Business Law: Principles for Today's Commercial Environment 3rd Edition by Marianne Moody Jennings, David Twomey, Marianne Jennings

Exercise 13

Daniel Dagesse suffered serious injuries when he slipped and fell in his hotel room at the Aruba Marriott Resort (the Plant Hotel). He sued Plant Hotel N.V., the limited liability company that owns the resort; Oranjestad Property Management N.V., Plant Hotel's parent company; Marriott Aruba N.V., the company that manages the resort; and Marriott International, Inc., a corporation that was the agent and management company for Plant Hotel and Oranjestad. Elaine Dagesse, Daniel's wife, also filed suit against the same companies alleging loss of consortium. The Dagesses filed suit in federal district court in New Hampshire, seeking to have the companies come and defend the lawsuit there. The companies filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds that they had no physical presence in the state of New Hampshire. The Dagesses contended that all of the companies operated an interactive Web site to which they went and through which they made their reservations as they sat in their home in New Hampshire, and that this Web site resulted in New Hampshire's jurisdiction over the companies. Were they correct [Dagesse v Plant Hotel N.V., 113 F Supp 2d 211 (D NH)]