Opinion ID: 711180
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Adequacy of Service.

Text: 12 On this record, one of two corporations may be the proper entity to defend plaintiffs' claims--AlliedSignal, Inc., which was never served, and its subsidiary, King Radio, which was never named. Plaintiffs have no proof that the other three named defendants are separate corporations. These defendants appear to be either operating divisions of AlliedSignal, Inc., or trade names used by AlliedSignal or one of its subsidiaries. Of course, the actual structure of the AlliedSignal corporate family may be different, but plaintiffs have elected to have service issues decided on this record. 13 Changing their emphasis on appeal, plaintiffs stress the contention that Christie was authorized to accept service on behalf of the parent corporation, AlliedSignal, Inc., the only named defendant that clearly exists. However, they have no evidence effectively contradicting Christie's sworn statement that he is not an agent of that corporation on whom process may be served under Fed.R.Civ.P. 4(h)(1). Christie is an officer of King Radio, and plaintiffs submitted evidence that King Radio advertises its subsidiary relationship with AlliedSignal, Inc. But absent probative evidence that the two corporations are not independently operated, service on an officer of a subsidiary, here King Radio, does not effect service on the parent corporation, AlliedSignal, Inc. See I.A.M. Nat'l Pension Fund v. Wakefield Indus., 699 F.2d 1254, 1258-59 (D.C.Cir.1983); Orbis Marine Enters. v. TEC Marine Lines, Ltd., 692 F.Supp. 280, 286 (S.D.N.Y.1988). And if AlliedSignal, Inc., was improperly served, the district court lacked jurisdiction over that defendant whether or not it had actual notice of the lawsuit. See Printed Media Servs., Inc. v. Solna Web, Inc., 11 F.3d 838, 843 (8th Cir.1993). 14 Plaintiffs' failures to properly serve AlliedSignal, Inc., and to name King Radio are baffling. The use of trade names, operating divisions, and independent subsidiaries by enterprises the size of AlliedSignal, Inc., is hardly unusual. The need to identify the proper corporate defendant is apparent to any practicing attorney, particularly if issues of successor corporate liability loom, as the Bendix/King product name suggests. Industry buyer guides and anonymous calls to business offices are not reliable sources for identifying proper corporate names, whereas the Christie affidavits identified King Radio and AlliedSignal, Inc., and told plaintiffs where to serve them. Then, when plaintiffs belatedly went to a reliable source, the State of Kansas Corporate Annual Reports, those reports confirmed Christie's averrals. 15 For these reasons, the district court properly ruled that plaintiffs had failed to serve any defendant within 120 days, the time limit imposed by Fed.R.Civ.P. 4(m). As in Gonzalez v. Temple Mountain Ski Resort, Inc., 613 F.Supp. 354, 355 (D.Mass.1985), there is no proper service when the person served is an officer of a corporation not named a defendant. Plaintiffs complain that King Radio apparently waived a similar defect in the Ohio litigation. But defendants had no obligation to waive their due process right to proper service. They were obliged not to evade service, but because they provided accurate information in the Christie affidavits, they cannot be accused of evading service. 16