Plaintiffs Breck Williams and Tarsi Williams, the children of decedent Frank Williams, filed this suit in Louisiana state court on June 2, 2016, after Frank Williams contracted mesothelioma and died as a result of alleged asbestos exposure. The plaintiffs allege their father’s exposure was caused by, among other defendants, Fiat S.p.A. for the installation, use, and maintenance of the injury-causing asbestos and sought damages under Louisiana law.
Fiat filed a motion to dismiss, challenging both the court’s personal jurisdiction over it and the sufficiency of service of process. The plaintiffs did not oppose the motion but because the jurisdictional issue is dispositive of the matter, the court addressed it at the outset. When a court rules on a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction without holding an evidentiary hearing, as in [*3] this case, the plaintiff need only make a prima facie showing of personal jurisdiction. A court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant, such as Fiat in this case, when (1) the defendant has purposefully availed itself of the benefits and protections of the forum state by establishing “minimum contacts” with the forum state and (2) exercising personal jurisdiction over the defendant does not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice. If a nonresident defendant has sufficient related or unrelated minimum contacts with the forum, the court then considers whether the fairness prong of the jurisdictional inquiry is satisfied. The fairness inquiry is determined by analyzing several factors: (1) the burden upon the nonresident defendant of litigating in the forum state; (2) the interests of the forum state; (3) the plaintiff’s interest in securing relief; (4) the judicial system’s interest in obtaining an efficient resolution of controversies; and (5) the shared interest of the states in furthering fundamental substantive social policies. [Citation Omitted].
Within Fiat’s motion to dismiss, they presented the court with an affidavit indicating that it had no contact of any kind with the state of Louisiana either at the time the plaintiffs’ father was exposed to asbestos or at the present time. The plaintiffs submitted no evidence to contradict this statement. Accordingly, the court found that the plaintiffs had failed to make out a prima facie case of personal jurisdiction with regard to Fiat and defendant Fiat’s motion to dismiss was granted.