Iowa Manufacturing Co. v. Superior Court

[504]

ADAMS, P. J.

Iowa Manufacturing Company, hereinafter called Iowa Company, on January 18, 1952, filed in this court a verified petition for a writ of prohibition to enjoin the Superior Court of Sacramento County from proceeding further in an action brought by the American River Sand and Gravel Company, hereinafter called American Company, against petitioner and others, petitioner alleging that said action was brought to recover damages for conversion of certain construction equipment in which, it asserted, petitioner had an interest. Petitioner further alleged summons was served upon it through the Secretary of State of California, that it is a foreign corporation organized and existing under the laws of Iowa, its principal place of business being Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and that at no time did petitioner consent in fact or by force of law to service of process upon the Secretary of State of the State of California as service of process upon it; that on the 30th day of August, 1951, petitioner had not been and was not doing business in the State of California and had never withdrawn from doing business here, had not and did not have a place of business in the State of California, had not had and did not have any agents, offices or employees in the State of California, and had not owned and did not own any property in the State of California. It also alleged that it had appeared specially before the Superior Court of Sacramento County for an order quashing said service of summons, but that said court had denied its motion and purposed to proceed against petitioner unless prohibited by this court.

The American Company, on January 23, 1952, filed a verified opposition to the issuance of the requested writ.

We issued an alternative writ on March 5th, whereupon the American Company, on March 21st, filed a return, wherein it asserted that the Iowa Company “has a world-wide dealer organization and often times accepts in addition to, or in substitution of, the direct obligation of its dealers' an assignment without recourse of chattel mortgages or conditional sales contracts between dealers and purchasers,” that it has appointed Edward P. Hale Company, a California corporation, to act as its authorized dealer in the sale of its products in California, that in its dealings with this respondent the Hale Company purported to sell to said respondent, on its conditional sales contract, a certain plant; that after said contract was signed it was forwarded by the Hale Company to the Iowa Company, but delivery of the equipment was re