The Western District of Louisiana held that it did not have personal jurisdiction over Garmin International, Inc. in a matter arising from a fatal plane crash that occurred when an aircraft originating in Texas collided with a 1,800-foot tower in Louisiana.
In August 2018, Marcus Todd Samson piloted a Piper PA-28R into a radio tower, killing himself and his daughter, and destroying the radio tower. Plaintiff Agape Broadcasters, Inc. owned the radio tower. The aircraft was equipped with a Garmin GPS unit. The plaintiff alleged that the Garmin GPS unit had an obstacle avoidance function designed to alert the pilot of potential obstacles in the aircraft's path, but malfunctioned and failed to alert the pilot of the tower, violating the Louisiana Product Liability Act. Garmin moved to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.
First, the Court held that it did not have general jurisdiction over Garmin, a Kansas corporation with its principle place of business in Kansas.
Next, the Court considered the Fifth Circuit's threepart test for analyzing specific jurisdiction: (1) whether the defendant has minimum contacts with the forum state; (2) whether the plaintiff's claims arise out of forum-related contacts; and, (3) whether exercise of personal jurisdiction is fair and reasonable. The focus of the Court was on the second prong: whether Garmin's suit-related conduct created a substantial connection with Louisiana.
Garmin argued that the “suit-related conduct” was its sale of the GPS unit at issue and its installation in the accident aircraft—neither of which was alleged to have occurred in Louisiana. Rather, the aircraft was based in Texas and flew Garmin's product into Louisiana—an insufficient contact to create jurisdiction over Garmin.
The plaintiff argued that the Court had personal jurisdiction over Garmin under what it called a stream of commerce theory. Specifically, the plaintiff argued that because Garmin acknowledged that it sold the model of GPS unit at issue in 49 states, including Louisiana, and Garmin therefore expected that that the GPS unit involved in the accident could be purchased and used in Louisiana, the Court had personal jurisdiction over Garmin.
The Court disagreed. The Court explained that, under Fifth Circuit precedent, for the stream of commerce theory to work, the product must still be in the stream of commerce when it reaches the forum state. But here the product was purchased and installed out of state, and was flown into Louisiana. Therefore, the Court held that Agape had not demonstrated that the accident at issue arose out of Garmin's contacts with Louisiana. On that basis, the Court granted Garmin's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. Agape Broadcasters, Inc. v. Matix, Case No. 6:19-CV01099, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 180068 (W.D. La. Sept. 28, 2020).
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