Roulier v. Cannondale

In Roulier v. Cannondale (2002) 101 Cal.App.4th 1180, while visiting California, the plaintiff in Roulier bought a bicycle which he took back with him to Switzerland where he lived. While riding the bicycle in Switzerland, he suffered serious injuries. He sued the California bicycle shop and the bicycle's East Coast-based manufacturer in Los Angeles Superior Court for making and selling a defective bicycle. (Id. at p. 1183.) The manufacturer served on the plaintiff over 50 form interrogatories, some of which involved matters unrelated to forum non conveniens. (Id. at pp. 1184, 1191.) The plaintiff served his discovery responses. The manufacturer thereafter moved to dismiss the complaint for forum non conveniens. The Roulier trial court recognized that the plaintiff's accident happened in Switzerland and he had received medical care in that country, but the court denied the motion to dismiss because " 'the site of the accident is collateral to the issues raised by products liability and breach of warranty actions. Having the matter heard in California will ease the access to evidence regarding the design and manufacture of the subject bicycle, both of which took place in the United States.' " (Roulier v. Cannondale, supra, 101 Cal.App.4th at p. 1184.) The appellate court concluded the trial court was correct. (Id. at pp. 1184-1186, 1192-1193.) Weighing in favor of the trial court's ruling was the appellate court's disapproval of the manufacturer's moving to dismiss after pursuing discovery that went beyond matters needed to establish forum non conveniens. (Id. at p. 1191.) Viewing the manufacturer's conduct with disfavor, the Roulier court noted: "Counsel for the manufacturer told the trial court that the forum non conveniens motion was delayed to allow time to conduct discovery relevant to that issue. But the form interrogatories propounded by the manufacturer went beyond the forum non conveniens factors, by inquiring into the substance of plaintiff's claims for medical and lost wages damages. In an analogous case, Groom v. Health Net, 82 Cal.App.4th 1189 ... , we discussed cases that have held that prejudice can be established when a party uses judicial discovery procedures for an unfair advantage, e.g., using discovery procedures not available in arbitration to discover plaintiff's strategy and evidence before moving to compel arbitration. " (Id. at p. 1191.)