Bell v. Pulmosan Safety Equipment Corp., No. 17-1051 (8th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseThe Eighth Circuit reversed the district court's grant of default judgment against Pulmosan because the company was not properly served. The court held that, under basic principles of agency law, the death of an agent terminates his authority to act on behalf of the principal. In this case, the death of Pulmosan's registered agent prevented him from receiving service of process on behalf of Pulmosan; his death terminated any agency relationship he may have had with his apartment building's doorman to receive service; and the possible habitation of the agent's widow at her husband's former residence did not validate service based on her former status as a corporate officer. Therefore, the attempted service of process was invalid, the district court lacked jurisdiction over Pulmosan, and its subsequent judgment was void.
Court Description: Smith, Author, with Arnold and Kelly, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Civil Procedure. The district court erred in denying defendant's Fed. R. Civ. P. Rule 60(b)(4) motion to void plaintiffs' default judgment; death of defendant's registered agent prevented him from receiving service of process on its behalf, and his death similarly terminated any agency relationship he may have had with his apartment building's doorman to receive service; the doorman never worked for defendant or acted on its behalf and was not its agent for service; registered agent's widow's possible habitation at her husband's former residence does not validate service based on her former status as a corporate officer; because the service of process was invalid, the district court lacked jurisdiction over defendant its subsequent judgment is void.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.