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Jurisdiction
Personal Jurisdiction on Foreign Corporation
O’Connor v. Sandy Lane Hotel, Ltd., 3rd Cir., opinion by Chagares, J., filed 7/26/07 (PICS No. 07-1158).
In 2002, plaintiff, a Pennsylvania resident, visited defendant’s spa
in Barbados. Thereafter, defendant mailed seasonal newsletters to him. In 2003,
plaintiff booked a return trip, defendant mailed him a brochure highlighting
treatments available, and plaintiff purchased various treatments. In Barbados,
after a massage plaintiff was instructed to step into a shower, where he slipped
and fell, allegedly because of a defective floor.
Plaintiff sued defendant in state court, defendant removed the matter to
federal district court, and then successfully had the lower court dismiss for
lack of personal jurisdiction. Plaintiff appealed.
On appeal, the Third Circuit reversed. The Third Circuit first concluded
that defendant purposefully availed itself of the privilege of conducting business
within Pennsylvania by mailing of brochures and newsletters and trading of
telephone calls to form an agreement for spa services. It concluded that defendant
deliberately reached into Pennsylvania to target Pennsylvania citizens. The
court next examined whether plaintiff’s claims were related to defendant’s
contacts. The court stated that defendant’s contacts were not only a
but-for cause of plaintiff’s injuries, but also related to defendant’s
alleged breach of an implied promise to exercise due care in performing the
spa’s services. The court concluded that the plaintiff’s claims
directly and closely related to defendant’s contacts, stating: “So
intimate a link justifies the exercise of specific jurisdiction as a quid pro
quo for defendant’s enjoyment of the right to form binding contracts
in Pennsylvania.”
Finally, in considering whether the exercise of jurisdiction would otherwise
comport with fair play and substantial justice, the court concluded that this
was not one of those rare and compelling cases where jurisdiction would be
unreasonable despite the presence of minimum contacts.
P.S. The plaintiff is Patrick O’Connor, Esq., of Cozen O’Connor.
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