Abstract
” The grandmothers of the plaintiff-appellants in this case ingested the drug diethylstilbestrol (DES) while pregnant with appellants’ mothers. It is claimed that, as a result of the ingestion, appellants’ mothers suffered disabilities that manifested themselves at various points after birth and that their children (appellants) suffered similar injuries when they were born. All but one of the appellants is a resident of the state of New York or New Jersey. The DES ingestion occurred in the state of New York. All of them pursued actions against defendant-respondents in that state. Each of the respondents manufactured DES during the period of the grandmothers’ ingestion, and all but one does business in California. Only one appellant is domiciled in this state. New York State declined to recognize the preconception tort proffered by appellants. Having failed to succeed in New York, appellants sought relief in California.
BOAZ v. BOYLE & CO., Leagle, 199574040CalApp4th700_1713, November 21, 1995.
The trial court dismissed the actions of the nonresident appellants under the doctrine forum non conveniens. (The action of the California appellant, Lara Ameen, was not dismissed.) We shall affirm the orders of dismissal. We do so because the only basis for bringing the actions in this state is the prospect that the law in California is more hospitable to their claims than the law of New York. We follow the decision in Shiley Inc. v. Superior Court, in holding that this circumstance is not sufficient to compel a California court to entertain the nonresident appellants’ suit.
One of the defendant-respondents, Emons Industries, Inc., does not do business in California. It sold DES during the period appellants’ grandmothers ingested it, but its activities never subjected it to the general jurisdiction of this state. There is a basis to conclude that it is subject to special jurisdiction because of sales it made to physicians here during the relevant period. But we agree with the trial court that there is no justification in the record for an assertion of jurisdiction on that account by any of the appellants because there is no showing or claim that Emons’s activities in this state contributed to the injuries suffered by any of the appellants before us on this appeal. ” …
… read the full paper BOAZ v. BOYLE & CO., on Leagle.
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