Opinion ID: 770309
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Personal Jurisdiction over BAT

Text: 17 In the district court, defendant BAT moved to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, submitting lengthy affidavits and supporting documents. In a thorough order, the court granted that motion, finding that BAT is a holding company incorporated in England with its sole office in London; that BAT has never had more than 185 employees; that BAT itself has not manufactured, marketed, sold, or distributed tobacco products and has conducted no business in the State of Minnesota; that BAT itself engaged in no conduct purposefully directed toward residents of Minnesota, see Calder v. Jones, 465 U.S. 783 (1984); and that BAT has not controlled the day-to-day operations of its independently managed tobacco subsidiaries so that the subsidiaries' separate corporate veils may be pierced, see Bielicki v. Empire Stevedoring Co., 741 F. Supp. 758, 761-63 (D. Minn. 1990) (discussing when a subsidiary's corporate veil should be pierced to establish personal jurisdiction over a foreign parent). 18 The Trustees appeal that ruling. Their briefs contain conclusory assertions that BAT created and oversaw a deceptive smoking and health policy and impos[ed] an empire-wide policy that the link between smoking and disease is 'unproven.' But the Trustees provide no supporting cites to the district court record, and their separate appendix on appeal includes no factual materials supporting their position on this issue. On the other hand, BAT's separate appendix contains factual materials submitted to the district court. These materials strongly support the court's decision that BAT lacked the minimum contacts with the forum State, Minnesota, necessary to establish personal jurisdiction under the Minnesota long-arm statute and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. On this record, the decision of the district court to dismiss BAT for lack of personal jurisdiction must be affirmed. 19 The judgment of the district court is affirmed. Defendants' motion to strike the Trustees' argument-laden July 5, 2000, letter submission is granted. See Fed. R. App. P. 28(j).