Stith v. Manor Baking Co.

• Decision Date: 04 August 1976
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 75CV524-W-3.
• Citation: 418 F. Supp. 150
• Parties: Patricia STITH et al., Plaintiffs, v. MANOR BAKING COMPANY et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Missouri

418 F. Supp. 150

Patricia STITH et al., Plaintiffs, v. MANOR BAKING COMPANY et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 75CV524-W-3.

United States District Court, W. D. Missouri, W. D.

August 4, 1976.

Charlotte P. Thayer, Grandview, Mo., for plaintiffs.

Robert D. Youle, Eric T. Swanson, Maurice J. O'Sullivan, Jr., Lathrop, Koontz, Righter, Clagett, Parker & Norquist, Kansas City, Mo., Tod Calhoun, Dallas, Tex., for Campbell-Taggart, Inc.

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT CAMPBELL-TAGGART, INC.'S MOTIONS TO DISMISS FOR LACK OF PERSONAL JURISDICTION AND IMPROPER VENUE, AND ORDER DISMISSING TITLE VII CLAIMS AGAINST DEFENDANT CAMPBELL-TAGGART FOR LACK OF SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION

WILLIAM H. BECKER, Chief Judge.

This is an employment discrimination action in five counts under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 2000e, et seq., Title 42, United States Code; Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, Section 185, Title 29, United States Code; and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, Section 1981, Title 42, United States Code. Defendant Campbell-Taggart, Inc. (hereinafter "Campbell-Taggart"), has moved to dismiss the complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction, improper venue, and lack of subject-matter jurisdiction over plaintiffs' Title VII claims against it. Plaintiffs have filed opposing suggestions, and oral argument was heard at a pretrial conference.

The parties and general nature of the claims are set forth in the "Order Denying `Defendant the Bakery & Confectionery Workers' International Union of America, Local No. 218, AFL-CIO Motions to Strike and Dismiss' Without Prejudice" filed April 26, 1976. Briefly, plaintiffs, a white female and a black female, allege racial and sexual discrimination in hiring, promotions, layoffs, seniority, wages and job classifications; harassment; and breach of a collective bargaining agreement by defendants Manor Baking Co., and its parent corporation Campbell-Taggart; and a breach of the duty of fair representation by the Bakery & Confectionery Workers' International Union of America, Local No. 218, AFL-CIO.

I. Personal Jurisdiction.

Campbell-Taggart was served with process at its offices in Dallas, Texas, by a United States Marshal under the Missouri "long-arm" statute, Section 506.500, et seq., R.S.Mo. (1976) V.A.M.S. It asserts that extraterritorial service of process was not authorized by the Missouri "long-arm" statute; and that because of the insufficiency of its contacts with the State of Missouri, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment precludes assertion of in personam jurisdiction over it in this district. The following material facts are alleged by plaintiffs, or by defendants and not controverted by plaintiffs, are taken as true and considered in the light most favorable to plaintiffs for purposes of this motion.

Campbell-Taggart is a Delaware corporation having its principal place of business in Dallas, Texas. It is not licensed to do business as a foreign corporation, and has no offices, in the State of Missouri.

Campbell-Taggart is primarily a holding company. It is the majority stockholder of Manor Baking Company which is engaged in the wholesale baking business in Kansas City, Missouri. However, from the facts alleged by plaintiffs, it does not appear that Campbell-Taggart maintains the ordinary dissociated parent-subsidiary relationship with Manor Baking Company. Rather, Campbell-Taggart actively participates in the training and supervision of Manor Baking Company's employees, and in Manor Baking Company's production of bakery goods.

Many of Manor Baking Company's supervisors are trained at seminars conducted, operated, and directed by Campbell-Taggart at its offices in Dallas, Texas. Manor Baking Company employees who have attended such seminars include William Harper, supervisor of bread distribution; Leroy Worley, supervisor of the bread shop; Charlie Davis, supervisor of the sanitation department; and Rudolph Brown and George McFarland who were foremen. Manor Baking Company employees were informed that such training was necessary to be a supervisor at Manor. Further, at least one Manor Baking Company employee has served as an instructor in a bakery production training program conducted by Campbell-Taggart in Dallas, Texas, for trainees from other bakeries associated as subsidiaries with Campbell-Taggart.

Campbell-Taggart employs "roving supervisors" who periodically visit the Manor Baking Company plant in Kansas City, Missouri. These "roving supervisors" inspect production procedures and test the bakery goods produced for compliance with federal standards and standards imposed by Campbell-Taggart. They submit weekly bread examination reports to Campbell-Taggart about the quality of the goods produced by Manor Baking Company. They also direct, supervise and correct employees of Manor Baking Company to ensure the proper performance of their duties.

Other evidence exists that Campbell-Taggart actively participates in its subsidiary's management. Manor Baking Company employees are frequently promoted or transferred to positions with either Campbell-Taggart or one of its many subsidiaries engaged in the baking business. During a strike in 1969, Campbell-Taggart employees operated the Manor Baking Company plant. Campbell-Taggart has coordinated shipments of goods between its subsidiaries as evidenced by a letter dated May 7, 1975, from a Campbell-Taggart official to Manor regarding a shipment of whey. Finally, Campbell-Taggart prepares the Wage and Tax Statements of Manor employees; and has addressed communications to Manor employees addressed: "Dear Fellow Employees."

The tests for determining whether personal jurisdiction exists over Campbell-Taggart are the same under both the Missouri "long-arm" statute and the Fifth Amendment. Section 506.500, R.S.Mo. (1976) V.A. M.S., provides in pertinent part:

"1. Any person or firm, whether or not a citizen or resident of this state, or any corporation, who in person or through an agent does any of the acts enumerated in this section, thereby submits such person, firm, or corporation, and, if an individual, his personal representative, to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state as to any cause of action arising from the doing of any of such acts:

"(1) The transaction of any business within this state;

* * * * * *

"2. Only causes of action arising from acts enumerated in this section may be asserted against a defendant in an action in which jurisdiction over him is based upon this section."

The Missouri Supreme Court has held that in enacting Section 506.500, the ultimate objective of the General Assembly of Missouri

". . . was to extend the jurisdiction of the courts of this state over nonresident defendants to that extent permissible under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States." State ex rel. Deere and Company v. Pinnell, 454 S.W.2d 889, 892 (banc 1970).

See also: State ex inf. Danforth v. Reader's Digest Association, 527 S.W.2d 355, 357-358 (Mo., banc 1975); State ex rel. Apco Oil Corporation v. Turpin, 490 S.W.2d 400 (Mo. App.1973). The Missouri Supreme Court has further construed "the transaction of any business" provision to render service proper under the statute whenever the requirements of due process are met. State ex inf. Danforth v. Reader's Digest Association, supra, at 358. Because the reach of that provision is coextensive with the requirements of due process, resolution of the due process question will be dispositive of the question whether service was proper under Section 506.500.¹

The constitutional limitations on extra-territorial service of process are governed by the principles laid down by the United States Supreme Court in three cases, Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283 (1958); McGee v. International Life Ins. Co., 355 U.S. 220, 78 S.Ct. 199, 2 L.Ed.2d 223 (1957); International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945). In International Shoe, the Court endorsed the familiar rule,

"Due process requires only that in order to subject a defendant to a judgment in personam, if he be not present within the territory of the forum, he have certain minimum contacts with it such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend `traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.'" (326 U.S. at 316, 66 S.Ct. at 158).

While the Court approved of service upon a nonresident insurance company whose only contact with the forum state was sending a form of reinsurance to, and receiving premiums from, a single policyholder in the state in McGee, the Court in Hanson warned:

"It is a mistake to assume that this trend heralds the eventual demise of all restrictions on the personal jurisdiction of state courts. Those restrictions are more than a guarantee of immunity from inconvenient or distant litigation. They are a consequence of territorial limitations on the power of the respective states." (357 U.S. at 251, 78 S.Ct. 1238.)

The Eighth Circuit has articulated five factors to be considered in determining whether service of process in a particular case offends due process:

"(1) the nature and quality of the contacts with the forum state; (2) the quantity of contacts with the forum state; (3) the relation of the cause of action to the contacts; (4) the interest of the forum state in providing a forum for its residents; and (5) the convenience of the parties."

Caesar's World, Inc. v. Spencer Foods, Inc., 498 F.2d 1176, 1180 (8th Cir. 1974); Block Industries v. DHJ Industries, Inc., 495 F.2d 256 (8th Cir. 1974); Gardner Engineering Corp. v. Page Engineering Co., 484 F.2d 27 (8th Cir. 1973); Thompson v. Ecological Science Corporation, 421 F.2d 467 (8th Cir. 1970); Electro-Craft Corp. v. Maxwell Electronics Corp., 417 F.2d 365 (8th Cir. 1969); Aftanase v. Economy Baler Co., 343 F.2d 187 (8th Cir. 1965). These factors ". . . do not establish a mathematical formula from...