Meier ex rel. Meier v. Sun Intern. Hotels, Ltd., No. 01-14431.
| Citation | 288 F.3d 1264 |
| Decision Date | 19 April 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 01-14431. |
| Parties | Victor A. MEIER, a minor, by and through his parents, Wilber L. MEIER, Jr., as parent and natural guardian for Victor Meier and Wilber L. Meier, III, minors, Patricia Meier, as parent for Victor A. Meier and Wilber L. Meier, III, minors, Wilber L. Meier, III, a minor by and through his parents Wilber L. Meier, Jr., and Patricia Meier, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. SUN INTERNATIONAL HOTELS, LTD., a Bahamas Company, Sun International Bahamas, Ltd., a Bahamas Company, Island Hotel Company, Ltd., a Bahamas Company, a.k.a. Atlantis Resort & Casino, Paradise Island, Paradise Island, Ltd., a Bahamas Company, Wedge Hotel Management (Bahamas) Ltd., a.k.a. Resort & Hotel, Paradise Island Paradise Grand Hotel Venture, Ltd., a Bahamas joint venture, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit) |
Joy Spillis Ludeen, Matthew W. Buttrick, Alan Harold Fein, Stearns, Weaver, Miller, Weissler, Alhadeff & Sitterson, P.A., Miami, FL, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.
Keith Olin, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Christina T. NG, Hunton & Williams, Miami, FL, for Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Before BLACK and RONEY, Circuit Judges, and RESTANI,* Judge.
Plaintiffs-Appellants (hereinafter "Plaintiffs") appeal the district court's dismissal of their complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction over several Bahamian corporations as well as the district court's order denying reconsideration of that dismissal. Defendants-Appellees request that the court affirm the district court or, in the alternative, dismiss for forum non conveniens. Because we find that the federal district court in Florida may properly assert personal jurisdiction over defendants-appellees, we REVERSE and REMAND.
In 1999, Plaintiffs were vacationing on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. On July 19, 1999, Victor A. Meier went snorkeling with his father, plaintiff Wilber L. Meier, Jr., and brother, plaintiff Wilber L. Meier, III, in an area known as Snorkeler's Cove. While snorkeling, Victor was struck by a commercial motorboat and sustained massive injuries. After being transported to shore, Victor was airlifted to Miami, Florida, to undergo medical treatment. He survived but lost his arm and was permanently disfigured.
The Meiers subsequently filed this diversity action1 in the Southern District of Florida against several foreign defendants, including Sun International Hotels, Ltd. ("Sun Hotels"), Sun International Bahamas, Ltd. ("Sun Bahamas"), Island Hotel Company, Ltd. ("Island Hotel"), and Paradise Island, Ltd. ("Paradise Island") (collectively "Sun Defendants").2 Plaintiffs brought personal injury claims for Victor's physical injuries and for alleged emotional distress suffered by the entire family. Plaintiffs claimed that the Sun Defendants were partially responsible for the motorboat and, therefore, liable for the Plaintiffs' injuries.
According to Plaintiffs, the motorboat was owned and operated by a Bahamian water-sports vendor conducting business at the Atlantis Hotel and Casino ("Atlantis") located on Paradise Island.3 The Sun Defendants are a group of related corporations that own and operate Atlantis. Sun Hotels is a holding company and the parent corporation of Sun Bahamas. Sun Bahamas is a holding company and the parent corporation of both Island Hotel, which manages and operates Atlantis, and Paradise Island, the primary owner of land associated with Atlantis. Because all four are admittedly affiliated with the ownership and operation of Atlantis, Plaintiffs claim that the Sun Defendants are liable for their own negligent supervision of the motorboat and vicariously liable for the operator's negligence.4
The Sun Defendants moved to dismiss the Plaintiffs' complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction or, in the alternative, for forum non conveniens. Fed.R.Civ.P. Rules 12(b)(2) and (3). The Sun Defendants argued that they were not subject to in personam jurisdiction in Florida because they are Bahamian corporations without the contacts necessary for the court to assert jurisdiction.
In support of the motion, the Sun Defendants submitted affidavits from Giselle Pyfrom and James Barrie Farrington. Pyfrom is the Assistant Secretary of Sun Hotels and Senior Vice President at Sun Bahamas. Farrington is the Secretary and Director of Paradise Island as well as the Director of Island Hotel. The identical affidavits state, among other things, that the Sun Defendants are organized and incorporated in the Bahamas, have their principal place of business in the Bahamas, do not have a registered office or registered agent to conduct business in the United States, and, most importantly, conduct business only in the Bahamas.
In response to the affidavits, Plaintiffs submitted depositions and documentary evidence suggesting numerous contacts with Florida. The evidence included a press release directing inquiries to a Sun Hotel officer's telephone number in Broward County, Florida, as well as a government form listing a Fort Lauderdale attorney as an "Authorized Representative in the United States" and "Agent for Service." Plaintiffs submitted information from a website listing at least six contact telephone numbers associated with the Sun Defendants. The thrust of this evidence was to suggest that the Sun Defendants themselves conduct business in Florida. In addition, the Plaintiffs submitted evidence regarding two U.S. subsidiaries of Sun Hotels located in Florida, Sun International Resorts ("Sun Resorts") and Paradise Island Vacations ("PIV") (collectively "the Florida Subsidiaries").
The district court granted the Sun Defendants' motion to dismiss on grounds that the Florida long-arm statute did not provide general jurisdiction over subsidiary or agent corporations. The court stated that nothing in the language of § 48.193(2) supports plaintiffs' argument that the activities of the Sun Defendants' agents may be imputed to the defendants to satisfy the requirements of the statute. The court went on to state that, for the same reason, the contacts would not satisfy the due process requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment. Because the district court dismissed the claims for lack of jurisdiction, the court did not address forum non conveniens.
Following the court's order, Plaintiffs moved for reconsideration. The Plaintiffs requested that they be allowed to replead the matter based on additional evidence regarding the Sun Defendants' contacts in Florida. The district court denied that request. The Meiers, therefore, appeal that denial and the original dismissal for lack of jurisdiction. The Sun Defendants again argue that jurisdiction was improper. In addition, Sun Defendants argue forum non conveniens.
We review the district court's dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction de novo. See S.E.C. v. Carrillo, 115 F.3d 1540, 1542 (11th Cir.1997). The plaintiff has the burden of establishing a prima facie case of personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant. See Morris v. SSE, Inc., 843 F.2d 489, 492 (11th Cir.1988). "A prima facie case is established if the plaintiff presents enough evidence to withstand a motion for directed verdict." Madara v. Hall, 916 F.2d 1510, 1514 (11th Cir.1990) (citation omitted).
Where, as here, the defendant submits affidavits to the contrary, 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. See Posner v. Essex Ins. Co., 178 F.3d 1209, 1215 (11th Cir.1999). Where the plaintiff's complaint and supporting evidence conflict with the defendant's affidavits, the court must construe all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff. See Madara, 916 F.2d at 1514.
The primary issue raised on appeal is whether the district court properly dismissed Plaintiffs' claims against the Sun Defendants for lack of personal jurisdiction. A federal district court sitting in diversity may exercise personal jurisdiction to the extent authorized by the law of the state in which it sits and to the extent allowed under the Constitution. See Morris, 843 F.2d at 492; see also Lamb v. Turbine Designs, Inc., 207 F.3d 1259, 1261 (11th Cir.2000). The court must determine whether the Sun Defendants' activities satisfy the Florida long-arm statute and, if satisfied, whether the extension jurisdiction comports with the due process requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment. Posner, 178 F.3d at 1214 (citing Sculptchair, Inc., v. Century Arts, Ltd., 94 F.3d 623, 626 (11th Cir.1996)).
Plaintiffs argue that the Sun Defendants are subject to personal jurisdiction under the general jurisdiction5 provision of the Florida long-arm statute. See Fla. Stat. Ann. § 48.193(2)(2002). The general jurisdiction provision of the statute states:
A defendant who is engaged in substantial and not isolated activity within this state, whether such activity is wholly interstate, intrastate, or otherwise, is subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state, whether or not the claim arises from that activity.
Id. (emphasis added). In addition to the activities undertaken by the Sun Defendants themselves, Plaintiffs argue that the Sun Defendants engaged in "substantial and not isolated activity" in Florida through the Florida Subsidiaries.6 This gives rise to two issues: 1) whether the Florida long-arm statute allows the extension of general jurisdiction to a non-resident corporation based on the activities of an agent; and 2) whether the Florida subsidiaries are agents of the Sun Defendants.
The Sun Defendants argue that the plain language of the Florida long-arm statute...
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