U.S. Supreme Court
At Crown Equipment, the plaintiff had been injured in Virginia while operating a forklift. He sued (1) Crown Equipment, an Ohio corporation that designed and manufactured the forklift and (2) a West Virginia company that had distributed and serviced the forklift. The trial court dismissed the case on the ground that no substantial part of the acts at issue occurred in West Virginia. The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals reversed. The court ruled that the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the U.S. Constitution forbids West Virginia from barring suit by the nonresident against the West Virginia distributor, even though the operative events occurred outside West Virginia, because a West Virginia resident would be allowed to bring suit in the state under the same facts. The court also ruled that, once venue is proper as to the nonresident plaintiff's claims against the West Virginia defendant, it is also proper for plaintiff's claims against the Ohio manufacturer, Crown Equipment, which was surely the target defendant in the case.
Status: PENDING. NFIB amicus brief in support of Petitioner Crown Equipment's Petition for Certiorari filed Nov. 20, 2006.
