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B.C.S. v. Wise8/5/2005
B.C.S., S.r.l (BCS), an Italian corporation, appeals from a non-final order in which the lower court determined that Florida had personal jurisdiction over it, after it was sued by Mary E. Wise in a personal injury action. We reverse and remand because we find that the record below was not sufficiently developed for the lower court, or this court, to make a determination on the issue of whether sufficient minimum contacts existed to satisfy due process requirements for personal jurisdiction, as outlined in Asahi Metal Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Superior Court of California, Solano County, 480 U.S. 102 (1987).
Mary Wise (Wise), the plaintiff below, asserted personal jurisdiction over BCS after she was seriously injured in a boating accident, while a passenger in a boat owned and operated by Wayne Taylor (Taylor). Wise's second amended complaint claims that BCS manufactured a hydraulic system installed in the outboard motor of Taylor's boat, and that the system malfunctioned causing Taylor to lose control of the boat. The loss of control resulted in an accident which seriously injured Wise and killed Taylor.
BCS is an Italian corporation engaged in the manufacture of hydraulic systems for boats. It maintains no offices or personnel anywhere in the United States. In 1988, Ultraflex, another Italian corporation, approached BCS about the possibility of BCS partnering with it to create a new line of products. As a result, Ultraflex and BCS entered into an agreement in 1989 to create the new product line and called it Hydraflex. BCS manufactured the Hydraflex products and Ultraflex was solely responsible for the marketing and distribution of the line.
Ultraflex formed two corporations to market and distribute the Hydraflex products: Uflex, and Uflex U.S.A. Hydraflex sold its products to Uflex, and Uflex sold these products to Uflex U.S.A.
In 1994, at the demand of Ultraflex, BCS obtained product liability insurance which covered products sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico, from an Italian insurance company. The insurance policy is written in Italian and has not been translated.
In January of 1997, Ta ylor went to Dennis Distributors, Inc. (Dennis Distributors), a Florida corporation, to purchase a hydraulic steering system for his boat. Taylor looked through a Uflex USA catalog and selected the Hydraflex steering system. In February of 1997, Dennis Distributors purchased three Hydraflex units from Uflex U.S.A., one of which was the steering system purchased by Taylor and involved in the accident which is the subject of this dispute. The steering system was delivered to Dennis Distributors in March of 1997 and Taylor purchased it from them at that time. The unit came with an English Installation Manual, and Taylor personally installed the product on his boat.
Wise brought suit against all parties believed to be in the chain of distribution, including Uflex, Ultraflex, Hydraflex and BCS. All four defendants raised the issue of personal jurisdiction in motions to dismiss. Hydraflex was dismissed with prejudice by agreement, primarily because it was a "shell" corporation and in 2002 it went into liquidation. Ultraflex was dismissed without prejudice by agreement. Uflex conceded to personal jurisdiction by agreement.
In keeping with the dictates of Wendt v. Horowitz, 822 So. 2d 1252, 1256 (Fla. 2002), in July of 2003, the lower court held a hearing on BCS's motion to dismiss to determine whether Florida had personal jurisdiction over BCS under the long-arm statute. In ruling on a motion to dismiss, Wendt first requires that the trial court determine whether a complaint alleges sufficient facts to bring it within the ambit of section
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