Facts

Jonathan Salas filed suit against Facultatieve Technologies Ltd., a foreign company, in relation to injuries sustained from operating a mechanical loading table at a funeral home.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Salas contended that the federal court had specific jurisdiction over defendant. Salas argued that specific jurisdiction was satisfied because defendant shipped the mechanical table, specified the fabrication dimensions, communicated that United States was the final destination to the fabricator, and provided components. Plaintiff further contended that defendant was present during an installation in California, converted the measuring units from metric to imperial units, wrote the operations manual to be used in the U.S, and maintained an electronic link to the product.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendant denied the allegations. Defendant claimed that they were merely an intermediary shipper and that any manuals authored by defendant were in regards to a cremator, which is a distinct product than a loading table.

Result

The court granted defendant's motion to dismiss. The court determined the evidence presented by Salas only established that defendant was aware that components it shipped to another company would end in the U.S., which is insufficient to establish specific jurisdiction for defendant.