{"id":2266,"date":"2018-04-08T12:39:13","date_gmt":"2018-04-08T20:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trainingpips.com\/?page_id=2266"},"modified":"2019-04-18T03:25:11","modified_gmt":"2019-04-18T11:25:11","slug":"ps-102-chapter-8-article-3-service-on-an-entity-reiner-vs-pittsburg-des-moines-corp","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/ps-102-a-course-outline\/ps-102-understanding-case-summaries\/ps-102-chapter-8-an-introduction-to-service-on-an-entity-case-law\/ps-102-chapter-8-article-3-service-on-an-entity-reiner-vs-pittsburg-des-moines-corp\/","title":{"rendered":"PS 102 – Chapter 8 – Article 3 – Service on an Entity – Reiner vs Pittsburg Des Moines Corp"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary
\nReiner v. Pittsburg Des Moines Corp., 101 Wn.2d 475, 680 P.2d 55 (1984)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Facts<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

An injured worker sought recovery from several defendants including an out of state (foreign) corporation.\u00a0 A process server took the summons and complaint to the home of Charles Robinson, an employee of defendant corporation. Charles Robinson\u2019s title was manager of \u201csite support services\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 Lucienne Robinson, who is not an employee but is the wife of Charles Robinson, answered the door.\u00a0 The process server asked her if this was the residence of Charles Robinson.\u00a0 When she replied that it was, the server handed her the summons and complaint.\u00a0 Mrs. Robinson then took the papers to her husband who was at home watching television.\u00a0<\/span>
\n
\n<\/strong><\/u><\/span>Judicial History<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Trial court found service upon Lucienne Robinson did not constitute service upon a foreign corporation.\u00a0 The Court of Appeals reversed.\u00a0 Supreme Court held that the manner of service met the statutory requirements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Specific Issues<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Is it necessary that express authority to receive or accept service of process be conferred by the corporation on the person served?\u00a0\u00a0No.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Is service on the wife of an agent for service of process at the agent\u2019s home adequate to confer jurisdiction over a foreign corporation?\u00a0\u00a0Yes.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Holding<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    It is sufficient service on a foreign corporation if authority to receive service may be reasonably and justly implied.\u00a0 Service on the spouse, after insuring that the home was the abode of the agent, meets statutory requirements.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Reasoning<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    The question turns on the character of the agent, and in the absence of express authority given by the corporation, on a review of the surrounding facts and the inferences which may be properly be drawn therefrom.\u00a0 Although Charles Robinson had not been designated the statutory agent for service of process, his title implies that he possessed sufficient discretionary authority to act in a representative capacity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    As a corporation is a fictitious entity, it acts wholly through its representative agents.\u00a0 In order to effectively serve a foreign corporation under\u00a0RCW 4.28.080(10)<\/a>, one of its qualified agents must be personally served.\u00a0 Service on a spouse in or near the vicinity of the house of usual abode satisfies the terms of\u00a0RCW 4.28080(10)<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    C4PSE\u00a0Comment<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    This is an unusual circumstance. If you read the RCW, it makes no mention of leaving the documents at the agent’s residence with a spouse. However, the Supreme Court ruled that this was good service. As process servers it is important to know about these different instances of service but to tread very carefully around them. Do not make it a habit of serving in a manner other than how the RCWs dictate, all it would take is a slight change in circumstance for the exact same service to be thrown out of court. Ultimately, get written instructions from your client, allowing service in a manner other than that described in the RCW.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Summary Reiner v. Pittsburg Des Moines Corp., 101 Wn.2d 475, 680 P.2d 55 (1984) Facts An injured worker sought recovery […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":2260,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2266","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2266\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}