ALVORD, J.
The plaintiffs, Katherine Connors and Erik Connors, appeal from the judgment of the trial court granting the motion to dismiss filed by the defendant, Rolls-Royce North America, Inc. The court declined to exercise jurisdiction over the parties on the basis that the plaintiffs were seeking to recover under a contract containing a forum selection clause that vested exclusive jurisdiction in Florida courts. On appeal, the plaintiffs claim that the court improperly (1) enforced a forum selection clause in a purported contract between the plaintiffs and a third party, Lexicon Relocation, LLC (Lexicon), to which the defendant was not a signatory, and (2) found the existence of an agency relationship between the defendant and Lexicon.
The following facts, as alleged in or necessarily implied from the complaint, are relevant to our resolution of the plaintiffs' appeal. See May v. Coffey, 291 Conn. 106, 108, 967 A.2d 495 (2009) (in reviewing "the trial court's decision to grant a motion to dismiss, we take the facts to be those alleged in the complaint, including those facts necessarily implied from the allegations, construing them in a manner most favorable to the pleader" [internal quotation marks omitted]). We also recognize that a motion to dismiss "invokes any record that accompanies the motion, including supporting affidavits that contain undisputed facts." (Emphasis added; internal quotation marks omitted.) Tellar v. Abbott Laboratories, Inc., 114 Conn.App. 244, 246, 969 A.2d 210 (2009).
The first count of the plaintiffs' two count complaint alleged that Erik Connors was hired by the defendant to work at the defendant's facility in Indiana. As part of the employment agreement, the defendant "promised ... specific assistance in the sale of his home in Connecticut and [the] purchase of a new home in Indiana...." Further, the defendant "agreed to relocate him and his family to Indiana and to cover the cost of the sale, including carrying the costs of his Connecticut home while the family relocated to Indiana...." The defendant "represented and promised" that it "would assist in the sale of the plaintiffs' home in Connecticut, as well as provide the purchase of a home in Indiana, regardless of whether their home in Connecticut was sold." The defendant "breached their contract," however, by failing "to relocate" them, by failing "to take title to their home and carry the Connecticut home," and by failing to "assist in the purchase of a home in Indiana." Although "[t]he defendant offered the services of an outside company
The second count of the complaint incorporated the allegations of the first count and further alleged that Katherine Connors was a third party beneficiary "of the contract between Erik Connors and [the defendant]." The plaintiffs' complaint does not specify whether the referenced contract was oral or in writing, or, if in writing, the title of the contract or the date that it was executed. In their prayer for relief, the plaintiffs sought monetary damages, the costs of the action, and attorney's fees.
On June 28, 2012, the defendant filed a motion to dismiss the plaintiffs' complaint "based on improper venue and the plaintiffs' prior abandonment of these claims."
A hearing on the defendant's motion to dismiss was held on April 7, 2014. At that time, counsel for the defendant stated that the present action was the third action by the plaintiffs against the defendant for the same claims. The first action, filed in 2010, was brought against the defendant and Lexicon. It was dismissed by the court under its dormancy program for failure to prosecute with reasonable diligence. The second action, filed in 2011, was commenced against the defendant only. That action was withdrawn by the plaintiffs in October, 2011. The present third action was commenced against the defendant in December, 2011. According to the defendant's counsel, all of the claims in all three actions were based upon the terms and conditions contained in the Lexicon contract, even though the plaintiffs never identified the contract that allegedly was breached in the present action.
The court asked the plaintiffs' counsel: "What do you claim obligates [the defendant] to buy [the plaintiffs'] house?" Counsel responded: "They promised it. They hired him on the representation that they would purchase the house in order to effectuate his move. When he got there, they terminated him. He was left holding the house in Indiana and a house in Connecticut and that's what — on his hiring terms. Those are the terms upon which he was hired." The court then asked if there was something in writing to that effect, and counsel represented that "[t]here was not a written contract of employment."
The court issued its memorandum of decision on May 27, 2014. In that decision, the court made the following determinations: (1) the substance of the present complaint is the same as the plaintiffs' two prior complaints and arises out of the same set of circumstances; (2) the "outside company" referenced in the present complaint is Lexicon; (3) although the plaintiffs argue that the defendant did not sign the Lexicon contract, that contract was signed by the plaintiffs;
"A motion to dismiss ... properly attacks the jurisdiction of the court.... [O]ur review of the court's ultimate legal conclusion and resulting grant of the motion to dismiss will be de novo.... Factual findings underlying the court's decision, however, will not be disturbed unless they are clearly erroneous." (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Manka v. Walt Disney Co., 149 Conn.App. 1, 6, 87 A.3d 1165 (2014).
Connecticut courts have long recognized the viability of forum selection clauses. In United States Trust Co. v. Bohart, 197 Conn. 34, 41-42, 495 A.2d 1034 (1985), our Supreme Court acknowledged that "parties to a contract may agree in advance to submit to the jurisdiction of a given court.... Absent a showing of fraud or overreaching, such forum clauses will be enforced by the courts." (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) In Reiner, Reiner & Bendett, P.C. v. Cadle Co., 278 Conn. 92, 103, 897 A.2d 58 (2006), our Supreme Court expressly stated that the existence of a forum selection clause does not divest a trial court of personal jurisdiction over the parties, but it does present the question of whether it is reasonable for the court to exercise its jurisdiction in the particular circumstances of the case.
In the present case, the trial court cited the relevant case law pertaining to forum selection clauses and concluded that "[t]he plaintiffs' claims are clearly within the scope" of the forum selection clause in the Lexicon contract. The court stated that the plaintiffs were presumed to have read and understood that clause, and the court granted the defendant's motion to dismiss on that basis.
The fatal flaw in the court's determination is the fact that the enforceability of the Lexicon contract was very much at issue; it was not undisputed that the plaintiffs were relying on that contract for its claims against the defendant in this action or that the Lexicon contract was a validly executed contract.
"Under well established contract law, a contract must be definite and certain as to its terms and requirements.... In addition, there must be a manifestation of mutual assent to those terms and requirements .... [T]he existence of a contract is a question of fact...." (Emphasis added; internal quotation marks omitted.) Dreambuilders Construction, Inc. v. Diamond, 121 Conn.App. 554, 559, 997 A.2d 553 (2010). The plaintiffs have not alleged in their complaint, nor have they presented any documentation to suggest, that the Lexicon contract, which contains the forum selection clause at issue, is a valid and enforceable contract. The defendant has not provided an affidavit or any other documentation to demonstrate that the Lexicon contract is a valid and enforceable contract. There is nothing in the record to contradict the plaintiffs' position that the Lexicon contract was never executed by all parties and, therefore, that it never became a valid and enforceable contract. The court, in its memorandum of decision, even questioned whether the defendant or Lexicon could be bound by that contract. Nevertheless, the court expressly relied on the forum selection clause in the Lexicon contract to grant the defendant's motion to dismiss. The court's determination was clearly erroneous.
The judgment is reversed and the case is remanded with direction to deny the defendant's motion to dismiss and for further proceedings according to law.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.