Rhodes v. J.P. Sauer & Sohn, Inc., Sig Arms, Inc.

Charles Rhodes, Jr., and Judy Rhodes (plaintiffs) sued German corporation J.P. Sauer and Sohn, Inc. (Sauer) and Sauer’s U.S. subsidiary, Sig Arms, Inc. (Sig) (defendants) under the Louisiana Products Liability Act for injuries Charles sustained when a gun manufactured by Sauer and Sig malfunctioned. After filing their lawsuit, the Rhodeses attempted to serve process on Sauer by mailing a copy of the petition, which was written in English only, to Sauer’s office in Germany via private courier. Sauer moved to dismiss the lawsuit for insufficient service of process, arguing that the Rhodeses attempt of service did not comply with the provisions of the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters (Hague Convention), which required translation of documents into German and that a request for service be made to the designated German central authority before process could be properly served. The Rhodeses conceded that the documents were untranslated and that service was not obtained through the German central authority, but the Rhodeses argued that service was still properly made because Sauer’s U.S.-based subsidiary, Sig, was properly served, thereby bestowing the court with jurisdiction over Sauer as well, pursuant to Louisiana statutes permitting service of process on a foreign parent corporation via its domestic subsidiary.