PK COMPUTERS, INC., APPELLANT,
v.
INDEPENDENT TRAVEL AGENCIES OF AMERICA, INC., AND KURT HARNISHFAGER, JOINTLY AND SEVERALLY, APPELLEES
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PK Computers, a New York corporation, appeals the denial of its motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. The Florida appellate court reversed, holding that the complaint failed to allege sufficient facts to invoke Florida's long-arm statute.
The court reversed the trial court's denial of the motion to dismiss, holding that the complaint failed to meet the requirements of Florida's long-arm statute under both subsection (g) (breaching a contract in Florida) and subsection (b) (committing a tortious act in Florida) because it did not allege that breach-related acts or tortious acts were committed within Florida.
[1] A court must first determine whether sufficient facts have been alleged to bring the action within the ambit of Florida's long-arm statute, and if so, then determine whet…
[2] Failure to pay a contractual debt where payment is due to be made in Florida is sufficient to satisfy Florida's long-arm provision for breaching a contract in the state.
Previewing 2 of 6 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Under Venetian Salami Co. v. Parthenais, 554 So.2d 499 (Fla.1989), both long arm jurisdiction and minimum contacts must be demonstrated before personal jurisdiction is established.”
Establishes the two-prong test required to establish personal jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePK Computers, Inc. is a New York corporation with no Florida offices. Independent Travel Agencies of America and Kurt Harnishfager filed suit alleging…
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POLEN, J.
PK Computers, Inc. appeals a non-final order of the trial court denying its motion to dismiss appellees’ complaint on the grounds of lack of personal jurisdiction. We have jurisdiction to determine this non-final appeal pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.130(a)(3)(C)(i). We reverse.1
Appellant is a New York corporation, with no offices located in the state of Florida. The grounds stated in appellees’ complaint upon which they sought to impose long arm jurisdiction was that appellant entered into a contract in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and later breached that contract. (It does not allege whether the breaches occurred in Florida.) We note that Counts II through VI of appellees’ complaint are devoid of allegations that would bring appellant under the jurisdiction of Florida’s courts.
Under Venetian Salami Co. v. Parthenais, 554 So. 2d 499 (Fla.1989), both long arm jurisdiction and minimum contacts must be demonstrated before personal jurisdiction is established. Appellant’s motion to dismiss initially challenged whether the complaint contained sufficient allegations to invoke Florida’s long arm statute, section 48.193 (Fla.1993).
Section 48.193 provides that Florida courts have long arm jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant under the following provisions relevant to this case:
(b) Committing a tortious act within this state.
(g) Breaching a contract in this state by failing to perform acts required by the contract to be performed in this state.
The complaint below is insufficient to meet the requirements of subsection (g) because it does not allege that any of the acts alleged to constitute breaches of the contract between the parties were to be performed within the state of Florida. The allegation is merely that the appellant breached its obligation under the contract to deliver working computer equipment to 60 of the 6,000 agencies “located throughout the United States.”
Nor is the complaint legally sufficient to demonstrate long arm jurisdiction under subsection (b), because it fails to allege that the tortious acts that form the basis for Counts II, IV and VI were committed within the state. Each of these tort claims (fraud, tortious interference and slander) stems from the alleged communication of oral statements or misstatements by the appellant. The complaint does not state either that the statements were made in the state or that they were directed at listeners who were located in the state.
Since the long arm allegations prong of the Venetian Salami test has not been met, we need not consider the minimum contacts aspect. The trial court erred in denying appellant’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.
On remand, and on proper motion by the appellees, the order granting appellant’s motion to dismiss should be without prejudice to appellees’ amending the complaint, if they can, to assert proper allegations to support personal jurisdiction over appellant.
GLICKSTEIN and FARMER, JJ., concur. . Appellees have not filed a brief in this appeal. While the failure to file an answer brief does not constitute a "default,” nor a concession of error, such failure makes our task more difficult in determining the merit, vel non, of appellant's position. If appellees do not contest it, one sentence to that effect would reduce our judicial labors considerably.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (11 total)
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Wiggins v. Tigrent, Inc., 147 So. 3d 76 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014)…998) (holding that the making of defamatory statements to a listener in Florida via telephone constitutes the commission of a tort in Florida within the meaning of section 48.193(l)(b)); cf. PK Computers, Inc. v. Indep. Travel Agencies of Am., Inc., 656 So. 2d 254, 255 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995) (holding that a complaint alleging fraud, tor-tious interference, and slander failed to meet the requirements of Florida’s long-arm statute because it did not state that the allegedly tortious statements were made in Florida…
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Stonepeak P'rs, LP v. Tall Tower Cap., LLC, 231 So. 3d 548 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017)…t “involves some sort of communication directed into Florida for purpose of fraud, slander, or other intentional tort.” Wiggins v. Tigrent, Inc., 147 So. 3d 76, 86 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014); see also PK Comput., Inc. v. Indep. Travel Agencies of Am., Inc., 656 So. 2d 254, 255 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995) (stating that the complaint contained insuffi [*555] cient allegations of tortious interference committed in Florida when the complaint alleged that the defendant made oral statements or misstatements but did not allege that…
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Metnick & Levy, P.A. v. Seuling, 123 So. 3d 639 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013)…lorida corporation failed to establish long-arm jurisdiction where it did not allege “that the business relationships with which [the defendant] allegedly interfered were based in Florida”); PK Computers, Inc. v. Indep. Travel Agencies of Am., Inc., 656 So. 2d 254, 255 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995) (recognizing that for there to be jurisdiction over a tortious interference claim under section 48.193(b), the interference must occur within the state or arise from oral statements directed at listeners within the state); H…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Venetian Salami Co. v. J.S. Parthenais, 554 So. 2d 499 (Fla. 1989)