Minnesota Lawyer
On a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, preliminary evidence that a nonresident parent company operated its subsidiary to develop and hold real estate in Minnesota is sufficient to establish a prima facie showing of vicarious personal jurisdiction over the parent.
In this case, where the nonresident parent company shared a single business address with its subsidiary; the subsidiary does not have officers, directors, or financial statements and its only asset was a single piece of real property; the parent company guaranteed the debt that secured its subsidiary’s mortgage; and the parent company appears to have exerted substantial control over the subsidiary, using the subsidiary as a conduit for its own business; we hold that under the facts as alleged at this stage of the litigation, the subsidiary operated as the parent company’s Minnesota alter ego, supporting the District Court’s exercise of vicarious personal jurisdiction over the parent.
Affirmed.
A10-0263 JL Schwieters Construction, Inc. v. Goldridge Construction, Inc. (Dakota County)
