Schoulte v. Great Lakes Forwarding Corp.
| Decision Date | 17 June 1941 |
| Docket Number | 45535. |
| Parties | SCHOULTE v. GREAT LAKES FORWARDING CORPORATION et al. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Appeal from District Court, Clayton County; W. L. Eichendorf, Judge.
This is an action for damages growing out of an automobile accident. The defendant filed a special appearance. The lower court overruled the special appearance, and the defendant has appealed. Opinion states the facts.
Affirmed.
Kenline, Roedell & Hoffmann, of Dubuque, for appellant.
D. D Murphy & Son, of Elkader, for appellee.
This case comes before this court on an appeal from a ruling of the lower court overruling a special appearance filed by the defendant Great Lakes Forwarding Corporation.
In Schoulte v. Great Lakes Forwarding Corporation, 228 Iowa 1012, 291 N.W. 158, a case involving the same automobile accident was before this court. It is not the same case, as in that action G. H. Schoulte, as administrator, was the plaintiff, and the issues involved were not the same as in the case at bar.
The only question which confronts us is whether or not the District Court obtained jurisdiction of the Great Lakes Forwarding Corporation.
Hattie Schoulte, as guardian of Betty Lou Kann and Leon Kann minors, filed her petition in this case on September 13, 1939, in the office of the Clerk of the District Court of Clayton County, Iowa. She alleged that the Great Lakes Forwarding Corporation is a non-resident corporation, with its principal place of business in Chicago, Illinois. That by virtue of an assignment of a chose of action, copy of which is attached and marked Exhibit A, she became the owner of a cause of action accruing to the Estate of Alfred J. Kann against the Great Lakes Forwarding Corporation. She alleges that all of the facts surrounding the death of Albert J. Kann are peculiarly within the knowledge of the defendants and their agents. She then describes the manner in which the trailer-truck combination was operated; that Alfred J. Kann was free from contributory negligence; that there was a collision between the automobile in which Kann was riding and the truck of the Great Lakes Forwarding Company and that Kann died as a result of said collision. She then prays for damages.
An original notice was served on R. U. Thompson at Marshalltown, Iowa. It is conceded that R. U. Thompson was the resident agent of the Great Lakes Forwarding Corporation for service in Iowa when served on September 20, 1939.
The Great Lakes Forwarding Corporation filed a special appearance, the material part of which is as follows:
" 3. The court is without jurisdiction as to this defendant herein for the reason it nowhere appears in plaintiff's petition (a) in what County or State, nor that it was in Clayton County, Iowa, Theresa Kann was appointed administratrix of the estate of Alfred Kann, deceased, nor under and by virtue of what authority she was acting as such at the time she signed assignment, copy of which is attached to plaintiff's petition, and when this action was commenced against this defendant; and it does not appear where said deceased was living at the time of his death; (b) Theresa Kann signed the said assignment in her individual capacity only; (c) the assignment is to Hattie Schoulte, Guardian of Leon H. and Betty Lou, minors and heirs of Alfred J. Kann, and it does not appear in what County or State Hattie Schoulte was appointed such guardian, nor that it was in Clayton County, Iowa, nor under and by virtue of what authority she was acting as such guardian at the time this action was commenced against this defendant; (d) nor does plaintiff allege the County or place of plaintiff's residence, nor that it was in Clayton County, Iowa, nor (e) the residence of said minors at the time said guardian was appointed and when this suit was commenced. There is no allegation with respect to the foregoing matters or either of them which gives the District Court of Iowa in and for Clayton County jurisdiction herein.
4. The court is without jurisdiction as to this defendant to try said cause or enter any judgment against herein for the reason it nowhere appears in plaintiff's petition where the accident, upon which this cause of action is alleged to be based, occurred, the injury received or damage done, nor that it occurred in Clayton County, Iowa, and the mere general allegations of plaintiff's petition are not such as to confer jurisdiction herein, the subject matter as alleged is not within said court's jurisdiction.
5. The court is without jurisdiction at this time to render any judgment against this defendant herein, or to try the facts set out in plaintiff's petition as against it.
6. This defendant is not a person within the meaning of Section 514 of the Iowa Motor Vehicle Act, Chapter 134 of the Acts of the 47th General Assembly, whereby service can be had upon it or...
To continue reading
Request your trial