## Facts

- Ohio residents Dorothy Thomson and her daughter, Colleen Miller, vacationed in South Africa in September–October 2005.
- A Toyota Condor was rented in South Africa from a business operating as “Thrifty Car Rentals” at the Port Elizabeth airport.
- During the trip, the Condor allegedly suffered a brake failure (bonded lining separated and jammed), causing a crash.
- Thomson and Miller were seriously injured; Thomson died in South Africa from her injuries.
- The Condor model was sold in South Africa but not marketed or sold in the United States.
- Plaintiffs sued Toyota Motor Corporation Worldwide (a Japanese corporation) and Thrifty Rent-A-Car Systems, Inc. (a U.S. franchisor) in federal court in Ohio on diversity-based tort theories.
- Most accident-related witnesses and evidence (rental personnel, maintenance records, investigators, initial medical providers, physical evidence) were located in South Africa.

## Issues

1. Whether Ohio courts could exercise general personal jurisdiction over Toyota Motor Corporation Worldwide based on alleged Ohio contacts, including contacts of related Toyota entities.
2. Whether the district court abused its discretion by dismissing the claims against Thrifty on forum non conveniens grounds, raised sua sponte, in favor of litigation in South Africa.

## Decision

- The Sixth Circuit affirmed dismissal of Toyota Motor Corporation Worldwide for lack of personal jurisdiction.
- The court held plaintiffs failed to make a prima facie showing of “continuous and systematic” Ohio contacts sufficient for general jurisdiction, and failed to justify imputing affiliates’ contacts to the parent under alter-ego/agency theories.
- The Sixth Circuit affirmed the sua sponte forum non conveniens dismissal of claims against Thrifty.
- The court held South Africa was an available and adequate alternative forum and that private- and public-interest factors strongly favored litigating there.

## Legal Principles

- General personal jurisdiction over a foreign corporation requires “continuous and systematic” contacts with the forum; product presence through distribution channels, without more, is insufficient.
- Contacts of subsidiaries or affiliates are not attributed to a foreign parent absent a strong showing supporting alter-ego or agency (e.g., domination, disregard of corporate formalities, or sham separateness).
- Forum non conveniens permits dismissal in favor of a foreign forum when an adequate alternative forum exists and the balance of private and public interests favors the alternative forum.
- In assessing forum non conveniens, courts consider access to proof, witness availability and compulsory process, cost and practical trial concerns, local interest in the dispute, administrative burdens, and likely application of foreign law; dismissal may be ordered sua sponte if the record supports it and plaintiffs show no prejudice.

## Conclusion

The Sixth Circuit held that Ohio lacked general personal jurisdiction over the Japanese manufacturer because plaintiffs did not show continuous and systematic Ohio contacts or a basis to impute affiliates’ contacts, and it further held that South Africa was the proper forum for the remaining dispute, warranting forum non conveniens dismissal of the claims against the U.S. franchisor.


Estate of Thomson v. Toyota Motor Corp. Worldwide, 545 F.3d 357 (6th Cir. 2008)