Spectra Products, Inc. v. Indian River Citrus Specialties, Inc.

• Decision Date: 10 November 1988
• Citation: 534 N.Y.S.2d 570,144 A.D.2d 832
• Parties: SPECTRA PRODUCTS, INC., Appellant, v. INDIAN RIVER CITRUS SPECIALTIES, INC., Respondent.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Page 570

534 N.Y.S.2d 570

144 A.D.2d 832

SPECTRA PRODUCTS, INC., Appellant, v. INDIAN RIVER CITRUS SPECIALTIES, INC., Respondent.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division Third Department.

Nov. 10, 1988.

Thomas, Collison & Place, Endicott (Robert Whalen, of counsel), for appellant.

Richard Schwartz, Binghamton, for respondent.

Before KANE, J.P., and MIKOLL, LEVINE, HARVEY and MERCURE, JJ.

KANE, Justice Presiding.

Appeal from an order of the Supreme Court (Smyk, J.), entered August 6, 1987 in Broome County, which granted defendant's motion to dismiss the complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction.

Claiming that defendant was in breach of an agreement between the parties, plaintiff commenced suit by service of a summons with notice upon defendant. A notice of appearance was filed on defendant's behalf by its attorney and a complaint was thereafter served on defendant's attorney. Instead of answering, defendant moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that there was no personal jurisdiction over it. Supreme Court granted the motion and plaintiff has appealed.

Defendant based its motion on CPLR 302(a)(1), which permits the courts of this State to exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident who, in person or through an agent, "transacts any business within the state or contracts anywhere to supply goods or services in the state". In this case, plaintiff is a duly licensed New York corporation with its principal place of business within the State. Defendant is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of Florida. It apparently has no New York offices, nor does it have any officers, employees, telephone lines or any real or personal property in this State. For defendant to have transacted business in this State, it must have purposefully availed itself of the privilege of conducting activities within New York, thereby invoking the benefits and protections of the laws of this State (see, Hanson v. Deckla, 357 U.S. 235, 253, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 1239-40, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283; McKee Elec. Co. v. Rauland-Borg Corp., 20 N.Y.2d 377, 382, 283 N.Y.S.2d 34, 229 N.E.2d 604). In our view, this requirement was not satisfied in this case.

The contract between the parties has not been included in the record. However, the parties agree that the contract stipulated that for a fee, plaintiff agreed to provide for defendant inserts to certain bank mailings advertising defendant's products. Defendant is apparently a manufacturer and seller of citrus products. In support of its motion, defendant claimed that all contract negotiations were by telephone or mail and all meetings were held in Florida. It also stated that all New York activities relating to the contract were performed by plaintiff and were not attributable to defendant. Defendant also asserted that plaintiff mailed all correspondence to defendant from New York and that plaintiff's representatives went to Florida to initiate negotiations.

The burden of proving jurisdiction is on the party asserting it (Saratoga Harness Racing Assn. v. Moss, 26 A.D.2d 486, 490, 275 N.Y.S.2d 888, affd. 20 N.Y.2d 733, 283 N.Y.S.2d 55, 229 N.E.2d 620), and, in the face of defendant's allegations, plaintiff was obligated to come forth with definite evidentiary facts to support the out-of-State service (see, Lamarr v. Klein, 35 A.D.2d 248, 250, 315 N.Y.S.2d 695, affd. 30 N.Y.2d 757, 333 N.Y.S.2d 421, 284 N.E.2d 576). Plaintiff failed in this task. In an employee's affidavit, it is asserted that defendant called plaintiff and mailed correspondence to plaintiff as part of the negotiating process. It states that through bank mailings, it printed and distributed advertising material throughout the United States and it listed three New York banks in particular. It also claimed that as a result, many orders for defendant's products were placed by New York customers. However, these assertions are unsubstantiated and plaintiff merely stated that defendant "doubtlessly" mailed goods to purchasers in New York (see, Schumacher v. Sea Craft Inds., 101 A.D.2d 707, 475 N.Y.S.2d 690).

This case is closely analogous to J.E.T. Adv. Assoc. v. Lawn King, 84 A.D.2d 744, 443 N.Y.S.2d 745. There, the defendant hired the plaintiff to place advertisements...