Tanfield Engineering Systems, Inc. v. Thornton
Annotate this CasePeggy Thornton filed a wrongful death action in 2007 against Woodall Electric Company, Inc. (her deceased husband's employer), as well as several fictitious defendants. Thornton later added Defendants Tanfield Group, PLC, Tanfield Engineering Systems, Inc. ("Tanfield Engineering"), and Bidgood Enterprises, Inc. After having served Tanfield Group, Thornton had an alias summons issued for Tanfield Engineering and served Tanfield Engineering via certified mail. Tanfield Engineering filed a Motion to Dismiss the First Amended Complaint based on the plaintiff's failure to serve process, pursuant to Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(4)-(5). Thornton's response to the motion contended that Tanfield Group was the parent company of Tanfield Engineering; thus, according to Thornton, Tanfield Engineering had been put on notice of Thornton's claims because its parent company had been served in a timely manner. The trial court denied Tanfield Engineering's Motion to Dismiss based on a finding that Tanfield Engineering was an alter ego of Tanfield Group and that service upon Tanfield Group constituted effective service upon Tanfield Engineering. Tanfield Engineering filed a Petition for Interlocutory Appeal and a motion to stay proceedings in the trial court, both of which the Supreme Court granted. Upon review, the Court concluded that the trial court's decision was contrary to its precedent that classifies subsidiaries which are wholly owned by their parent corporations and share common officers with their parent corporations, as separate and distinct from their parent corporations. Accordingly, the Supreme Court vacated the court's order and remanded the case for further proceedings.
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