Court: Supreme Court of New York, New York County
In this asbestos action, defendant T.M. Cobb moved to dismiss plaintiff James Witte’s complaint against them for lack of personal jurisdiction. T.M. Cobb argued that it did not have connections to New York as it did not sell products, nor conducted business, in New York State. In support of its motion, T.M. Cobb relied on the deposition testimony of Jeffrey Cobb. Plaintiff opposed T.M. Cobb’s motion, contending that Witte identified working with T.M. Cobb doors in New York.
Ultimately, the court denied T.M. Cobb’s motion. After noting the specific jurisdiction standard under NY CPLR 302(a), the court noted that plaintiff’s identification of T.M. Cobb doors in New York is “sufficient to establish T.M. Cobb’s business in New York during the 1960s.” Thereafter, the court set forth that T.M. Cobb failed to show that it did not sell or distribute doors to New York.
Specifically, the court notes that T.M. Cobb failed to show that Jeffrey Cobb had personal knowledge of the sales and distribution of T.M. Cobb products during the 1960s. In addition, “Mr. Cobb confirmed that T.M. Cobb has not retained any sales records from the 1960s, has no document retention policy, and that he was unaware of which states T.M. Cobb’s customers (largely dealers and distributors) were in.” As such, the lack of sales records, as well as an affidavit or testimony from someone with personal knowledge of sales and distribution during the 1960s, was insufficient to prove that T.M. Cobb did not sell or distribute doors to New York.
Thus, the court denied T.M. Cobb’s motion.
Read the full decision here.