DocketNumber: No. CV 97-0398306
Citation Numbers: 1999 Conn. Super. Ct. 9416
Judges: SILBERT, JUDGE.
Filed Date: 7/15/1999
Status: Non-Precedential
Modified Date: 4/17/2021
In June of 1997, Bitter End International filed a motion to dismiss based on forum non conveniens which was ultimately denied by the court, Zoarski, J., in July of 1998. In support of that motion to dismiss, Bitter End International filed the affidavit of one Jonathan Strauss, setting forth detailed information concerning the corporate structure of the companies involved, as well as his professional responsibilities with respect to the CT Page 9417 companies.
According to the Strauss affidavit, Bitter End International is an Illinois corporation with offices in Illinois and Connecticut. It is owned by two parent companies, each holding a fifty-percent interest in the corporation. These companies are Century America Corporation, an Illinois corporation, of which Jonathan Strauss is Vice President and General Counsel, and West Indian Development Company, Ltd., a British Virgin Islands corporation. Bitter End International was the original defendant in this action. Jonathan Strauss's professional responsibilities include providing legal advice to "the Bitter End Yacht Club, [BVI]." The affidavit further revealed that The Bitter End Yacht Club, BVI, which had served the allegedly contaminated fish, was fully owned by Gorda Estates Limited, a corporation existing under the laws of the British Virgin Islands and which does not have any offices in the United States.
In November of 1998, after the Strauss affidavit was filed, the plaintiffs successfully moved to cite in "Gorda Estates Limited, d/b/a The Bitter End Yacht Club, [BVI]," as an additional defendant and then amended their complaint against both Bitter End International and "Gorda Estates Limited, d/b/a The Bitter End Yacht Club, [BVI]," alleging claims of negligence and product liability identical to those found in the original complaint. Gorda Estates Limited filed an appearance and has now moved to dismiss the complaint against it based on a claimed lack of personal jurisdiction.
Connecticut General Statutes §
The requirements of §
As previously established, however, Gorda Estates Limited is a completely separate entity from Bitter End International, and for that matter, from Bitter End International's parent corporations, Century America Corporation and West Indian Development Company, Ltd. The only apparent organizational connection between Gorda Estates Limited and Bitter End International/Century America Corporation/West Indian Development Company Ltd., is the fact that Jonathan Strauss provides legal advice to The Bitter End Yacht Club, BVI. This acceptance of legal advice is an insufficient basis for finding that Connecticut courts may exercise personal jurisdiction over Gorda Estates Limited, a foreign corporation, which does not have any business ties to this state for purposes of General Statutes §
Accordingly, Gorda Estates Limited's motion to dismiss is granted.
Jonathan E. Silbert, Judge