Ryan v. Inyo Cerro Gordo Mining & Power Co.
Ryan v. Inyo Cerro Gordo Mining & Power Co.
Opinion of the Court
This is an appeal from an order of the superior court of the state of California, in and for the county of Santa Clara, denying the motion of the defendant, Cerro Gordo Mines Company, for a change of venue from Santa Cl&ya to Inyo County.
The action was one to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained by. the plaintiff arising *771 out of an alleged accident occurring at the mining properties of the defendant in Inyo County, California. Appellant’s motion was made upon the grounds that it was a resident of Inyo County and entitled to te sued in said county, and that the cause of action arose in Inyo County ; also upon the ground that the defendant Edward Campbell was a resident of Inyo County. Prior to the hearing of the motion, the plaintiff dismissed the action as to the defendant Campbell, and the record presents but one question for our determination: Has the appellant, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the state of Arizona, acquired a residence in the county of Inyo, state of California? It is urged by appellant that by reason of having complied with the provisions of section 408 of the Civil Code (in force at the time of the alleged injury and at the time of the motion), requiring a foreign corporation to file a certified copy of its articles of incorporation with the Secretary of State and with the county clerk of the county where its principal place of business is located and where it owns property, appellant became a resident of Inyo County, the county where its principal place of business in this state is located, so as to be entitled to have this action transferred to that county for trial.
In the case of Jenkins v. California Stage Co., 22 Cal. 538, one of the cases relied upon by appellant, it does not appear from the opinion whether the court was considering a domestic or a foreign corporation. The case of California S. R. R. Co. v. Southern Pac. R. R. Co., 65 Cal. 394, [4 Pac. 344], which overruled the Jenkins case, also does not state whether the question under consideration related to domestic or. foreign corporations, but the language in that ease is sufficiently broad to embrace both classes of corporations. However, the case of Cohn v. Central Pac. R. R. Co., 71 Cal. 488, [12 Pac. 498], also cited by appellant, and which it urges reaffirmed the Jenkins ease, certainly only reaffirms that case in so far as it applies to domestic corporations. For in the Cohn case, it is said that the question whether a domestic corporation had any place of residence in the state where it was entitled as a matter of right to a trial of a suit brought against it in another county, did not necessarily arise in the case of California S. R. R. Co. v. Southern Pacific R. R. Co., supra, and, there *773 fore, that ease does not overrule the Jenkins ease, and that, therefore, the Cohn case is decided upon the authority of the Jenkins case. It is apparent, then, that the court in construing the Jenkins case, and in reaffirming it, limited the application of this rule to domestic corporations.
As stated in California S. R. R. Co. v. Southern Pac. R. R. Co., supra, there is no statute in this state defining the place of residence of a corporation. A line of judicial decisions seems to have settled the matter, however, in regard to domestic corporations. With respect to foreign corporations, we find no authority for extending to them the rule applied to domestic corporations. .
The order appealed from is affirmed.
Haven, J., and Brittain, J., concurred.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- H. S. RYAN, Respondent, v. INYO CERRO GORDO MINING AND POWER COMPANY (A Corporation), Et Al., Defendants; CERRO GORDO MINES COMPANY (A Corporation), Appellant
- Cited By
- 11 cases
- Status
- Published