Court Dismisses Delaware Casino from New Jersey Wrongful Death Suit Over Lack of Personal Jurisdiction

CAMDEN (LN) — The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey ruled on May 15 that it cannot exercise personal jurisdiction over Dover Downs Casino, dismissing the Estate of Ada M. Roman’s claims against the Delaware entity.

The wrongful death suit arises from a 2023 crash in which Kevin M. Wilson, an employee of Dover Downs, allegedly consumed alcohol at the Delaware casino, drove into New Jersey, and fatally struck Ada M. Roman. The Estate sued Wilson and Dover Downs, arguing that because Dover Downs’s ultimate parent, Bally’s Corporation, operates Bally’s Atlantic City in New Jersey, the court should exercise general jurisdiction over the Delaware subsidiary.

The court rejected that theory, noting the Estate offered no competent evidence that Dover Downs’s ultimate parent Bally’s Corporation “owns and operates Bally’s Atlantic City.” The judge wrote that the Estate was asking the court to go “up from Bally's Atlantic City to Bally's Corporation then downwards to Bally's Management Group, LLC, to Premier Entertainment III, LLC, and finally to Dover Downs.” The court stated it "declines to clamber corporate peaks and valleys to flag 'sweeping jurisdiction' over a nonresident defendant."

The court also found no specific jurisdiction over Dover Downs, ruling that the casino did not “purposefully avail[ed] itself” of New Jersey. The Estate’s reliance on Wilson’s cross-border travel and Bally’s Corporation’s online gambling platforms in New Jersey failed because those were the “unilateral activity of another party or a third person,” not deliberate acts by Dover Downs itself.

With jurisdiction over Dover Downs lacking, the court turned to transfer. It tentatively found that transferring the matter to the District of Delaware comports with 28 U.S.C. § 1631 for the claims against the casino, and § 1404(a) for the claims against Wilson, citing judicial economy and the risk that the statute of limitations might have expired for the claims against the casino.

However, the court declined to order the transfer immediately, noting that neither party had fully briefed the transfer statutes. The judge deferred the decision to allow for supplemental briefing, to let Wilson express his forum preference, and to give the parties a chance to stipulate to a transferee forum.

The court granted in part and denied in part Dover Downs’s motion to dismiss or transfer, leaving the case in New Jersey for now while the parties navigate the transfer mechanics.