Title: Hedges v. Western Auto Supply Co., Inc.

State: vermont

Issuer: Vermont Supreme Court

Document:

ENTRY_ORDER.92-505; 161 Vt. 614; 640 A.2d 536

[Filed 13-Jan-1994]

                                 ENTRY ORDER

                       SUPREME COURT DOCKET NO. 92-505

                             DECEMBER TERM, 1993


 Deane and Raylene Hedges          }          APPEALED FROM:
                                   }
      v.                           }
                                   }          Washington Superior Court
 Western Auto Supply Co., Inc.,    }
 Petrolane Gas Service, Inc.,      }
 June S. Warren, and Armstrong     }
 Products Co.                      }          DOCKET NOS. S221-89 WnC
                                   }                      S473-91 WnC
 and                               }
                                   }
 Western Auto Supply Co., Inc.     }
                                   }
      v.                           }
                                   }
 A.J. Industries, Inc.             }


              In the above entitled cause the Clerk will enter:

      The sole issue before us in this interlocutory appeal is whether
 defendant A.J. Industries has sufficient contacts with Vermont to support
 personal jurisdiction here under the Due Process Clause of the United States
 Constitution.  We affirm the superior court's decision upholding Vermont's
 jurisdiction.

      Armstrong Products, a manufacturer from West Virginia, merged in 1969
 with A.J. Industries, a Delaware corporation doing business principally in
 California.  In 1971, Armstrong became a division of A.J.  A.J. transferred
 Armstrong Division to Armstrong Products, a Delaware corporation, which in
 1984 went out of business.  For convenience, we refer to Armstrong and A.J.
 interchangeably.

      In 1967, Armstrong manufactured "Wizard" space heaters, one of which
 was alleged by plaintiffs to have been defective.  As a result, plaintiff
 Deane Hedges was injured when it tipped over, causing an explosion where he
 was working near Berlin, Vermont, in the summer of 1988.  Armstrong sold
 the space heaters to Western Auto, which, in turn, distributed them nation-
 ally, including in Vermont.  Although the line of heaters in question was
 designed primarily for a southern market, there were no geographical
 restrictions on their distribution.  The record does not disclose how Hedges
 came into possession of the unit injuring him.

      Armstrong moved to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction on the
 grounds that it was not actively conducting business in Vermont and was not
 licensed or registered to do business here.  V.R.C.P. 12(b)(2).  The

 

 superior court denied the motion, and we granted Armstrong permission to
 appeal.

      The law applicable to this appeal is extensively set forth in Northern
 Aircraft, Inc. v. Reed, 154 Vt. 36, 40-44, 572 A.2d 1382, 1385-87 (1990),
 and need not be repeated here.  We agree with the trial court that Armstrong
 "purposely availed" itself of Vermont's market by selling its heaters to a
 well-known national distributorship which does business in Vermont.

      Armstrong argues that no evidence shows that the heater in question or
 any of its heaters were sold in Vermont.  It may be presumed, however, that
 once a national distributor markets its products, the market is national,
 and includes Vermont.  No evidence to the contrary was introduced by
 Armstrong.  Charles Gendler & Co. v. Telecom Equipment Corp.,