Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Dec 14, 2021
Charles Babb and Autumn Babb, Appellants, vs. Tiffany Bartlett, Respondent.
Autumn Babb, as plaintiff ad litem for her deceased husband Charles Babb, appealed the circuit court's dismissal of their personal injury claims against Tiffany Bartlett for lack of personal jurisdiction. The underlying claims stemmed from a California auto accident involving Oklahoma residents, but Appellants sought to establish jurisdiction in Missouri based on Bartlett's contracts with a Missouri corporation and her work in the state. The appellate court affirmed the dismissal, holding that the tort claims did not sufficiently "arise from" Bartlett's Missouri-related contractual activities or business transactions to satisfy Missouri's long-arm statute.