Opinion ID: 381875
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Tortious Act Jurisdiction.

Text: 30 Covington also urges that in personam jurisdiction over Resintex and Susskind can be premised on subsection (b) of the Georgia long-arm statute. Alleging that Resintex and Susskind fraudulently misrepresented the denim's shrinkage factor in communications and invoices sent into Georgia, Covington argues that these activities constitute a tortious act out of the state leading to injury within the state. Georgia courts have interpreted subsection (b) to include this type of tortious act without, injury within conduct. See Atlanta Coliseum, Inc. v. Carling Brewing Co., 411 F.Supp. 253 (N.D.Ga.1976). 31 It appears, however, that Covington's proper claim here is for breach of contractual warranty, not tortious injury. Georgia courts have held that generally a breach of contract does not constitute a tort. Synthetic Industries, Inc. v. Whitlock, Inc., 439 F.Supp. 1297, 1300 (N.D.Ga.1977). Further, as stated in Interstate Paper Corp. v. Air-O-Flex Equipment Co., supra, 426 F.Supp. at 1327, (t)o maintain a suit in tort, the breach of duty must be one imposed by the law and not merely by the contract itself. In the instant case Resintex allegedly supplied goods whose shrinkage factor exceeded that specified in the contract. Resintex's duty was one imposed by the terms of the contract, not by the law. 32 We are also persuaded by the reasoning of Judge Pratt that Resintex's activities do not fall within either exception to the general rule that breach of contract does not constitute a tort as those exceptions are set forth in Synthetic Industries, 439 F.Supp. at 1300. Under those exceptions, a breach of contract may be considered a tort if either a special relationship exists between the parties or the breach resulted from an obligor's misfeasance rather than nonfeasance. Following the analysis in Synthetic Industries, Judge Pratt stated that the relationship between the parties here was simply that of purchaser and seller. After discussing the difficulty distinguishing between misfeasance and nonfeasance, Judge Pratt determined that the instant injury, as in Synthetic Industries, was a purely economic one for which courts are reluctant to supply redress under a theory of negligence. 5 33 In its attempt to qualify for tortious act without, injury within jurisdiction, Covington cites several decisions discussing the application of subsection (b). In Coe & Payne Co. v. Wood-Mosaic Corp., 230 Ga. 58, 195 S.E.2d 399 (1973), the Supreme Court of Georgia settled a controversy which had arisen among Georgia courts by adopting the Illinois Rule allowing subsection (b) jurisdiction where the tort occurred outside and the injury occurred inside the state. Citation of Coe & Payne, however, is not helpful to Covington. Neither party in the instant case is questioning the scope or constitutionality of Georgia's long-arm statute. Rather, Resintex is challenging whether, given the current interpretation of subsections (a) and (b), the activities alleged are sufficient to bring the parties within the reach of the long-arm statute. Covington also relies on Thorington v. Cash, supra, which was premised on allegations of fraud. This decision was easily distinguished by Judge Pratt. Thorington involved an attempt to rescind a limited partnership agreement which the resident entered in reliance on allegedly fraudulent misrepresentations sent by mail or telephone into the state by the nonresident. Stating that activity by mail or telephone was indistinguishable from activity conducted through a personal messenger, the Fifth Circuit noted that the fraudulent misrepresentations in that case were personally transmitted to the resident by the nonresident, with knowledge and intent that the resident would receive and rely on them in Georgia. The court indicated that the nonresident had thus purposefully availed himself of the privilege of conducting business within the forum State, thus invoking the benefits and protections of its laws. Id. at 587, quoting Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 253, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 1239, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283 (1958). In the instant case, on the contrary, Resintex cannot be said to have invoked the benefits and protections of Georgia law. After the parties agreed to the denim sale, either in Switzerland or Haiti but not in Georgia, Resintex shipped goods to Haiti and sent invoices to Georgia so that it could draw on letters of credit established in its favor by Covington, Haitex's parent company. As Judge Pratt found, Covington established the letters of credit for the convenience of Haitex, which was unable to procure the letters through its own bank. We are unable to find that Judge Pratt erred in concluding that this conduct does not fall within the scope of subsection (b) of the Georgia long-arm statute. 34 Having determined that neither subsection (a) nor subsection (b) of the Georgia long-arm statute encompasses Resintex's activities, we affirm the judgment below. 6