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Zimmerman v. Cornell Outdoor Education

Defective Belay Device Shown Bought in New York, Establishing Jurisdiction Over Its Maker

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MEMORANDUM DECISION and ORDER I. INTRODUCTION On August 7, 2020, plaintiff Kathryn Zimmerman (“Zimmerman” or “plaintiff”), a student at Cornell University, filed this action against defendants Cornell Outdoor Education and Cornell University (collectively “Cornell”), and Black Diamond Equipment, Ltd. (“Black Diamond”). Dkt. No. 1 (“Compl.”). Essentially, plaintiff alleges that she fell thirty-six feet while rock climbing after a belay device manufactured by Black Diamond malfunctioned. Id. On November 5, 2020, Black Diamond moved to dismiss all claims against it under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“Rule”) 12(b)(2) for lack of personal jurisdiction. Dkt. No. 13. All other parties opposed. Dkt. Nos. 16, 17. On January 8, 2021, the Court granted leave to conduct limited discovery into whether Parley Hannan (“Hannan”), Zimmerman’s belayer, purchased the defective belay device in New York. Dkt. No. 19 at 14. Following this limited discovery, Black Diamond renewed its motion to dismiss on February 12, 2021. Black Diamond’s renewed motion, having been fully briefed, will now be decided on the basis of the parties’ submissions without oral argument. II. BACKGROUND These factual allegations are taken from Zimmerman’s complaint and the documents the parties provided after limited jurisdictional discovery. The allegations of the complaint are assumed to be true for the purpose of resolving Black Diamond’s motion to dismiss. On September 26, 2017, Zimmerman was enrolled as a student at Cornell, which offers rock climbing as an extracurricular activity at its Lindseth Climbing Center (“Lindseth Center”). Compl.

9, 18. Plaintiff worked at the Lindseth Center as a wall monitor, and on that day, she asked Hannan, a fellow wall monitor, to belay her. Id.

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