Opinion ID: 3048591
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: jurisdiction under holland america’s forum

Text: SELECTION CLAUSE [6] As with the Bureau Veritas defendants, Holland America first relies on the forum selection clause in its purchase orders to confer jurisdiction over Wärtsilä and Wärtsilä Finland. Under general contract principles, a forum selection clause may give rise to waiver of objections to personal jurisdiction, see Chan v. Society Expeditions, Inc., 39 F.3d 1398, 1406 (9th Cir. 1994), provided that the defendant agrees to be so bound, see, e.g., Polar Shipping Ltd. v. Oriental Shipping Corp., 680 F.2d 627, 632 (9th Cir. 1982) (holding that the scope of a forum selection clause is a matter of contract). The fundamental element lacking here is any evidence that either Wärtsilä or Wärtsilä Finland agreed to the clause. 5 Where, as here, the motion is based on written materials rather than an evidentiary hearing, we only inquire into whether Holland America’s pleadings and affidavits make a prima facie showing of personal jurisdiction. Dole, 303 F.3d at 1108. Although a plaintiff cannot simply rest on the bare allegations of its complaint, uncontroverted allegations in the complaint must be taken as true. Id. Conflicts in testimony in affidavits must be resolved in Holland America’s favor. Id. 5076 HOLLAND AMERICA v. WÄRTSILÄ N. AMERICA [7] Holland America’s jurisdictional claim rests on flimsy evidence: Holland America alleges that it conveyed its form terms (including the forum selection clause) to an unidentified email address ending in @wärtsilä.com, and that the Wärtsilä entities had notice of the terms because they appear on Holland America’s website. The missing and critical evidence is telling. Holland America has not provided us any of the following via allegations or evidence: a copy of the terms email; the name of any person who might have been on the receiving end of the email; any evidence of any assent to the terms by either Wärtsilä or Wärtsilä Finland; the name, position, or the individual within Holland America who might have sent the email; or the purchase orders related to the claims at issue. We agree with the district court that “it is not enough that plaintiffs allege to have sent the terms via email to an unspecified email address or general web address.” Such an unsubstantiated and vague statement does not establish a prima facie case for jurisdiction. Alternately, Holland America contends that Wärtsilä NA, which consented to its forum selection clause, acted as an agent for both Wärtsilä Finland and Wärtsilä for the purpose of consenting to jurisdiction. Here, too, the allegation is just that, an allegation without any evidence. Holland America urges us to look to the distributorship agreement between Wärtsilä Finland and Wärtsilä NA. However, Wärtsilä NA produced testimony that Wärtsilä NA was unaware of any occasion when Wärtsilä NA had acted as an agent for Wärtsilä Finland in a U.S. transaction, and there is no evidence that Wärtsilä NA had the authority to consent to jurisdiction for Wärtsilä Finland. Wärtsilä was not a party to that agreement, and Wärtsilä categorically has denied allowing Wärtsilä NA to serve as its agent for the purpose of consenting to litigation in the Western District of Washington. [8] In the face of such unequivocal denials, Holland America offers nothing in response. Neither the agreement nor the bare evidence supports Holland America’s effort to bind HOLLAND AMERICA v. WÄRTSILÄ N. AMERICA 5077 Wärtsilä or Wärtsilä Finland by virtue of any agency relationship. Cf. Terracom v. Valley Nat’l Bank, 49 F.3d 555, 562 (9th Cir. 1995) (affirming district court’s denial of discovery where “a plaintiff’s claim of personal jurisdiction appears to be both attenuated and based on bare allegations in the face of specific denials made by defendants”) (internal quotation marks omitted).