NEW YORK DID NOT HAVE LONG-ARM JURISDICTION OVER A BAVARIAN STEM DONOR REGISTRY INVOLVED IN DECEDENT’S PHYSICIANS’ SEARCH FOR A BONE-MARROW MATCH TO TREAT LEUKEMIA (FIRST DEPT).
The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined New York did not have jurisdiction over BSB, a Bavarian stem donor registry:
BSB was contacted through a chain of interactions between donor registries that began with decedent’s New York physicians reaching out to the National Marrow Donor Program in Minnesota to find a match for decedent so that she could undergo a bone marrow transplant to treat her leukemia. When no match was found there, the search was expanded, including to Republic of German’s central registry, and ultimately a donor was located in the BSB registry. BSB did not engage in a regular course of conduct, nor did it purposefully avail itself of the privilege of conducting activities within New York State … . Furthermore, BSB, a 20-employee not-for-profit organization, was reimbursed with a set sum by a German entity for providing the donation to decedent’s transplant center’s courier in Germany, and reimbursement was not contingent on decedent’s ability to pay, insurance, or the like. There is no evidence that BSB derived substantial revenue from the transaction or from New York, where it has no offices, employees, agents, marketing, registrations, or presence … . Even if the long-arm statute applied, BSB does not have the minimum contacts necessary such that it should have reasonably expected to be brought into court here … .Aloisio v New York-Presbyt./Weill Cornell Med. Ctr., 2022 NY Slip Op 03205, First Dept 5-17-22
Practice Point: A Bavarian stem donor registry did not have sufficient contacts with New York to allow New York to exercise long-arm jurisdiction over the registry. The registry played a role in decedent’s physicians’ search for a bone-marrow match to treat decedent’s leukemia. The registry had no presence in New York and did not purposely conduct activities in New York. Even if the long-arm statute applied, the registry did not have the minimum contacts with New York required under a due-process analysis.