Recently, a resident of Massachusetts, Sally Watson, was injured in her condominium by a defective window, which shattered spontaneously while being opened by Sally in a proper manner. The window was manufactured in England by Royalty Panes, a British company, and was imported and sold by an American company, United Glass. United is incorporated in Delaware and has its principal place of business in New York. This particular window was part of a shipment of similar windows sold by United to a local contractor based in Rhode Island. This is the only construction that Rhode Island Builders has done in Massachusetts.
Royalty does some advertizing in the United States, primarily in very specialized trade journals.
United Glass does most of its business on the East coast, with fairly extensive advertizing in those areas it serves. Ms. Watson has contacted an attorney, and would like to sue Royalty, Rhode Island Builders, and United Glass in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts for negligence and strict liability. In the sales contract between Royalty and United, there is a provision that Royalty will indemnify United for any injuries resulting from a defective Royalty product, but that any disputes between Royalty and United must be litigated in the High Court of London. It appears that Royalty will indeed try to avoid any indemnification in this case, because of financial problems. Further complicating the problem is that the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts will give this case the full discovery, etc., allowed under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, while if this case were filed in Massachusetts state court, it would be subject to limited discovery and mandatory arbitration or mediation.