AFT Mich. v. Project Veritas

378 F. Supp. 3d 614
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedMarch 28, 2019
DocketCivil Case No. 17-13292
StatusPublished

This text of 378 F. Supp. 3d 614 (AFT Mich. v. Project Veritas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
AFT Mich. v. Project Veritas, 378 F. Supp. 3d 614 (E.D. Mich. 2019).

Opinion

LINDA V. PARKER, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This action involves allegations of political espionage and an important, unresolved question of Michigan law concerning the protections afforded participants in a private conversation under the Michigan Eavesdropping statute ( Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.539a et seq. ). Plaintiff AFT Michigan ("AFT Michigan" or "AFT") seeks injunctive relief, compensatory damages, and punitive damages against Defendants Project Veritas and Marisa L. Jorge (respectively, "PV" and "Jorge") for their alleged acts of fraud, trespass, eavesdropping, misappropriation of trade secrets, and other violations of Michigan law. (See Sec. Am. Compl., ECF No. 72, PageID 2034.) Presently before the Court is Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Procedure 12(b)(6). (Mot. Dismiss, ECF No. 74, PageID 2071.) The matter being fully briefed, (ECF Nos. 74, 77, 80), the Court is dispensing with oral argument pursuant to Local Rule 7.1(f)(2).

I. Background

Plaintiff, the Michigan affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, is a labor organization that, along with its affiliates, represents more than 35,000 public school employees. (See Sec. Am. Compl. ¶ 1, ECF No. 72 at 2, PageID 2036.) AFT Michigan alleges that Defendant Project Veritas implanted Defendant Jorge in its organization to covertly record its staff members' conversations, distort and manipulate them, then release them to the public for the purpose of disparaging AFT. (See id. at 2-3.)

AFT Michigan alleges that Defendant Jorge sought an internship with AFT, see id. at 4, and at the outset, Jorge misrepresented herself as, Marisa Perez, a student at the University of Michigan with the desire to teach in public schools. (See id. at 5.) AFT accepted Jorge and assigned her to projects related to her expressed interest in charter schools. (See id. ) Over the course of three months, however, Jorge regularly sought information beyond her assignment: seeking "detailed information regarding grievances relating to employee discipline", attending "bargaining sessions", accessing without permission Plaintiff's staff members' offices, computers, *618files, and records, and accessing without authorization Plaintiff's private and confidential databases, documents, and information. (Id. at 5-6, 8-9, 13.)

Furthermore, AFT alleges that Jorge "employed a hidden camera [in a private office] to covertly record a private conversation with an AFT Michigan staff representative" during which they discussed the resolution of a matter related to teacher discipline with the goal of teaching Jorge how staff members provide assistance in those matters. (Sec. Am. Comp. ¶¶ 28-29, 32, ECF No. 72 at 7, PageID 2041.) Defendant Project Veritas later published portions of the recorded conversation (along with some of AFT's confidential documents) on YouTube, editing the conversation to provide a false narrative as to AFT's staff member's role for the specific purpose of disparaging AFT Michigan. (See id. at 7-8.) Finally, Plaintiff's staff members noticed Jorge carrying her cellular phone wherever she went and believed she recorded AFT staff members' conversations and AFT's meetings without permission. (See id. at 11, 13, 17; see also Dobbie Aff. ¶ 10, ECF No. 1-1 at 3, PageID 38.)

AFT Michigan initiated this lawsuit, believing Defendants to be in possession of its proprietary and confidential information, in the Third Circuit Court for the County of Wayne, Michigan (Case No. 17-014348-CZ). (See Not. Removal, ECF No. 1, PageID 1.) Defendants removed the lawsuit to the Eastern District of Michigan based upon diversity jurisdiction. (See id. ) Presently before the Court is Defendants' Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). (Mot. Dismiss, ECF No. 74, PageID 2071.) The matter has been fully briefed, (ECF Nos. 74, 77, 80), and the Court has dispensed with oral argument pursuant to Local Rule 7.1(f)(2).

Defendants' Motion to Dismiss does little to refute the alleged conduct against them but repudiates Plaintiff's claims as "no more than conclusory labels". (Mot. Dismiss 1, ECF No. 74 at 1, PageID 2083.)

II. Michigan's Eavesdropping Statute

Defendants contend that they are not liable under Michigan's eavesdropping statute because Jorge was a participant to the private conversations she allegedly recorded. Defendants note that two past Michigan Court of Appeals decisions- Sullivan v. Gray , 117 Mich. App. 476, 324 N.W.2d 58 (1982) (2-1 decision) (per curiam) and Lewis v. LeGrow , 258 Mich. App. 175, 670 N.W.2d 675, 683-84 (2003) (citing Sullivan 's holding that "a participant in a private conversation may record it without 'eavesdropping' " but also noting "that eavesdropping is not at issue in this case.")-provide some support to their claim that a participant in a private conversation who records it absent the consent of all other participants is not liable under Michigan's eavesdropping statute ( Mich. Comp.

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Bluebook (online)
378 F. Supp. 3d 614, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aft-mich-v-project-veritas-mied-2019.