Title: Aetna Life & Cas. Co. v. Therm-O-Disc, Inc.
Citation: 511 So. 2d 992
Docket Number: 68933
State: Florida
Issuer: Florida Supreme Court
Date: September 10, 1987

511 So. 2d 992 (1987)
AETNA LIFE &amp; CASUALTY COMPANY, Etc., Petitioner,
v.
THERM-O-DISC, INC., Respondent.
No. 68933.

Supreme Court of Florida.
September 10, 1987.
Harris Brown and Robert B. Guild, of Mathews, Osborne, McNatt, Gobelman &amp; Cobb, Jacksonville, for petitioner.
Daniel C. Shaughnessy, of Coker, Myers &amp; Schickel, P.A., Jacksonville, for respondent.
GRIMES, Justice.
We review Aetna Life &amp; Casualty Company v. Therm-O-Disc, Inc., 488 So. 2d 83 *993 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986), because of its conflict with Yale Industrial Products, Inc. v. Gulfstream Galvanizing &amp; Finishing, Inc., 481 So. 2d 1304 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986). Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const.
Therm-O-Disc, a foreign corporation having a principal place of business in Ohio, manufactures a type of switch which was purchased by Energy Conservation Unlimited (ECU), a Florida corporation. The switches were shipped from Ohio to ECU's office in Florida and incorporated by ECU into its heat transfer units for the purpose of protecting them from freezing during cold weather. Some of the heat transfer units were later installed in military base housing units in Georgia and South Carolina. During the winter of 1981-82, the switches in these units allegedly failed to activate, thereby permitting the water within the units to freeze and cause substantial damage. Aetna Life and Casualty Company (Aetna), as the insurer of ECU, reimbursed the United States government and thereby became subrogated to ECU's rights against Therm-O-Disc.
Aetna sued Therm-O-Disc for damages in separate counts of negligence, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty of merchantability, breach of implied warranty of fitness for particular purpose, and strict liability. Aetna sought to obtain jurisdiction over Therm-O-Disc by virtue of Florida's long-arm statute, section 48.193, Florida Statutes (1981). The trial court dismissed the complaint for lack of jurisdiction. While agreeing in part with the trial court, the First District Court of Appeal reversed and remanded for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether jurisdiction could be obtained under section 48.193(1)(g). Aetna was dissatisfied with this decision and petitioned this Court for review of the district court's analysis that jurisdiction could not be obtained under section 48.193(1)(f).
Aetna contended that Therm-O-Disc was subject to jurisdiction under one or more of three subsections of the long-arm statute.
The district court of appeal held subsections (1)(a) and (1)(f) to be inapplicable but remanded for an evidentiary hearing to determine the applicability of subsection (1)(g). Based on conflict with Yale, Aetna obtained review in this Court on the question of whether it could obtain jurisdiction over Therm-O-Disc under subsection (1)(f). Succinctly stated, the point before us is whether subsection (1)(f) permits jurisdiction to be obtained over nonresidents for acts arising outside the state which cause financial injury within the state when no personal injury or physical property damage has occurred.
In Yale, a Florida corporation purchased a hoist crane system which had been manufactured by an out-of-state company. The hoist crane failed, and the Florida corporation sued the manufacturer for damages incurred in replacing the defective equipment and for lost production time. The court held that the word injury as set forth in section 48.193(1)(f) was not confined solely to bodily injury or physical property damage but also included the economic damages alleged by the hoist crane purchaser. The court went on to conclude that the defendant had sufficient minimum contacts *994 with Florida to meet the constitutional test of jurisdiction. In Yale the hoist crane actually broke down in Florida, whereas in the instant case the switches malfunctioned in Georgia and South Carolina. However, this distinction is not material as it relates to the question of whether the words "injury to persons or property" in subsection (1)(f) include financial injury.
We find the reasoning of the First District Court of Appeal more persuasive. The Yale court's interpretation is contrary to the plain language of the subsection and does not harmonize with the other subsections of the statute. As the court below noted:
488 So. 2d  at 91 n. 3 (emphasis in original).
Moreover, Aetna's theory is inconsistent with Florida law on products liability. In GAF Corp. v. Zack Co., 445 So. 2d 350 (Fla. 3d DCA), review denied, 453 So. 2d 45 (Fla. 1984), a roofing contractor incorporated certain roofing materials manufactured by GAF Corporation into certain motel jobs. The roofing contractor suffered an adverse judgment because the faulty roofing materials caused the roof to be defective. The roofing contractor sued GAF to recover its loss in counts of negligence and breach of implied warranty. In reversing a judgment for the roofing contractor, the Third District Court of Appeal reasoned:
445 So. 2d  at 351-52. Likewise, this Court in Florida Power &amp; Light Co. v. Westinghouse Electric Corp., 510 So. 2d 899 (Fla. 1987), recently ruled that a buyer under a contract for goods could not recover economic losses in tort without a claim for personal injury or property damage to property other than the allegedly defective goods.
We hold that the provisions of section 48.193(1)(f) contemplate personal injury or physical property damage. Consequently, Aetna was not entitled to obtain jurisdiction over Therm-O-Disc under that subsection. Aetna makes no contention that jurisdiction could be obtained under subsection (1)(a), and we choose not to reach the issue concerning the applicability of subsection (1)(g) since the underlying facts relating to that subsection will be more fully developed pursuant to the district court's ruling. Accordingly, we affirm the decision of the First District Court of Appeal. We disapprove the interpretation of subsection (1)(f) in Yale Industrial Products, Inc. v. Gulfstream Galvanizing &amp; Finishing, Inc. Because it is unnecessary to our ruling, we pretermit any discussion of the constitutional minimum contacts which are *995 necessary to obtain jurisdiction over non-residents.
It is so ordered.
McDONALD, C.J., and OVERTON, EHRLICH, SHAW, BARKETT and KOGAN, JJ., concur.