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Fox v. Sunmaster Products Inc.12/20/1991
Terry E. and Billie May Fox (the Foxes) appeal two orders on summary judgment dismissing their suit against Sunmaster Products, Inc. (Sunmaster), and Ladder Industries, Inc. (Ladder). Terry Fox suffered serious
injuries as a result of a slip on a stepladder on or about November 20, 1984. The Foxes sought damages from the manufacturer of the ladder, Sunmaster, and later from Ladder, the company which purchased Sunmaster. Sunmaster and Ladder are both California corporations.
In 1986, Ladder purchased Sunmaster for $320,000. No shares of stock were transferred. The purchase included the assets of Sunmaster with the exception of cash on hand and accounts receivable. The agreement specifically provided that Ladder did not assume any of Sunmaster's liabilities. Ladder ceased production of Sunmaster's line of ladders once the ladders then in the process of production were completed. Ladder continued the Sunmaster line of hand trucks under its own name. The Foxes filed an amended complaint in May 1987 naming Ladder as an additional defendant. Ladder was served in June 1987.
In October of 1986, the 90th day after the filing of the original summons and complaint, a process server in California contacted an attorney for Sunmaster at his office in San Francisco. The process server asked for the location of Sunmaster and Horace Jordan, its president and registered agent. The attorney told the process server that Mr. and Mrs. Jordan were out of town, but the process server could call the following week to set up an appointment with Mr. Jordan. The process server was also told that Sunmaster was no longer in business. The process server requested authority to serve Anita Jordan, the Jordans' daughter who was working at Ladder's office. Ladder's location was the same as the former Sunmaster. The attorney responded that the only persons who could be properly served were Mr. or Mrs. Jordan, or possibly the office of the Secretary of State of California pursuant to California code provisions. He indicated that Anita Jordan was not authorized to accept service for Sunmaster. Nevertheless, at the
instruction of a process server in Washington state, the California process server went ahead and left the summons and complaint with Anita Jordan at the office of Ladder. She refused to sign for or accept service. Anita Jordan was employed by her parents at Sunmaster until the close of the sale of the company. She accepted employment as a receptionist for Ladder beginning April 7, 1986. At the time she was fully emancipated from her parents.
The Foxes appeal each order on summary judgment, one dismissing Ladder and the second dismissing Sunmaster from the action. For the reasons given below, we affirm the decision on each summary judgment.
Sunmaster Products, Inc.
Sufficiency of the Service of Process
The Foxes claim they complied with the statute and rules governing the service of process on a foreign corporation in a manner sufficient to confer jurisdiction. The Foxes claim the statute, RCW 4.28.080(10), provides that service of process on any agent or secretary of a foreign corporation is sufficient. Further, they claim Washington has adopted a type of "substantial compliance" test to determine sufficiency
of delivery of process, citing Reiner v. Pittsburg Des Moines Corp., 101 Wash. 2d 475, 680 P.2d 55 (1984). In Reiner, the Supreme Court upheld service on a foreign corporation where the process server determined that the house where he was delivering process was the usual abode of the registered agent and left process with the agent's
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