Affiliated FM Ins. Co. v. Kuehne + Nagel Inc.

Affiliated FM Insurance Company, et al., Plaintiffsv.Kuehne + Nagel, Inc., et al., Defendants-and-Kuehne Nagel, Inc., Third-Party Plaintiffv.BNSF Railway Company, et al., Third-Party Defendants

OPINION AND ORDERIn November 2015, a container of audio equipment left Tokyo, Japan, bound for Memphis, Tennessee. The container crossed the ocean and arrived in Los Angeles, California without incident. But the equipment suffered damage during its transcontinental journey, when the train carrying the container derailed in southwestern Missouri. The cargo owners and their insurer sued the shipper, and the shipper then sued the subcontractors responsible for the container’s overland transportation. The subcontractors move to dismiss the Amended Third-Party Complaint (the “Complaint”) for, among other reasons, lack of personal jurisdiction. For the reasons that follow, the motion is granted.I. BackgroundThe following facts are taken from the Complaint and are assumed true for purposes of this motion.As is common in intermodal, intercontinental shipping, this case involves a series of contracts and subcontracts. The foundational document is Sea Waybill number BANQTY02217950 (the “Sea Waybill”), issued by Kuehne + Nagel, Inc. (“K+N”) to American Music and Sound, LLC for the transportation of a container of audio equipment from Tokyo, Japan to Memphis, Tennessee, via the Port of Los Angeles, California. (Dkt. No. 46 (“Compl.”)17; Dkt. No. 49-2 at 7.) After issuing this bill of lading, K+N then subcontracted AZ/CFS West, Inc. (“AZ”) to provide “transportation logistics services” for the overland leg of the ship’s journey. (Compl.