Rossa

DISCUSSION

Rossa is a California resident who brought suit against out-of-state bus manufacturer Blue Bird and others for injuries he sustained when his leg was severely injured by the retractable electrical steps of a bookmobile. Blue Bird manufactured and sold the bus chassis out of state to a third party, OBS, Inc., which modified the bus by installing the electrical steps and converted it into a bookmobile before selling it in California to Rossa’s employer. (Rossa v. Blue Bird Body Co. (June 29, 2021, No. A160544) [nonpub. opn.] (Rossa I).) This is the second time the personal jurisdiction issue has been before us. Blue Bird moved to quash service of summons, contending it was not amenable to suit in California. In the prior appeal, we reversed the trial court’s ruling that it lacked jurisdiction over Blue Bird and remanded Blue Bird’s motion to quash for further proceedings. (See Rossa I, supra,

A160544.)

We presume the parties’ familiarity with the law and facts stated in our prior opinion and summarize the opinion here briefly. As we explained, “a state may exercise specific jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant ‘if the defendant has “purposefully directed” his…