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Halderman v. Sanderson Forklifts Co.5/10/1991
This is an appeal from the Scott Circuit Court's dismissal of the complaint against Sanderson Forklifts Company, Ltd. (Sanderson Forklifts). The trial court granted appellee's motion for summary judgment on the grounds that the court lacked personal jurisdiction over the appellee, the one-year statute of limitations had run and the appellant's action for breach of warranty under KRS 355.2-318 was barred due to lack of privity.
This action arose out of an injury appellant suffered on April 7, 1987, that occurred while he was employed at Baker Construction Company in Scott County. In his complaint appellant alleged his injuries were caused by a defective Winget dumper that was manufactured by appellee, Sanderson Forklifts Company, Ltd. of England. Appellant filed his complaint against Sanderson Equipment Company of North Carolina (Sanderson Equipment) on April 4, 1988.
Appellee was served by way of the Kentucky long arm statute. The Secretary of State's Office was served on April 6, 1988. The Secretary of State's Office sent the summons to Sanderson Equipment on April 7, 1988, and Sanderson Equipment Co. signed for the summons on April 11, 1988.
On July 7, 1988, appellant filed an amended complaint naming Sanderson Forklifts, the English parent company of Sanderson Equipment of North Carolina, as a party defendant. The amended complaint against Sanderson Forklifts was identical to the original complaint against Sanderson Equipment. Service was effected through the long arm statute and Sanderson Forklifts received the summons on July 21, 1988. A summons had been served on Sanderson Forklifts on May 11, 1988, prior to the amended complaint naming Sanderson Forklifts as a party.
The Winget dumper, which is alleged to have caused appellant's injuries, was purchased by appellant's employer, Baker Construction Co., from Gerbus Equipment Inc. (Gerbus Equipment) in Cincinnati, Ohio. Winget dumpers were originally manufactured by a German company, Wibau-Winget, which went into receivership. In 1984 Sanderson Forklifts bought the design rights for Winget products as part of Winget's liquidation.
In 1985 Sanderson Forklifts purchased an English company called Priestman Brothers. Priestman Brothers' distributor in the United States was Gerbus Equipment Inc. of Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1985 Gerbus Equipment and Sanderson Forklifts agreed that Gerbus would purchase three Winget dumpers from Sanderson Forklifts in an attempt to test the market in the United States for these products. The dumper, which is alleged to have caused appellant's injuries, is one of the three dumpers distributed by Gerbus Equipment.
Approximately four months after appellant's injury occurred, Sanderson Equipment Co. of North Carolina was formed. All of Sanderson Forklifts' sales are now handled by Sanderson Equipment Co. in North Carolina.
On November 15, 1988, the trial court granted Sanderson Equipment's motion to dismiss. Subsequently, on April 4, 1990, Sanderson Forklifts was dismissed by the trial court on its motion for summary judgment. The trial court held that the claim against Sanderson Forklifts was barred by the one-year statute of limitations for personal injury actions. The trial court further held Sanderson Forklifts had insufficient minimum contacts with Kentucky to allow the trial court to exercise personal jurisdiction over it. Finally, the trial court dismissed appellant's breach-of-warranty claim due to lack of privity.
Appellant argues that the trial court erred by finding the negligence action to be barred by the statute of limitations. The trial court concluded that since Sanderson Equipment did not actually re
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