Abraham Shakeri v. ADT Security Services, I

816 F.3d 283, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 4278, 2016 WL 877136
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedMarch 7, 2016
Docket15-10539
StatusPublished
Cited by41 cases

This text of 816 F.3d 283 (Abraham Shakeri v. ADT Security Services, I) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Abraham Shakeri v. ADT Security Services, I, 816 F.3d 283, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 4278, 2016 WL 877136 (5th Cir. 2016).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Plaihtiffs-Appellants Abraham Shakeri and KahatereH Taji filed suit against Defendant-Appellee ADT Security Services, Inc. in state court, pursuing a breach of contract claim and tort claims under Texas law for negligence, fraud, unconscionable conduct, and breach of the implied warranty of good and workmanlike performance. ADT removed the. case to federal court, thereafter moving to. dismiss the tort claims and limit recovery on the breach of contract claim. The district court ultimately dismissed Plaintiffs’ tort claims and limited their contractual recovery in three separate orders. Plaintiffs timely appealed and argue that the district court erred in'dismissing their tort claims. For-the following reasons, we REVERSE the district court’s order dismissing Plaintiffs’ negligence claim and REMAND to the district court for further proceedings on this claim, and we AFFIRM the district court’s orders dismissing Plaintiffs’ remaining tort claims.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs-Appéllants Abraham Shakeri and Kahateréh Taji were proprietors of a jewelry store, Neimax Jewelry Shop, in Irving, Texas, that they opened in 1987. After the store opened, Shakeri executed a contract on June 16, 1988 (1988 Contract), with Defendant-Appellee ADT Security Services, Inc. (ADT), whereby ADT would provide Neimax Jewelry with an alarm system and backup alarm while also servicing the alarm systems. Included in the 1988 Contract were a number of terms and conditions to govern the parties’ relationship. Shortly thereafter, in November 1988, Shakeri and Taji formed the company Neimax Jewelry, Inc. (Neimax). On August 26, 1999, Shakeri, acting as President of Neimax, executed a second con *288 tract with ADT (1999 . Contract) under which ADT updated and replaced some of the alarm system’s existing components. The 1999 Contract included many of the same ■ terms and conditions as the 1988 Contract, some of. which are now relevant to the appeal before us.. As to maintenance, the 1999 Contract stated:

C. Maintenance—If the reverse side of this agreement indicates this' service is being provided, ADT will, upon Customer’s request, provide ordinary maintenance and repair of such system due tb normal wear and tear and bear the expense thereof.

As to liability, the 1999 Contract limited Neimax’s recoverable damages in the event that ADT failed to perform its obligations under the. Contract:

E. ... IF ADT SHOULD BE FOUND LIABLE FOR LOSS, DAMAGE, OR INJURY DUE TO A FAILURE OF SERVICE OR EQUIPMENT IN ANY RESPECT, ITS LIABILITY SHALL BE LIMITED TO A SUM EQUAL TO 10% OF THE ANNUAL SERVICE CHARGE OR $1,000, WHICHEVER IS GREATER, AS THE AGREED UPON DAMAGES AND NOT AS A PENALTY, AS THE EXCLUSIVE REMEDY; AND THAT THE PROVISIONS OF THIS PARAGRAPH SHALL APPLY IF LOSS, DAMAGE OR INJURY, IRRESPECTIVE OF CAUSE OR ORIGIN, RESULTS DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY TO PERSON OR PROPERTY FROM PERFORMANCE OR NONPERFORMANCE OF OBLIGATIONS IMPOSED BY THIS CONTRACT OR FROM NEGLIGENCE, ACTIVE OR OTHERWISE, STRICT LIABILITY, VIOLATION OF ANY APPLICABLE CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW OR ANY OTHER ALLEGED FAULT ON THE PART OF ADT, ITS AGENTS OR EMPLOYEES.

And the 1999 Contract also included a merger clause acknowledging that Neimax was not relying on any representation, inducement, or advertisement in entering the contract:

N. THIS AGREEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ENTIRE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CUSTOMER AND ADT. IN EXECUTING THIS AGREEMENT, CUSTOMER IS NOT RELYING ON ANY ADVICE OR ADVERTISEMENT OF ADT. CUSTOMER AGREES THAT ANY REPRESENTATION, PROMISE, CONDITION, INDUCEMENT OR WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, NOT INCLUDED IN WRITING IN THIS AGREEMENT SHALL NOT BE BINDING UPON ANY PARTY, AND THAT THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS HEREOF APPLY AS PRINTED WITHOUT ANY ALTERATION OR QUALIFICATION, EXCEPT AS SPECIFICALLY MODIFIED IN WRITING. THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT SHALL GOVERN NOTWITHSTANDING ANY INCONSISTENT OR ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS OR ANY PURCHASE ORDER OR OTHER DOCUMENT SUBMITTED BY THE CUSTOMER.

After Neimax entered into the 1999 Contract, Neimax continued to use ADT as its alarm system provider; paying ADT for the alarm, system’s installation and for monthly alarm system service. The ADT alarm system included a panic button (or silent alarm system) whereby the alarm would be triggered by- pushing a button.

On January 5, 2012, Shakeri contacted ADT to request servicing of the Neimax alarm system and the backup, alarm. ADT dispatched a technician to Neimax on Jan- *289 nary 10, 2012, who ostensibly performed the service and informed Shakeri that the service was complete. However, after the technician’s visit, Shakeri noticed a new beeping sound coming from the alarm. Shakeri subsequently called ADT to report the problem on January 11, but a repair technician never repaired the alarm system. According to ADT, the repair technician arrived in Neimax’s parking lot at 5:00 PM that day but did not enter the store because no overtime was authorized for his work.

On January 12, 2012, Neimax was robbed at gunpoint, and Shakeri was severely beaten and tasered. During the robbery, Shakeri pushed the button to trigger' the alarm system- multiple times, but the alarm system and the backup alarm failed to work. Shortly after the robbery occurred on January 12, an ADT technician arrived at Neimax to fix the alarm system, by which point Shakeri was being taken to the hospital. As a result of the robbery, Shakeri suffered injuries to his neck, body, and right shoulder that required surgery. ADT alleges that, by the time of the robbery, its technician had informed Shakeri that the alarm system was broken and that no monitoring was taking place.

Shakeri and Taji filed the instant civil action against ADT in the 14th Judicial District Court of Dallas County, Texas, on June 11, 2013, seeking monetary relief over $200,000 but not more than $1,000,000. Plaintiffs asserted claims for negligence, breach of contract, common law fraud, and unconscionable conduct under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA). On their breach of contract claim, Plaintiffs alleged that ADT had breached the contract by not providing a working alarm system and repairing it in a timely manner. Plaintiffs also alleged that Defendants committed fraud by misrepresenting that the alarm would be a top of the line alarm system and that Plaintiffs had relied on this misrepresentation when entering into the 1999 Contract. As to their negligence claim, Plaintiffs alleged that ADT owed a legal duty to provide a top of the. line commercial alarm for Plaintiffs and breached that duty by failing to provide a working alarm and making the necessary repairs. Finally, Plaintiffs’ DTPA claim alleged that ADT had engaged in unconscionable conduct when it falsely advertised that its alarm system would not fail and would be of high quality, thereby exploiting Plaintiffs’ lack of knowledge, ability, experience, or capacity.

ADT removed the action to federal court under 28 U.S.C, § 1441, asserting diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Following removal, ADT moved to dismiss Plaintiffs’ negligence, fraud, and -DTPA claims.

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816 F.3d 283, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 4278, 2016 WL 877136, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/abraham-shakeri-v-adt-security-services-i-ca5-2016.