Young v. GilbertYoung v. Gilbert
Defendant King Pin Alleys, a bowling establishment, cocktail lounge and snack bar, located in West Nyack, New York, served with summons and a copy of the amended complaint by certified mail, return receipt requested, moved to dismiss this personal injury auto negligence action for lack of jurisdiction in personam and for failure of the complaint to state “a cause of action” against it.1 On the same grounds it also seeks summary judgment dismissing crossclaims against it for indemnity and contribution. Annexed to the notice of motion is the affidavit of Louis Pasternak, vice-president of Ripvan Corporation, a corporation of the State of New York, trading as King Pin
By their amended complaint plaintiffs, passengers in an automobile owned and operated by defendant Edith Eileen Gilbert, claim damages from all defendants for injuries sustained by them as a result of a collision between the automobile in which they were riding and an automobile owned by defendant Thomas Finland and operated at the time by defendant James Zimmerman. The collision occurred on Knickerbocker Road in Demarest in Bergen County in this State late on the night of December 12, 1969. In regard to defendants Cedar Tavern Corporation, a New Jersey corporation trading as Frontier Room, and King Pin Alleys, the amended complaint alleges, among other things, that they “were the owners and operators of certain premises engaged in the selling and serving of alcoholic beverages to the public“; that they
* * * negligently served alcoholic beverages to the defendants, James Zimmerman and Thomas Finland causing them to become intoxicated and become involved in * * * [the] motor vehicle collision * * *;
and that they
* * * served alcoholic beverages to the defendants, James Zimmerman and Thomas Finland, in violation of State and local law and are therefore liable to plaintiffs by reason of strict liability in tort.
The depositions of Louis Pasternak and James Zimmerman were taken upon oral examination and used on the motion. It appears that defendant James Zimmerman, 20 years of age at the time of the collision, was driving defendant Finland‘s car when it was involved in the collision on the night of December 12, 1969. He and defendant Finland, who was 21 years old at the time, had been together continuously that
It further appears from the deposition of defendant Zimmerman that King Pin Alleys was well known in the Bergenfield area; that during the course of the evening on December 12, 1969 about 30 people were in the cocktail lounge, about half of them from the Bergenfield area; and that the “approximate age group” of those in the cocktail lounge at the time he was there was “Seventeen through twenty.” While he and defendant Finland were at the cocktail lounge of the King Pin Alleys, each consumed between 12 and 14 bottles of beer, each bottle containing 12 ounces of beer. At this cocktail lounge they also engaged in a “chug-a-lug” contest, which involved attempting to consume the contents of a bottle of beer by one uninterrupted long drink. Neither had anything to eat at the Frontier Room or at King Pin Alleys, and neither of them was refused service by either of the two bartenders on duty at the cocktail lounge of King Pin Alleys.
At about 11:30 that night when they left King Pin Alleys to go home to Bergenfield, each was intoxicated. Defendant Finland drove the car for about ten minutes to Knickerbocker Road, in Norwood in Bergen County, when he said he was too intoxicated to drive and turned the car over to defendant Zimmerman. After taking over the driving of the car, Zimmerman drove south from Norwood into Demarest, where the accident occurred. He drove “in excess of a hundred, to a hundred and twenty miles an hour” on Knickerbocker Road, a two-lane roadway, one lane for traffic in each direction, the posted speed limit being 40 miles an hour. He drove the car back and forth from one lane
As previously indicated, defendant King Pin Alleys contends that the court has no in personam jurisdiction over it since it is a New York corporation and has no business contacts with New Jersey. Mr. Pasternak, vice-president of Ripvan Corporation trading as King Pin Alleys, resides in Fair Lawn in Bergen County in this State. He testified that King Pin Alleys has only one business location and that is at 20 Virginia Avenue in West Nyack, New York, and that he is the accountant for the business and also manages its day-to-day operations. Alcoholic beverages are served on the premises to anyone over 18 years of age. Some of the supplies for the bar are purchased from an establishment in Fort Lee in Bergen County. Life insurance coverage for the employees and officers of the corporation is provided by an insurance company in Newark. King Pin Alleys does no advertising for business in New Jersey. Pasternak‘s residence in Fair Lawn is 22 miles from the King Pin Alleys in West Nyack, which is five to seven miles from the New Jersey State line. He has observed New Jersey cars parked in the parking lot of King Pin Alleys. He maintains, however, that the number was small since their business is dependent on local trade.
So much for the factual setting of the motion now before the court. At the outset, in dealing with the legal sufficiency of the amended complaint, plaintiffs are “entitled to a liberal interpretation of its contents and to the benefits of all of its allegations and the most favorable inferences which may reasonably be drawn from them.” Rappaport v. Nichols, 31 N.J. 188, 193 (1959). Applying this well settled principle to the allegations of the amended complaint in this action, it is clear that this pleading, as against the
As previously indicated, the amended complaint alleges, among other things, that defendant King Pin Alleys owned and operated premises engaged in selling and serving alcoholic beverages to the public and that it negligently served alcoholic beverages to the defendants Zimmerman and Finland, causing them to become intoxicated and involved in the motor vehicle collision which is the subject of this litigation. Accordingly, the amended complaint as against King Pin Alleys sets forth a claim upon which relief can be granted. It follows that if this defendant is amenable to suit in this State, the determination of that claim must await a plenary trial. See Judson v. Peoples Bank & Trust Co. of Westfield, 17 N.J. 67, 74 (1954).
Both in New Jersey and in New York the sale of alcoholic beverages by a tavern keeper to a person “actually or apparently” intoxicated is unlawful. See Rule 1 of State Regulation No. 20, Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control; Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control in the Department of Law and Public Safety v. Bruce Zane, Inc., 99 N.J. Super. 196, 198 (App. Div. 1968); and
Any person who shall be injured in person, property, means of support, or otherwise by any intoxicated person, or by reason of the intoxication of any person, whether resulting in his death or not, shall have a right of action against any person who shall, by unlawful selling to or unlawfully assisting in procuring liquor for such intoxicated person, have caused or contributed to such intoxication; and in any such action such person shall have a right to recover actual and exemplary damages.
And see, Mitchell v. Shoals, Inc., 19 N.Y.2d 338, 280 N.Y.S.2d 113, 227 N.E.2d 21 (Ct. App. 1967).
Our applicable long-arm rule,
In International Shoe Co. v. State of Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945), the Supreme Court of the United States held that:
* * * due process requires only that in order to subject a defendant to a judgment in personam, if he be not present within the territory of the forum, he have certain minimum contacts with it
See also, McGee v. International Life Ins. Co., 355 U.S. 220, 78 S.Ct. 199, 2 L.Ed.2d 223 (1957); Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283 (1958), and J.W. Sparks & Co. v. Gallos, 47 N.J. 295 (1966). As noted in Schaffer v. Granit Hotel Inc., supra.
Those demands of due process may be met by such contacts of the corporation with the State or the forum as make it reasonable to require the corporation to defend the particular suit which is brought here. Amercoat Corp., supra, [108 N.J. Super.] at 340; Corporate Development Specialists, Inc., supra [Corporate Development Specialists, Inc. v. Warren-Teed Pharmaceuticals, Inc.], 102 N.J. Super. [143] at 148. There is a steady trend toward expanding the permissible scope of state jurisdiction over foreign corporations and other non-residents. Id., at 149. The application of the rule to each case depends upon the facts in that particular case. Roland, supra [92 N.J. Super.], at 6. [110 N.J. Super. at 4]
The question remains whether King Pin Alleys had such “minimum contacts” within this State “that the maintenance of the suit does not offend `traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.‘” In light of the total factual setting presently before the court on this motion, I am satisfied that it unquestionably did. This despite the fact that its sole substantial contact with New Jersey was the sale by it, at its cocktail lounge in New York, of alcoholic beverages to a defendant resident of this State who became intoxicated at the cocktail lounge and, while driving home in this State, became involved in the auto collision which is the subject of the suit.
In the present case King Pin Alleys’ sole business location is in West Nyack, New York. It does purchase some of its supplies from an establishment in this State and also maintains life insurance coverage for its employees and officers through an insurance company in this State. While such “contacts” in themselves may be insufficient for New Jersey
There clearly is no special inconvenience to this defendant, since New Jersey and New York are contiguous, King Pin Alleys’ single business location being no more than seven miles from the New Jersey State line. Its management had on occasion observed New Jersey cars parked in its parking lot, but maintains that the business is dependent on local trade. On the other hand, the difference in the minimum age requirements for service of alcoholic beverages in New York and New Jersey has long been a matter of common knowledge, sales being prohibited to minors under 18 in New York and under 21 in New Jersey. See
1 Restatement, Conflict of Laws 2d (1971), § 50 at 178-179, states:
Foreign Corporations — Causing Effects in State by Act Done Elsewhere
A state has power to exercise judicial jurisdiction over a foreign corporation which causes effects in the state by an act done elsewhere with respect to any cause of action arising from these effects unless the nature of these effects and of the corporation‘s relationship to the state makes the exercise of such jurisdiction unreasonable.
This rule is the same as that applicable to individuals as stated in § 37 Ibid. at 156. In the discussion of the rationale of the rule, following § 37, it is pointed out that “A state has a natural interest in the effects of an act within its territory even though the act itself was done elsewhere.” Specifically in regard to situations in which “the act, although
* * * Another factor of significance is the nature and quality of the effects which occur in the state. The state may exercise judicial jurisdiction over the defendant if the effects which could have been anticipated and which actually occurred are of a sort highly dangerous to persons or things. This is so even though the defendant has no other relationship to the state. [at 158]
See also, Comment, “Conflict of Laws — Tavern Owner Liability-Extraterritorial Effects,” 14 Rutgers L. Rev. 618 (1960).
An order denying the motion will be entered.