HOECHST GROUP D/B/A HOECHST CELANESE GROUP, APPELLANT,
v.
ROBERT LOZANO, ETC., ET AL., APPELLEES
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HNA Holding, Inc. (formerly Hoechst Group) appealed the denial of its motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in a negligence suit filed by Robert Lozano in Florida state court for injuries sustained in South Carolina. The court reversed, holding that HNA lacked sufficient contacts with Florida to establish either specific or general jurisdiction.
HNA Holding, Inc. lacks sufficient contacts with Florida for either specific or general jurisdiction. The stream of commerce argument fails because Hoechst Celanese, not HNA, placed products in Florida's stream of commerce, and HNA's claims arose from tortious conduct in South Carolina, not contractual performance in Florida. General jurisdiction cannot be established because the substantial in-state activities relied upon were those of HNA's subsidiaries, and subsidiary activities cannot be imputed to a parent corporation for long-arm jurisdiction purposes.
[1] A parent corporation's contacts with a state are not imputed to its subsidiaries for the purpose of establishing personal jurisdiction over the parent.
[2] A plaintiff's claims arising from tortious conduct in another state cannot establish specific personal jurisdiction in Florida based on a contract that did not require pe…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The activities of a subsidiary cannot be imputed to the parent corporation for purposes of subjecting the latter to long-arm jurisdiction in this state.”
Establishes the critical holding that general jurisdiction cannot be based on subsidiary activities, rejecting Lozano's argument for general jurisdiction.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRobert Lozano was injured when he fell through the roof of a vacant commercial building in South Carolina while inspecting it for asbestos removal wor…
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FLETCHER, Judge.
HNA Holding, Inc. (formerly known as Hoechst Group d/b/a Hoechst Celanese Corp.) appeals from the denial of a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. For the reasons which follow, we reverse.
While inspecting a vacant commercial building located in South Carolina in preparation for submitting a bid for the work of removing asbestos from the site, Robert Lozano fell through the roof and was injured. He subsequently filed suit in the circuit court of Miami-Dade County against several entities, including appellant, seeking damages for his injuries and alleging negligence and failure to warn of a dangerous condition. HNA, which is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in New Jersey, challenged the court’s jurisdiction. Prior to the subject accident, the Hoechst Group underwent a corporate reorganization whereby it divested itself of all Hoechst Celanese Corp. business, including ownership of the building in question, and became the holding company HNA which has no direct ties with Florida although it does have subsidiaries in Florida. The building where the accident occurred was sold to Florida-based C.I.C.C. Associates Limited Partnership (CICC), subject to an easement and a shared employee agreement for limited purposes, including that of environmental remediation.
In support of the trial court’s ruling, Lozano first argues that HNA’s contacts with Florida are sufficient to give the lower court specific jurisdiction under Florida’s long arm statute, section 48.193(1), Florida Statutes (1999). Lozano specifically points to the fact that Hoechst Celanese places its products in the stream of commerce in every state, including Florida, and that it had a contractual arrangement with CICC, which took place in Florida and directly related to the accident. With regard to the stream of commerce argument, however, Lozano fails to take into consideration that the entity placing products into the stream of commerce was Hoechst Celanese, which no longer exists, and not HNA. In addition, Lozano’s claims against HNA arise from allegedly tortious conduct in South Carolina and not on any failure to perform acts required by a contract in this state.
Notwithstanding the reorganization and sale of the property prior to the accident, Lozano alternatively contends that HNA’s contacts with Florida constitute sufficient support for general jurisdiction, under section 48.193(2), Florida Statutes (1999), which subjects a defendant who engages in substantial and not isolated activities within the state to its jurisdiction whether or not the claim arises from that activity. However, the post-reorganization and post-sale activities relied upon by appellee to satisfy the requirements for general jurisdiction are those of HNA’s subsidiaries. The activities of a subsidiary cannot be imputed to the parent corporation for purposes of subjecting the latter to long-arm jurisdiction in this state. See Walt Disney Co. v. Nelson, 677 So. 2d 400 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996); Qualley v. International Air Serv. Co., Ltd., 595 So. 2d 194 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992).
Reversed and remanded.
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Almond v. Coloplast A/S (M.D. Fla. 2021)…idiary of Coloplast A/S does not support jurisdiction over Coloplast A/S. “The activities of a subsidiary cannot be imputed to the parent corporation for purposes of subjecting the latter to long-arm jurisdiction” in Florida. Hoescht Grp. v. Lozano, 813 So. 2d 180, 181 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002); see also State v. Am. Tobacco Co., 707 So. 2d 851, 854 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998) (holding that the parent-subsidiary relationship “is insufficient to form a basis for the assertion of personal jurisdiction” over the subsidiary’s p…
Authorities Cited
- Qualley v. Int'l AIR Serv. Co., Ltd., 595 So. 2d 194 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)
- The Walt Disney Co. v. Nelson, 677 So. 2d 400 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996)