Opinion ID: 449464
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: 2 In January 1981, plaintiff Randall S. Howse was involved in a motorcycle accident in Rota, Spain, and suffered a broken hip. A resident of Massachusetts both before and after his Navy service, Howse was at this time in the United States Navy. Howse underwent surgery to repair his hip at the United States Naval Hospital in Rota, during which a Jewett Nail and Plate allegedly manufactured by defendant Zimmer Manufacturing Company (Zimmer) was inserted into Howse's hip. During later treatment at the United States Naval Hospital in Newport, Rhode Island, doctors discovered that the Jewett Nail and Plate was malpositioned and that two of the screws intended to hold it in place were missing. Plaintiff claims that, as a result, the fracture had set improperly, causing a malunion of the bone and a difference in the length of his legs. 3 Zimmer is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business and home office in Indiana. Zimmer manufactures surgical implants, including the Jewett Nail and Plate. Zimmer is not registered to do business in Massachusetts and has not appointed a registered agent in Massachusetts. Zimmer does not manufacture or assemble any products in Massachusetts, nor does it have an office, telephone, telephone listing, bank account, or postal address in Massachusetts. Zimmer has no employees who maintain a residence or place of business in Massachusetts. Zimmer has not entered into a written distributorship agreement or franchise agreement with any person to sell its products in Massachusetts, and has no agents or employees who regularly solicit customers in Massachusetts. 4 Zimmer distributes its products in Massachusetts through Docherty Associates, Inc., a Massachusetts corporation, located in Concord, Massachusetts. At the direction of Jack Docherty, its majority shareholder and president, Docherty Associates does business as Zimmer Docherty Associates. Docherty Associates is Zimmer's exclusive sales representative in Massachusetts; its regular clientele includes all of the hospitals in Massachusetts. In addition to four employees, Docherty has six salesmen who sell its products on a commission basis. In 1983, Docherty Associates sold nearly $4 million worth of Zimmer's goods in Massachusetts, and typically carried an inventory of Zimmer goods with a value of $380,000. 1 Zimmer has no control over Docherty Associates' day-to-day operations. Docherty Associates acts as an independent contractor, and has no written franchise agreement with Zimmer. Neither Docherty Associates nor any employee of it is paid a salary by Zimmer. Docherty Associates files no annual or yearly sales reports with Zimmer, although Jack Docherty testified that [t]hey know what I'm doing. Docherty pays for its own promotional materials and advertisements, including advertisements under the name of Zimmer Docherty Associates. Zimmer sends Docherty regular announcements of new products, which Docherty then makes available to its users--mostly surgeons--and salesmen. Zimmer conducts optional training sessions for salesmen at its headquarters in Indiana. 5 Although no administrative individual from Zimmer has visited Docherty Associates, Zimmer is always sending its product and sales representatives to Docherty Associates in Massachusetts to aid in the development of new products and specific need products; Docherty Associates acts as a liaison between Zimmer's employees and the various surgeons who work in Massachusetts, and voluntarily provides Zimmer with information about new developments coming from the Massachusetts medical community as well as about Docherty's own views and objectives. 6 Zimmer does business with Docherty on a commission basis. Customers wishing to purchase Zimmer's goods place their orders with Docherty, who either fills them directly from his inventory or relays them to Zimmer's home office, in which case Zimmer fills them directly. Payment for the product is always made directly to Zimmer in Indiana.