Alani Consulting, Inc. and B12 Consulting, LLC v. UST Global Inc. and Alan Goerner

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided December 11, 2023·No. 05-22-01139-CV·Published

Opinion

Affirm and Opinion Filed December 11, 2023

In The

Court of Appeals

Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-22-01139-CV

ALANI CONSULTING, INC. AND B12 CONSULTING, LLC, Appellants V.

UST GLOBAL INC. AND ALAN GOERNER, Appellees

On Appeal from the 14th Judicial District Court Dallas County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. DC-22-01748

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Before Justices Carlyle, Goldstein, and Kennedy Opinion by Justice Goldstein Alani Consulting, Inc., and B12 Consulting, LLC, appeal the trial court’s

order granting the special appearance of UST Global, Inc., and Alan Goerner. In three issues, Alani and B12 assert the trial court’s order granting UST’s special appearance should be reversed because the trial court’s implied findings wrongly found that 1) UST does not fall within the reach of Texas’ long-arm statute; 2) Goerner was not an employee of UST; and 3) it does not have specific jurisdiction over UST. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Alani is a Dallas-based IT consulting company with nationwide and European clients, utilizing its proprietary assessment model to tailor “IT solutions to maximize agility and implement comprehensive digital transformations for its clients.” B12 is an IT staffing company whose sole member is a citizen and resident of the state of Texas.

Goerner, a Dallas County resident, was Alani’s chief strategist, who received confidential information under his employment confidentiality agreement (ECA) and later served as a business consultant. During Goerner’s tenure as chief strategist, Alani was focused on expanding existing client relationships with Telefónica and BBVA and developing business with Orange. Due to alleged performance issues, Goerner was removed as chief strategist and, upon his termination, negotiated a consulting role with Alani’s corporate parent. Goerner also negotiated, but never finalized, a license agreement and executed a Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement with B12. During the negotiation period, UST was actively soliciting Goerner for employment and Goerner is alleged to have shared Alani’s confidential information in violation of his ECA and NDA. UST hired Goerner to serve as the global head of UST’s agility practice.

UST is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in California and a registered agent in Dallas, Texas. UST, like Alani, provides IT solutions, including agile consulting services, to its clients. The original petition

avers the trial court has jurisdiction over UST based upon actions undertaken by Goerner while acting as an agent of UST under the direction and control of UST. Specifically, the original petition alleges that Goerner, once installed at UST, “at UST’s direction and while acting under UST’s control, continued to access and download Confidential Information and trade secrets from the Alani Dropbox account in violation of the ECA and NDA.” Further, Alani averred that “Goerner was accessing Alani’s Confidential Information and trade secrets in order to solicit Alani’s clients on behalf of his new employer, UST.” As a result of these efforts, Alani alleges it lost corporate opportunities with current clients UPS, BBVA, and Telefónica and prospective business relationships with Orange and Macquarie.

In February 2022, Alani and B12 filed their original petition seeking damages and injunctive relief against UST and Goerner and alleging claims based on violation of the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act (TUTSA); Goerner’s breach of contract under the ECA and NDA and breach of fiduciary duty; UST’s tortious interference with the B12 NDA and conversion and misappropriation; and conspiracy. The petition asserted the trial court had “jurisdiction over this matter because the transactions that give rise to Alani’s claims occurred in whole or in part in Texas, because Goerner is a Texas citizen and resident, because he undertook the acts complained of in Texas while acting as an agent of UST under the direction and control of UST, and the amount in controversy exceeds the minimum jurisdictional limit of the Court.”

UST’S SPECIAL APPEARANCE

After jurisdictional discovery, UST filed its verified second amended special appearance seeking to dismiss the three claims1 asserted against it because (1) Alani and B12 failed to meet their initial burden of pleading sufficient allegations to demonstrate that UST committed any act in Texas; (2) UST did not have sufficient minimum contacts in Texas to support the Court’s exercise of personal jurisdiction over it; and/or (3) UST negated Alani and B12’s allegations of its jurisdictional contacts with Texas. Because UST had insufficient contacts with Texas that were connected to the operative facts of the litigation, UST argued, there was no basis to exercise specific personal jurisdiction over it.2 As to B12, UST argued B12 did not allege that any operative facts attributable to UST occurred in Texas. Specifically, UST asserted that B12 only made one claim against UST: tortious interference with a non-disclosure agreement between Goerner and B12, and B12 made only the conclusory allegations that UST willfully and intentionally interfered with the non-disclosure agreement between Goerner and B12. UST argued B12 made “no specific allegations relating to this claim at all, much less any jurisdictional allegations arising in Texas,” and there was no

B12 asserts tortious interference with the NDA with Goerner. Alani’s two claims are violations of 1

TUTSA and conspiracy.

2 General personal jurisdiction was not alleged; therefore, our statement of the facts and analysis are limited to specific personal jurisdiction.

allegation anywhere in the petition of what this alleged interference was, let alone that the alleged interference occurred in Texas. In addition, UST claimed that B12 could not prove tortious interference because UST negated that it had any knowledge of the non-disclosure agreement between Goerner and B12 and therefore could not have induced a breach of the non-disclosure agreement, an essential element of B12’s claim.

As to Alani, UST first asserted Alani failed to establish an agency relationship between UST and Goerner, an independent contractor, and the “supposed forum contacts” of an independent contractor are not attributable to the principal. Second, UST argued it did not direct Goerner to commit any of the alleged misconduct attributed to Goerner in Alani’s petition. Third, even if Goerner’s alleged acts could be imputed to UST, UST argued that Alani failed to allege that the specific actions relevant to its claims against UST occurred in Texas. Specifically, UST asserted that the “bare assertion that Goerner is a resident of Texas does not show that the alleged actions, which are the operative facts underlying Alani’s claims against UST . . . occurred in Texas.” Regarding Alani’s conspiracy claim, UST cited National Industrial Sand Association v. Gibson, 897 S.W.2d 769, 773 (Tex. 1995), for the proposition that, even if UST had alleged jurisdictional facts in connection with its conspiracy claim, specific personal jurisdiction may not be asserted over UST based solely upon an alleged conspiracy.

In support of its arguments, UST cited the attached affidavit of Niranjan Ramsunder, UST’s chief technology officer. Ramsunder stated that Goerner became an independent contractor for UST on November 26, 2018, through an independent contractor agreement Ramsunder negotiated between UST and Bluegreen Evolution, Goerner’s company. According to the affidavit, until B12’a allegations in this case, Ramsunder was unaware of a non-disclosure agreement between Goerner and B12, and UST was not provided with a copy. Between November 26, 2018, and December 14, 2020, Goerner reported directly to Ramsunder, and Ramsunder was solely responsible for directing the ends sought to be accomplished through Goerner’s work for UST. However, Ramsunder did not control the means and details of how Goerner accomplished his work on behalf of UST.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Alani Consulting, Inc. and B12 Consulting, LLC v. UST Global Inc. and Alan Goerner, (Tex. Ct. App. 2023).

Alani Consulting, Inc. and B12 Consulting, LLC v. UST Global Inc. and Alan Goerner (Alani Consulting, Inc. and B12 Consulting, LLC v. UST Global Inc. and Alan Goerner) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Moki Mac River Expeditions v. Drugg
221 S.W.3d 569 (Texas Supreme Court, 2007)
Retamco Operating, Inc. v. Republic Drilling Co.
278 S.W.3d 333 (Texas Supreme Court, 2009)
BMC Software Belgium, NV v. Marchand
83 S.W.3d 789 (Texas Supreme Court, 2002)
Clark v. Noyes
871 S.W.2d 508 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1994)
Butnaru v. Ford Motor Co.
84 S.W.3d 198 (Texas Supreme Court, 2002)
Siskind v. Villa Foundation for Education, Inc.
642 S.W.2d 434 (Texas Supreme Court, 1982)
Olympia Capital Associates, L.P. v. Jackson
247 S.W.3d 399 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2008)
Michiana Easy Livin' Country, Inc. v. Holten
168 S.W.3d 777 (Texas Supreme Court, 2005)
Bruno's Inc. v. Arty Imports, Inc.
119 S.W.3d 893 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Alencar v. Shaw
323 S.W.3d 548 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2010)
Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. v. John Carlo Texas, Inc.
843 S.W.2d 470 (Texas Supreme Court, 1993)
National Industrial Sand Ass'n v. Gibson
897 S.W.2d 769 (Texas Supreme Court, 1995)
Exxon Corp. v. Allsup
808 S.W.2d 648 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1991)
Browning-Ferris, Inc. v. Reyna
865 S.W.2d 925 (Texas Supreme Court, 1994)
Masterguard, L.P. v. Eco Technologies International LLC D/B/A Yellowblue
441 S.W.3d 367 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2013)