American Fidelity Assurance Co. v. Bank of New York Mellon , 810 F.3d 1234 ( 2016 )


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  •                                                                               FILED
    United States Court of Appeals
    PUBLISH                               Tenth Circuit
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS                    January 20, 2016
    Elisabeth A. Shumaker
    FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT                         Clerk of Court
    _________________________________
    AMERICAN FIDELITY ASSURANCE
    COMPANY,
    Plaintiff - Appellee,
    v.                                                      No. 15-6009
    THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON,
    Defendant - Appellant.
    _________________________________
    APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
    FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA
    (D.C. No. 5:11-CV-01284-D)
    _________________________________
    Charles A. Rothfeld, Mayer Brown, LLP, Washington, DC (Paul W. Hughes and James
    F. Tierney, Mayer Brown, LLP Washington, DC; and Matthew D. Ingber and
    Christopher J. Houpt, Mayer Brown, LLP, New York, New York, with him on the
    briefs), appearing for Appellant.
    Stuart W. Emmons (William B. Federman, on the brief), Federman & Sherwood,
    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, appearing for Appellee.
    _________________________________
    Before LUCERO, MATHESON, and PHILLIPS, Circuit Judges.
    _________________________________
    MATHESON, Circuit Judge.
    _________________________________
    American Fidelity Assurance Company (“American Fidelity”) sued the Bank of
    New York Mellon (“BNYM”) in the Western District of Oklahoma for claims arising
    from BNYM’s conduct as Trustee of a trust holding mortgage-backed securities owned
    by American Fidelity. BNYM did not assert a personal jurisdiction defense in its first
    two motions to dismiss or in its answer. In its third motion to dismiss, BNYM argued it
    was not subject to general jurisdiction in Oklahoma. The district court denied the motion,
    concluding BNYM had waived the defense by failing to raise it in prior filings. BNYM
    challenges that decision in an interlocutory appeal. Exercising jurisdiction under 28
    U.S.C. § 1292(b), we affirm.
    I. BACKGROUND
    A. Factual History
    Countrywide Financial Corporation and related entities (“Countrywide”) sold
    mortgage-backed securities (“Certificates”). BNYM, a commercial bank and securities
    services company, is chartered under New York law and its principal place of business is
    New York. Through Pooling and Service Agreements between Countrywide and
    BNYM, Countrywide created trusts to hold the Certificates for the benefit of the
    Certificate holders and appointed BNYM to administer the trusts as Trustee.
    American Fidelity, an insurance company, purchased Certificates from
    Countrywide. BNYM was therefore Trustee of the trusts holding American Fidelity’s
    securities.
    B. Procedural History
    American Fidelity sued BNYM, invoking diversity jurisdiction and alleging that
    BNYM breached contractual and fiduciary duties as Trustee.
    -2-
    In April 2012, BNYM moved to dismiss American Fidelity’s complaint for failure
    to state a claim. The district court granted BNYM’s motion, and American Fidelity filed
    an amended complaint. Shortly thereafter, American Fidelity filed a second amended
    complaint, which is the operative complaint for this appeal.
    In May 2013, BNYM moved to dismiss American Fidelity’s second amended
    complaint, arguing American Fidelity again failed to state a claim. The district court
    denied the motion. BNYM did not assert a personal jurisdiction defense in either of its
    pre-answer motions to dismiss.
    In January 2014, BNYM answered American Fidelity’s second amended
    complaint, and again did not assert a personal jurisdiction defense. Four days later, the
    Supreme Court decided Daimler AG v. Bauman, 
    134 S. Ct. 746
    (2014).
    The parties filed a joint status report and discovery plan in which BNYM stated it
    “may move to dismiss the case in light of recent Supreme Court decisions that limit the
    permissible scope of personal jurisdiction under the U.S. Constitution.” App. at 44.
    In March 2014, BNYM filed a third motion to dismiss, arguing for the first time
    that the court lacked personal jurisdiction over BNYM. BNYM contended the court
    lacked general jurisdiction based on Daimler, and also lacked specific jurisdiction
    because American Fidelity failed to allege sufficient contacts between BNYM and
    Oklahoma. Before the court ruled on the motion, the parties stipulated to the following
    jurisdictional facts:
    a.      BNYM has conducted corporate trust business or services for clients
    that are located in the State of Oklahoma;
    -3-
    b.      BNYM has conducted commercial indenture trust business for
    clients that are located in the State of Oklahoma;
    c.   BNYM has provided investment services for trusts, insurance
    companies, and/or banks that are located in the State of Oklahoma;
    d.      BNYM has provided commercial broker-dealer services for clients
    that are located in the State of Oklahoma;
    e.    BNYM has solicited business from municipal or state governmental
    organizations that are located in the State of Oklahoma; and
    f.    BNYM has provided investment services for municipal or state
    governmental organizations that are located in the State of Oklahoma.
    App. at 51-52.
    The district court denied the motion, concluding BNYM had waived any general
    jurisdiction defense under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(h). It explained that
    Daimler applied the standard previously articulated in Goodyear Dunlop Tires
    Operations, S.A. v. Brown, 
    131 S. Ct. 2846
    , 2851 (2011). BNYM was therefore not
    presenting a new defense that had been unavailable when it previously moved to dismiss
    American Fidelity’s original and second amended complaints and when it filed its
    answer. The court did not address BNYM’s arguments about specific jurisdiction
    because BNYM had waived its general jurisdiction defense, thereby allowing the court to
    exercise personal jurisdiction over BNYM.
    BNYM now seeks interlocutory review of the district court’s decision.
    II. APPELLATE JURISDICTION
    Although BNYM appeals the district court’s denial of its motion to dismiss—
    which typically is a non-final order—we have jurisdiction under the “two-tiered
    -4-
    arrangement,” Swint v. Chambers Cty. Comm’n, 
    514 U.S. 35
    , 47 (1995), described in 28
    U.S.C. § 1292(b).
    The district court denied BNYM’s third motion to dismiss on September 10, 2014,
    and certified that order for interlocutory appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) on December
    12, 2014. On December 22, 2014, BNYM timely requested approval from the Tenth
    Circuit to file an interlocutory appeal under § 1292(b). See 
    id. (authorizing court
    of
    appeals to hear interlocutory appeals certified by a district court if “application is made to
    [the circuit court] within ten days after the entry of the [certification] order”). The Tenth
    Circuit granted BNYM’s application. We therefore have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.
    § 1292(b).
    III. DISCUSSION
    BNYM argues its general jurisdiction defense was not available before Daimler
    was decided but was available afterwards because Daimler narrowed the basis for general
    jurisdiction. We disagree. BNYM’s general jurisdiction defense was available when it
    first responded to American Fidelity’s original and second amended complaints and when
    it filed its answer. By “available” we mean the standard it relies upon would have been
    the same if it had relied on it earlier. Put another way, the general jurisdiction standard
    BNYM asserts was the same before and after Daimler was decided, and it was therefore
    available to BNYM from the outset of the litigation.1
    1
    The district court did not decide, nor do we, whether the state courts in
    Oklahoma may exercise general jurisdiction over BNYM. We address only whether
    BNYM has waived its opportunity to contest general jurisdiction in this case.
    -5-
    Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(h)(1) provides that a party waives the defenses
    listed in Rule 12(b)(2)-(5), including lack of personal jurisdiction, Rule 12(b)(2), by
    failing to assert them in a responsive pleading or an earlier motion. Rule 12(g)(2) limits
    the waiver rule to defenses that were “available to the party but omitted from its earlier
    motion.” BNYM waived its personal jurisdiction defense if it was available when it
    moved to dismiss American Fidelity’s original and second amended complaints and when
    it filed its answer.
    Whether a party has waived a personal jurisdiction defense is a mixed question of
    law and fact. FDIC v. Oaklawn Apts., 
    959 F.2d 170
    , 173 (10th Cir. 1992). We review
    the district court’s legal conclusions de novo. 
    Id. Although we
    typically review the
    district court’s factual findings for clear error, 
    id., the parties
    do not contest any facts on
    appeal.
    Our discussion proceeds as follows. First, we explain the concept of general
    jurisdiction. Second, we identify the standard for general jurisdiction developed and
    applied in the Supreme Court and the Tenth Circuit before Daimler was decided. Third,
    we discuss the Daimler decision. Finally, we show that the general jurisdiction defense
    that BNYM raised and the district court rejected as waived was available to BNYM when
    it moved to dismiss American Fidelity’s original and second amended complaints and
    when it filed its answer. As a result, we agree with the district court that BNYM waived
    its general jurisdiction defense, and we affirm dismissal of this case.
    -6-
    A. General Jurisdiction
    Under the Fourteenth Amendment, “a State may authorize its courts to exercise
    personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant if the defendant has ‘certain
    minimum contacts with the State such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend
    traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.’” 
    Goodyear, 131 S. Ct. at 2853
    (quoting Int’l Shoe Co. v. Washington, 
    326 U.S. 310
    , 316 (1945)) (brackets omitted).
    Two personal jurisdiction categories emerged from this standard: general jurisdiction
    and specific jurisdiction. See OMI Holdings, Inc. v. Royal Ins. Co. of Can., 
    149 F.3d 1086
    , 1090-91 (10th Cir. 1998).
    A court exercises general jurisdiction when it asserts personal jurisdiction “over a
    defendant in a suit not arising out of or related to the defendant’s contacts with the
    forum.” Helicopteros Nacionales de Colombia, S.A. v. Hall, 
    466 U.S. 408
    , 414 n.9
    (1984) (emphasis added). “Where a court has general jurisdiction over a defendant, that
    defendant may be called into that court to answer for any alleged wrong, committed in
    any place, no matter how unrelated to the defendant’s contacts with the forum.” Abelesz
    v. OTP Bank, 
    692 F.3d 638
    , 654 (7th Cir. 2012) (quotations omitted).
    B. Pre-Daimler Precedent
    1. The Supreme Court and the Goodyear standard
    In Goodyear, the Supreme Court explained, “[a] court may assert general
    jurisdiction over foreign (sister-state or foreign-country) corporations to hear any and all
    claims against them when their affiliations with the State are so continuous and
    systematic as to render them essentially at home in the forum 
    State.” 131 S. Ct. at 2851
    -7-
    (quotations omitted). The Goodyear standard was not new; it summarized a long-
    standing jurisdictional rule. See, e.g., Int’l 
    Shoe, 326 U.S. at 318
    (“[T]here have been
    instances in which the continuous corporate operations within a state were thought so
    substantial and of such a nature as to justify suit against it on causes of action arising
    from dealings entirely distinct from those activities.”). Before Goodyear, the Supreme
    Court applied the general jurisdiction standard in two cases, finding a proper exercise of
    general jurisdiction in one and an improper exercise in the other.
    First, in Perkins v. Benguet Consolidated Mining Co., 
    342 U.S. 437
    (1952), the
    Supreme Court held an Ohio state court could properly exercise general jurisdiction over
    Benguet, a mining company incorporated in the Philippines. 
    Id. at 438,
    446. Benguet
    owned and operated mining properties in the Philippines and owned no mining properties
    in Ohio. 
    Id. at 447-48.
    Mining operations ceased during the Japanese occupation of the
    Philippines. 
    Id. at 447.
    During that time, Benguet’s president—who was also the company’s general
    manager and principal stockholder—temporarily moved to Ohio. 
    Id. at 447.
    He
    maintained an office in Ohio, where he stored company files and conducted company
    business. 
    Id. at 447-48.
    He corresponded about company business—including
    supervising the rehabilitation of the company’s properties in the Philippines—and drew
    and distributed salary checks from the office. 
    Id. at 448.
    He used two Ohio-based bank
    accounts for company funds and an Ohio bank as the transfer agent for company stock.
    
    Id. He also
    held several directors’ meetings at his home or office in Ohio. 
    Id. In short,
    the president supervised and managed Benguet from Ohio during the wartime occupation
    -8-
    of the company’s properties. 
    Id. The Court
    concluded these activities were sufficient to
    allow an Ohio court to assert general jurisdiction over the corporation without violating
    due process. 
    Id. Second, in
    Helicopteros, the Supreme Court held a foreign corporation’s activities
    in Texas were insufficient to allow Texas state courts to exercise general jurisdiction over
    the corporation. 
    Helicopteros, 466 U.S. at 418-19
    . Helicopteros was a Colombian
    corporation with its principal place of business in Bogotá. It provided helicopter
    transportation for oil and construction companies in South America. 
    Id. at 409.
    One of
    its helicopters crashed in Peru, killing four passengers who were employed by a Texas-
    based oil consortium involved in a Peruvian pipeline. 
    Id. at 409-10.
    The decedents’
    survivors and representatives attempted to sue the Colombian corporation in Texas state
    court. 
    Id. at 410,
    412.
    Helicopteros had no place of business in Texas and had never been licensed to do
    business in Texas. 
    Id. at 416.
    Its CEO once flew to Texas for contract negotiations with
    the consortium. 
    Id. at 410.
    But the contract was ultimately formalized in Peru, was
    written in Spanish on official Peruvian government stationery, indicated that all relevant
    parties would reside in Peru, provided that controversies arising from the contract would
    be submitted to Peruvian courts, and stipulated that payments under the contract would be
    made through Bank of America in New York City. 
    Id. at 410-11.
    Helicopteros did have some contacts with the forum. It purchased $4 million
    worth of helicopters and helicopter parts from a Texas supplier, sent prospective pilots to
    Texas for training and to retrieve the helicopters, and sent management and maintenance
    -9-
    personnel to Texas for training and consultation. 
    Id. at 411.
    Finally, it received $5
    million in payments from the consortium drawn on a Texas bank. 
    Id. The Supreme
    Court considered each of Helicopteros’s contacts with the forum
    state and concluded they were each too isolated and inconsequential to allow a Texas
    court to exercise general jurisdiction over the corporation. 
    Id. at 415-18
    & n.12.
    * * * *
    Against this backdrop, Goodyear held a North Carolina court could not exercise
    general jurisdiction over corporate defendants whose connections with the forum were
    based solely on their products reaching North Carolina through the stream of 
    commerce. 131 S. Ct. at 2851
    . The defendants were “indirect subsidiaries” of Goodyear USA (an
    Ohio corporation) and were not registered to do business in North Carolina. 
    Id. at 2852.
    They had no place of business, employees, or bank accounts in the state. 
    Id. They did
    not solicit business or directly ship products there. 
    Id. The defendants’
    products reached
    North Carolina only indirectly through Goodyear USA’s distribution process—the
    products were custom ordered by other Goodyear USA affiliates who distributed them in
    North Carolina. 
    Id. The Court
    concluded that general jurisdiction was not proper based
    solely on the defendants’ products being distributed to the forum state through the stream
    of commerce. 
    Id. at 2856.
    As noted above, Goodyear explained general jurisdiction is proper if a corporate
    defendant’s “affiliations with the State are so continuous and systematic as to render [it]
    essentially at home in the forum State.” 
    Id. at 2851
    (quotations omitted).
    - 10 -
    2. The Tenth Circuit
    The Tenth Circuit has addressed general jurisdiction in several cases, but BNYM
    focuses its arguments on Grynberg v. Ivanhoe Energy, Inc., 490 F. App’x 86 (10th Cir.
    2012) (unpublished), and Monge v. RG-Petro Machinery (Grp.) Co., 
    701 F.3d 598
    (10th
    Cir. 2012).
    In Grynberg, the Tenth Circuit considered whether the corporate defendant’s
    CEO—who was also an individually named defendant in the case—was subject to
    general jurisdiction in Colorado because he had been a litigant in Colorado courts on
    numerous occasions. 490 F. App’x at 93. The court first contrasted the facts in
    Grynberg with those supporting general jurisdiction in Perkins. 
    Id. at 95.
    It also
    concluded the individually named defendant’s litigation activities did not qualify as
    jurisdictional contacts. 
    Id. at 95-96.
    Consistent with Goodyear and yet-to-be-decided
    Daimler, the Grynberg court concluded the CEO defendant did not have continuous and
    systematic business contacts with Colorado, 
    id. at 96,
    and did not, therefore, have to
    decide whether the contacts rendered him effectively at home there.
    In Monge, the Tenth Circuit concluded the district court could not exercise general
    jurisdiction over a Chinese corporate defendant based on its contacts with 
    Oklahoma. 701 F.3d at 602
    , 620. The defendant did not have a physical presence in Oklahoma. 
    Id. at 620.
    It had sent a few emails to a business in Oklahoma, made a small number of sales
    to a single business there, and its representatives once visited the state for a few hours.
    
    Id. The court
    concluded these contacts with the forum were not “so continuous and
    - 11 -
    systematic as to render [it] essentially at home in the forum State.” 
    Id. (quoting Goodyear,
    131 S. Ct. at 2851).
    C. Daimler
    In 2014, the Supreme Court held in Daimler that a federal court in California did
    not have general jurisdiction over Daimler, a German 
    corporation. 134 S. Ct. at 751
    .
    Daimler had an Argentine subsidiary, MB Argentina. 
    Id. Daimler also
    had a separate
    subsidiary, DaimlerChrysler North America Holding Corporation, which had its own
    subsidiary, Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (“MBUSA”). 
    Id. at 752
    & n.3. MBUSA was
    incorporated in Delaware, and its principal place of business was in New Jersey. 
    Id. at 752
    . It had facilities in California, including a regional office, a vehicle preparation
    facility, and the Mercedes Benz Classic Center.2 
    Id. Plaintiffs sued
    Daimler in federal
    court in California and asserted claims arising from MB Argentina’s activities in
    Argentina. 
    Id. at 751.
    Plaintiffs asserted Daimler was subject to general jurisdiction in
    California based on MBUSA’s contacts with the state. 
    Id. The Court
    assumed for purposes of its decision that MBUSA was “at home” in
    California, 
    id. at 758,
    but nonetheless concluded Daimler was not, even if MBUSA’s
    California contacts were imputed to Daimler, 
    id. at 760.
    The Court, invoking Goodyear,
    said: “the inquiry under Goodyear is not whether a foreign corporation’s in-forum
    2
    The Classic Center is a facility offering a variety of services for enthusiasts,
    including workshops, parts, sales, and an events hall. See Mercedes-Benz, Classic
    Center, http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/enthusiast/classic_center (last accessed Dec.
    16, 2015).
    - 12 -
    contacts can be said to be in some sense ‘continuous and systematic,’ it is whether that
    corporation’s ‘affiliations with the State are so continuous and systematic as to render it
    essentially at home in the forum state.’” 
    Id. at 761
    (quoting 
    Goodyear, 131 S. Ct. at 2851
    ) (brackets omitted). The Court’s application of the Goodyear “at home” standard
    was brief:
    Here, neither Daimler nor MBUSA is incorporated in California, nor does
    either entity have its principal place of business there. If Daimler’s
    California activities sufficed to allow adjudication of this Argentina-rooted
    case in California, the same global reach would presumably be available in
    every other State in which MBUSA’s sales are sizable. Such exorbitant
    exercises of all-purpose jurisdiction would scarcely permit out-of-state
    defendants “to structure their primary conduct with some minimum
    assurances as to where that conduct will and will not render them liable to
    suit.”
    
    Id. at 761
    -62 (quoting Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 
    471 U.S. 462
    , 472 (1985)).
    The Court, explaining Goodyear, stated that “[g]eneral jurisdiction . . . calls for an
    appraisal of a corporation’s activities in their entirety, nationwide and worldwide. A
    corporation that operates in many places can scarcely be deemed at home in all of them.”
    
    Id. at 762
    n.20. Consequently, when determining where a corporation can be deemed “at
    home” when it has significant contacts in many fora, Daimler suggested the place of
    incorporation and principal place of business are particularly, though not solely,
    important.
    D. BNYM Waived its Personal Jurisdiction Defense
    BNYM argues that it is not subject to general jurisdiction in Oklahoma “[b]ecause
    Oklahoma is not BNYM’s place of incorporation or principal place of business—and
    because there are no ‘exceptional’ circumstances that would warrant a departure from the
    - 13 -
    governing rule.” Aplt. Br. at 10. Not only was this argument available to BNYM when it
    moved to dismiss and filed its answer, it misreads and truncates both Daimler and Tenth
    Circuit precedent.
    1. Waiver and Daimler
    BNYM argues Daimler limited general jurisdiction to a corporation’s state of
    incorporation or principal place of business, except in exceptional circumstances not
    present in this case. 
    Id. at 12-21.
    Daimler, like Goodyear, did not limit general
    jurisdiction in this manner. Moreover, Daimler rejected BNYM’s notion, 
    id. at 14,
    that
    Goodyear required only that “a corporation engages in a substantial, continuous, and
    systematic course of business [in the forum].” 
    Daimler, 134 S. Ct. at 761
    (quotations
    omitted).
    Instead, Daimler reaffirmed the Goodyear standard: general jurisdiction is proper
    when a “corporation’s affiliations with the state are so continuous and systematic as to
    render them at home in the forum state.” 
    Id. (quoting Goodyear,
    564 U.S. at 2851)
    (emphasis added). BNYM ignores the “at home” part of the Daimler/Goodyear standard.
    BNYM waived its defense based on Daimler because the same defense was
    available to BNYM when it filed its motions to dismiss and its answer. This is so
    because Daimler reaffirmed and applied Goodyear, and the defense was available under
    Goodyear.
    2. Waiver and Tenth Circuit Cases
    BNYM also contends its general jurisdiction argument was not available until
    Daimler because this court in Grynberg and Monge interpreted Goodyear to permit
    - 14 -
    general jurisdiction so long as a corporation had continuous and systematic contacts with
    the forum state. Aplt. Br. at 30. We did no such thing. This court has not permitted, and
    could not permit under Goodyear, general jurisdiction based only on continuous and
    systematic contacts with the forum. The fundamental flaw in BNYM’s argument is its
    failure to recognize that Grynberg and Monge denied general jurisdiction.
    Once again, in attempting to restate our precedent, BNYM ignores the “at home”
    part of the Tenth Circuit/Goodyear standard. Monge stated that general jurisdiction is
    proper only when the defendant’s contacts with the forum state are (1) continuous and
    systematic and (2) sufficient to render it at home there, and concluded the defendant’s
    contacts did not satisfy this 
    standard. 701 F.3d at 620
    . Grynberg determined the
    defendant’s contacts were not continuous and systematic, 490 F. App’x at 96, obviating
    the need to address whether they were sufficient to render the defendant at home in the
    forum. Indeed, this court has repeatedly denied general jurisdiction based on the
    Goodyear standard.3 Grynberg and Monge both applied Goodyear and are consistent
    3
    In addition to Grynberg and Monge, the Tenth Circuit addressed and rejected
    general jurisdiction four other times since Goodyear. See Weldon v. Ramstad-Hvass, 512
    F. App’x 783, 788 (10th Cir. 2013) (unpublished) (holding a contract between Wyoming
    and Minnesota under which Wyoming prisoners would be housed in a facility in
    Minnesota was insufficient to create general jurisdiction over Minnesota prison officials);
    Fireman’s Fund Ins. Co. v. Thyssen Mining Constr. of Can., Ltd., 
    703 F.3d 488
    , 493-94
    (10th Cir. 2012) (holding district court could not assert general jurisdiction over a foreign
    corporation based on the managing director’s residence in the state, under an agency
    theory); Shrader v. Beann, 503 F. App’x 650, 653-54 (10th Cir. 2012) (unpublished)
    (reaffirming holding—from previous appeal in the same suit—that the district court could
    not assert general jurisdiction over a website that had no intrinsic connection to the forum
    state and that did not conduct business with forum residents in such a sustained manner
    that it was tantamount to physical presence in the forum); Beyer v. Camex Equip. Sales &
    Continued . . .
    - 15 -
    with Daimler. Neither case established Tenth Circuit precedent preventing BNYM from
    raising its general jurisdiction defense because both employed the same standard that the
    Supreme Court reaffirmed and applied in Daimler.4
    *      *       *
    BNYM’s general jurisdiction defense was available when it previously moved to
    dismiss American Fidelity’s original and second amended complaints and when it filed
    its answer because the defense could be asserted to the same extent under Goodyear as it
    could be asserted under Daimler.5 The defense is therefore waived under Rule 12(h).
    Rentals, Inc., 465 F. App’x 817, 818 (10th Cir. 2012) (unpublished) (holding district
    court in Colorado could not assert general jurisdiction over Canadian manufacturer after
    its truck was purchased by a Wyoming corporation and used by a Wyoming resident to
    perform work in Colorado when the truck failed and caused injuries, and the Canadian
    corporation lacked continuous and systematic business contacts with Colorado).
    4
    BNYM’s reliance on Gucci America, Inc. v. Weixing Li, 
    768 F.3d 122
    (2d Cir.
    2014), is misplaced. In that case, the Second Circuit determined that a general
    jurisdiction defense had not been waived because the circuit’s pre-Daimler precedent did
    not allow the defense and Daimler did. 
    Id. at 135-36.
    By contrast, as explained above,
    the Tenth Circuit’s pre-Daimler precedent would have allowed BNYM’s defense to the
    same extent Daimler would.
    5
    Concurring in the judgment, Justice Sotomayor described the majority’s
    assessment of a corporate defendant’s contacts as a “proportionality inquiry” made in
    light of the corporation’s “nationwide and worldwide” activities. 
    Daimler, 134 S. Ct. at 770
    (Sotomayor, J., concurring). She critiqued the majority’s analysis and characterized
    the proportionality inquiry as a “new rule” requiring that “for a foreign defendant to be
    subject to general jurisdiction, it must not only possess continuous and systematic
    contacts with a forum State, but those contacts must surpass some unspecified level when
    viewed in comparison to the company’s nationwide and worldwide activities.” 
    Id. (quotations omitted).
    BNYM does not assert an argument based on anything Daimler
    may have added to Goodyear’s general jurisdiction test. Even if Justice Sotomayor’s
    concurring view of what she calls Daimler’s “proportionality inquiry” were a correct
    Continued . . .
    - 16 -
    IV. CONCLUSION
    We affirm the district court’s decision denying BNYM’s motion to dismiss.6
    reading of Daimler’s majority opinion, 
    id., BNYM does
    not challenge general
    jurisdiction based on it.
    6
    Having concluded BNYM waived its defense as to general jurisdiction, thereby
    permitting the district court to exercise personal jurisdiction over BNYM, we need not
    consider whether the court could also exercise specific jurisdiction over BNYM.
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