Mary Watson, a resident of Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas, wishes to bring an invasion of privacy lawsuit against Snowball, Inc., because they used a photograph of her, without her consent, in an advertisement for one of the company's products. The photograph was taken while she was hiking in the mountains of Colorado. Watson will ask for damages of $100,000 from Snowball, a corporation located in Summit county Colorado. The ad was published in a Denver newspaper. Snowball, Inc., also placed the ad on the company's website that is accessible by anyone with Internet.
Questions
Mary comes to you for advice. How would you answer the following questions?
- If she wants to file in state court, where is jurisdiction proper? Explain
- Where is venue proper? Explain
- If she wants to file her claim in federal court, can she? Explain
- If Mary files a claim in state court but Snowball wants the claim resolved in federal court, do they have any rights? Explain