of personal jurisdiction." Matthews v. Brookstone Stores, Inc., 469 F.Supp.2d 1056, 1066 (S.D. Ala. 2007). Under the Rule 4(k)(2) jurisdictional inquiry, the federal long arm statute "authorizes the exercise of t......
  • In re Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Litig.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama
    • December 21, 2016
    ...off the mark. (Doc. # 210 at 23–24, Case No. 2:12–cv–02169–RDP). As an initial matter, Triple–S relies on Matthews v. Brookstone Stores, Inc. , 469 F.Supp.2d 1056 (S.D. Ala. 2007) for its proposed "substantial connection" standard, but Matthews does not cite any binding case law to support ......
  • Agundis v. Rice
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of Alabama
    • February 22, 2017
    ...long-arm provision and the requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution." Matthews v. Brookstone Stores, Inc., 469 F. Supp.2d 1056, 1060 (S.D. Ala. 2007)(citations omitted); see also Horizon Aggressive Growth, L.P. v. Rothstein-Kass, P.A., 421 F. 3d 1162, 1166 ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
2 books & journal articles
  • Jurisdiction and Choice of law Issues in the Indirect Purchaser action
    • United States
    • ABA Antitrust Library Indirect Purchaser Litigation Handbook. Second Edition
    • December 5, 2016
    .... Kentucky Speedway v. Nat’l Ass’n of Stock Car Auto Racing, 410 F. Supp. 2d 592, 599 (E.D. Ky. 2006); Matthews v. Brookstone Stores, 469 F. Supp. 2d 1056, 1066 (S.D. Ala. 2007) (non-antitrust case observing that “personal jurisdiction can be exercised over a defendant who lacks minimum con......
  • Table of cases
    • United States
    • ABA Antitrust Library Indirect Purchaser Litigation Handbook. Second Edition
    • December 5, 2016
    ...Mason v. Texaco, Inc., 741 F. Supp. 1472 (D. Kan. 1990), aff’d , 948 F.2d 1546 (10th Cir. 1991), 313 Matthews v. Brookstone Stores, 469 F. Supp. 2d 1056 (S.D. Ala. 2007), 97 Matthews v. Servier Can., Inc.,B.C.J. No. 435 (Can. B.C. S.C. 1999), 380 Maywalt v. Parker & Parsley Petrol. Co.,67 F......

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT