World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson
United States Supreme Court
444 U.S. 286, 100 S. Ct. 559, 62 L. Ed. 2d 490 (1980)
- Written by Jamie Milne, JD
Facts
New York residents Harry and Kay Robinson (plaintiffs) purchased a car from Seaway Volkswagen (Seaway) (defendant), a New York automobile retailer. Sometime later, the Robinsons decided to move to Arizona. While driving the car from New York to Arizona, they were struck by another vehicle in Oklahoma. The Robinsons’ car burst into flames, severely burning Kay. While hospitalized in Oklahoma, the Robinsons filed a products-liability suit in Oklahoma state court against multiple parties, including Seaway and World-Wide Volkswagen (World-Wide) (defendant), a northeast regional distributor that had supplied the Robinsons’ car to Seaway. The Robinsons claimed that Kay’s injuries resulted from the defective design of the vehicle’s fuel system. Seaway and World-Wide argued that the Oklahoma trial court did not have personal jurisdiction over them because they neither did any business in Oklahoma nor advertised there. When the trial court disagreed, Seaway and World-Wide sought a writ of prohibition in the Oklahoma Supreme Court to stop Judge Woodson of the trial court from exercising personal jurisdiction. The Oklahoma Supreme Court denied the writ, finding that the trial court had personal jurisdiction because it was foreseeable that Seaway’s and World-Wide’s automobiles might be used in Oklahoma. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (White, J.)
Dissent (Brennan, J.)
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