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Gridley v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.11/17/2005
Docket No. 94144-Agenda 13-January 2003.
Plaintiff, Christopher Gridley, filed a class action complaint in the circuit court of Madison County on behalf of himself and a proposed nationwide class against defendant, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm). Gridley's complaint alleged unjust enrichment and violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (Consumer Fraud Act) (815 ILCS 505/1 et seq. (West 2000)) in connection with State Farm's sale of salvage vehicles.
State Farm moved to dismiss the complaint based upon the doctrine of forum non conveniens (134 Ill. 2d R. 187), arguing that Louisiana and not Illinois was the most convenient forum. Alternatively, State Farm moved to transfer the cause from Madison County to McLean County, State Farm's principal place of business. The circuit court denied State Farm's motions. State Farm appealed the circuit court's order pursuant to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 306(a) (166 Ill. 2d R. 306(a)). The appellate court remanded the cause for entry of a detailed discovery order that would produce information relevant to the issues raised in the forum non conveniens motions. 329 Ill. App. 3d 422. This court allowed State Farm's petition for leave to appeal. 177 Ill. 2d R. 315(a). We also granted the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association leave to submit an amicus curiae brief in support of plaintiff. See 155 Ill. 2d R. 345. We granted Allegiance Healthcare Corporation, Allstate Insurance Company, Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Caterpiller, Inc., Country Mutual Insurance Company, Sears Roebuck and Company, and Walgreen Company leave to submit an amicus curiae brief in support of defendant. We also granted leave to submit amicus curiae briefs in support of defendant to the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, the Product Liability Advisory Council, Inc., and the American Insurance Association. We now reverse the judgments of the circuit and appellate courts and remand the cause to the circuit court for entry of an order granting State Farm's motion to dismiss based upon forum non conveniens.
BACKGROUND
Gridley, a resident of Louisiana, filed suit as representative of a class of "all persons in the United States who purchased an automobile which was previously declared a `total loss' by State Farm, and for which State Farm failed to obtain a salvage title." Gridley alleged that State Farm had a practice of obtaining "clean" titles on vehicles that it had previously declared "total losses" and that it marketed those vehicles at automobile auctions with clean titles. Gridley alleged that State Farm's practice violated the Consumer Fraud Act because State Farm was required by state titling laws to obtain "salvage" titles on the vehicles of Gridley and the other class members but instead obtained clean titles and marketed the vehicles at auction at higher prices. State Farm concealed from Gridley and the other class members that it had previously declared the vehicles total losses. State Farm violated state law by putting those vehicles back into the chain of commerce with clean titles rather than salvage titles. Gridley also alleged that State Farm was unjustly enriched by the excess monies it received for the sale of clean titled vehicles which should have been salvage titled vehicles.
State Farm moved to dismiss the class action complaint or, in the alternative, to transfer venue pursuant to the doctrine of forum non conveniens. State Farm argued that Illinois was not the most convenient forum because Gridley, the only named plaintiff, was a resident of Louisiana, the events giving rise to the complaint were alleged to have occurred in Louisiana, and
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