Clearview v. Ware

2011 DNH 139

• Court: District Court, D. New Hampshire
• Decided: September 9, 2011
• Docket: CV-07-405-JL
• Status: Published

Opinion

Clearview v . Ware CV-07-405-JL 9/9/11 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE Clearview Software International, Inc. and Blue Ivy Solutions, Inc.

v. Civil N o . 07-cv-405-JL Opinion N o . 2011 DNH 139 Christopher E . Ware

OPINION & ORDER

The question in this business tort case is whether defendant

Christopher Ware, an employee of Symbol Technologies Inc., can be

held liable to plaintiffs Clearview Software International, Inc.

and Blue Ivy Solutions, Inc., two authorized resellers of

Symbol’s products, for helping a company with which they had been

working, Blue Ivy Mobility Solutions, LLC, also become an

authorized reseller and then compete with them for customer

business. Plaintiffs have asserted claims against Ware for (1)

unfair and deceptive business practices, including allegedly

“passing off” Blue Ivy Mobility as Blue Ivy Solutions; (2)

tortious interference with their contractual relations with a

customer, Stop & Shop Supermarkets; and (3) a civil conspiracy

with Blue Ivy Mobility and several of its employees. This court

has subject-matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1)

(diversity), because plaintiffs are both New Hampshire companies,

Ware is a Massachusetts citizen, and the amount in controversy

exceeds $75,000. Ware has moved for summary judgment, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 5 6 ,

arguing that there is no evidence that he engaged in any unfair,

deceptive, or otherwise tortious conduct.1 He has also moved to

strike much of the evidence that plaintiffs submitted in

opposition to summary judgment, arguing that it is inadmissible

hearsay. See Fed. R. Evid. 8 0 1 , 802. After hearing oral

argument and reviewing the summary judgment record, this court

agrees that much of plaintiffs’ evidence, including their

evidence that Ware “passed off” Blue Ivy Mobility as Blue Ivy

Solutions, is inadmissible hearsay and thus cannot be considered

for its truth. Without that evidence (or, for that matter, even

with i t ) , plaintiffs cannot sustain any of their claims. This

court warned the parties in the scheduling order that compliance

with Rule 56's requirements “regarding evidentiary support for

factual assertions . . . will be required.” Document n o . 3 5 , at

2. Because plaintiffs have not complied with those requirements,

Ware is entitled to summary judgment.

1 Ware also argues that the plaintiffs released their claims against him in a settlement agreement that resolved their parallel state-court lawsuits against Blue Ivy Mobility Solutions and various other defendants. See document n o . 4 0 . But during a separate oral argument that this court held on that issue, plaintiffs identified a provision in the settlement agreement that expressly contemplated that this lawsuit against Ware would continue. Id. at ¶ 7 . S o , as a matter of plain meaning, the settlement agreement cannot reasonably be construed as releasing their claims against him.

2 I. Applicable legal standard

Summary judgment is appropriate where “the movant shows that

there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the

movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ.

P. 56(a). A dispute is “genuine” if it could reasonably be

resolved in either party’s favor at trial. See Estrada v . Rhode

Island, 594 F.3d 5 6 , 62 (1st Cir. 2010) (citing Meuser v . Fed.

Express Corp., 564 F.3d 5 0 7 , 515 (1st Cir. 2009)). A fact is

“material” if it could sway the outcome under applicable law.

Id. (citing Vineberg v . Bissonnette, 548 F.3d 5 0 , 56 (1st Cir.

2008)). In analyzing a summary judgment motion, the court must

“view[] all facts and draw[] all reasonable inferences in the

light most favorable to the non-moving party.” Id. But the

court need not credit “conclusory allegations, improbable

inferences, or unsupported speculation.” Meuser, 564 F.3d at 515

(quotation omitted).

Where, as here, “the moving party avers an absence of

evidence to support the non-moving party’s case, the non-moving

party must offer definite, competent evidence to rebut the

motion.” Id. Plaintiffs argue that they are “not required to

present evidence that is presently admissible or admissible at

trial” and are “not required to present the evidence . . . that

they intend to rely on to prove their claims.” But our court of

3 appeals has repeatedly ruled otherwise. “In opposing a motion

for summary judgment, a plaintiff must proffer admissible

evidence that could be accepted by a rational trier of fact as

sufficient to establish the necessary proposition.” Gomez-

Gonzalez v . Rural Opportunities, Inc., 626 F.3d 6 5 4 , 662 n.3 (1st

Cir. 2010) (emphases added); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(2)

(“A party may object that the material cited to support or

dispute a fact [on summary judgment] cannot be presented in

admissible form.”).

It is true that some forms of evidence, such as affidavits

and declarations, may be considered on summary judgment, even if

they would not be admissible at trial, so long as they “set out

facts that would be admissible in evidence” if the affiant or

declarant testified to them at trial. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(4).

Here, though, plaintiffs are relying primarily on emails written

by third parties who have not given sworn statements or been

deposed. To the extent that those emails are being offered to

prove the truth of the matters asserted in them, they are

inadmissible hearsay. See Fed. R. Evid. 8 0 1 , 802. “It is black-

letter law that hearsay evidence cannot be considered on summary

judgment for the truth of the matter asserted.” Hannon v . Beard,

645 F.3d 4 5 , 49 (1st Cir. 2011) (quotation omitted); see also,

4 e.g., Gomez-Gonzalez, 626 F.3d at 666 (applying that rule to unsworn email). 2

Plaintiffs have not argued that they need more “time to

obtain affidavits or declarations or to take discovery” before

responding to the summary judgment motion. Fed. R. Civ. P.

56(d); see also Kiman v . N.H. Dep’t of Corr., 451 F.3d 2 7 4 , 282

n.7 (1st Cir. 2006) (such an argument is waived where, as here,

plaintiffs “oppose summary judgment without filing a [Rule 56(d)]

motion”). Nor would they have any reasonable basis for doing s o .

This case has been pending for four years, and the summary

judgment motion was not filed until after the close of discovery.

So plaintiffs had plenty of time to procure affidavits, take

depositions of the email’s authors, or take other steps to

develop admissible evidence in support of their claims. They

also had plenty of notice that admissible evidence would be

required. In a scheduling order issued two years ago, this court

warned the parties that compliance with Rule 56's requirements

“regarding evidentiary support for factual assertions . . . will

be required.” Document n o . 3 5 , at 2 .

2 Nevertheless, for the sake of completeness, this court will make note of such evidence in the factual summary below.

5 II. Background

Plaintiffs Clearview Software and Blue Ivy Solutions

(“Solutions”) are authorized resellers of wireless, handheld bar

code scanners and other computing devices manufactured by Symbol

Technologies, now part of the telecommunications company Motorola

Solutions, Inc. Clearview was founded by Richard Lowney, and

Solutions was founded by his son Shawn. Both companies operate

from the same location in New Boston, New Hampshire. During the

early 2000s, Clearview developed a software program called

Transforming Enterprise Applications (“TEA”) that, when combined

with Symbol’s bar code scanners, could be used to upgrade the old

scanning technology that many large retailers were using.

Solutions was an authorized distributor of that software.

Because plaintiffs were not experts on Symbol hardware, they

engaged Richard Valarioti, an expert recommended by Symbol, to

serve as their consultant, in exchange for sales commissions.

Valarioti, in turn, created his own company, Blue Ivy Mobility

Solutions (“Mobility”). Plaintiffs initially objected to that

name, because it was so similar to Blue Ivy Solutions, but

withdrew their objection after Valarioti assured them that

Mobility would be a dormant entity used solely to process his

commission checks. Nevertheless, Valarioti soon hired a former

6 Symbol salesperson, Mark Barnes, to work for Mobility and assist

in selling plaintiffs’ products.

One of plaintiffs’ customers, beginning in 2004, was Stop &

Shop Supermarkets, a grocery chain in the northeastern United

States that was seeking to upgrade the bar code scanning

technology in its nearly 600 stores. In 2005, plaintiffs began

developing new TEA software applications specifically for the

grocery chain. Barnes, who had worked with Stop & Shop while at

Symbol, helped them with the sales effort. Plaintiffs

successfully demonstrated the software applications to Stop &

Shop in early 2006. To make their sales pitch more attractive,

Symbol agreed to give plaintiffs a special price discount (known

as a “price exception”) on its hardware, on top of the discount

to which they were already entitled by virtue of having attained

“premier” status as authorized resellers.

Plaintiffs were planning to fill Stop & Shop’s orders

through ScanSource, the largest Symbol distributor in the eastern

United States and the only one with sufficient inventory to meet

Stop & Shop’s needs. Plaintiffs had worked with ScanSource in

the past and had received sufficient credit approval from

ScanSource to place orders of that magnitude. All of the

7 companies involved in the supply chain--Symbol as hardware

manufacturer, ScanSource as hardware distributor, and plaintiffs

as hardware resellers and software developers--were in position

to reap significant profits from the Stop & Shop deal if it

happened.

As plaintiffs pushed to complete the deal, however, an

unlikely competitor emerged: Mobility. Two of plaintiffs’ key

employees working on the deal--Gary Bowser, the president of

Solutions, and Adam Knowlton, the Clearview software technician

who had developed the TEA software applications for Stop & Shop--

suddenly resigned in April 2006 and joined Mobility. Knowlton

took the software applications and source code with him.

Mobility then set out to (1) become an authorized reseller of

Symbol products, (2) obtain the same price discount from Symbol

as plaintiffs--i.e., both the “premier” reseller discount and the

“price exception,” (3) obtain credit approval from ScanSource,

and (4) persuade Stop & Shop to place its order through Mobility,

rather than plaintiffs.

Shortly before leaving Solutions, Bowser met in March 2006

with defendant Christopher Ware, who was Symbol’s channel account

manager in New England, and his supervisor Kathy English. Ware’s

list of topics for the meeting began with the “migration to New

Blue Ivy.” According to Ware, Bowser had not yet told them of

8 any plans to join Mobility; rather, Bowser told them that

Solutions was struggling financially and that he was seeking to

purchase the company and turn it around.3 At the meeting, Bowser

explained the relationship between Solutions and Mobility and

expressed concern that, with Solutions so vulnerable, Mobility

might apply to become an authorized reseller of Symbol products

and try to take the Stop & Shop business for itself. He asked if

Ware would be able to quash such an application. Ware responded

that he was not involved in Symbol’s application review process

and had no ability to influence it. 4

3 The record includes a letter dated March 1 5 , 2006 in which Bowser offered to purchase Solutions. 4 Another topic on Ware’s list for the meeting was how to “secure pipeline for 2007.” Shortly after the meeting, Bowser sent Ware an email summarizing Solutions’ business pipeline, i.e., pending deals and opportunities, including the potential Stop & Shop deal. Ware claims that he used that information only for Symbol’s inventory and other planning purposes (not to benefit Mobility). Plaintiffs have not offered any evidence to the contrary.

9 As it turned out, Bowser himself submitted a reseller

application to Symbol on behalf of Mobility in late March 2006.5

In an internal email notifying various Symbol employees

(including Ware) of that application, English reported that

Bowser had “‘bought out’ his partners” and “acquired Blue Ivy

Solutions outright” and that his new company, Mobility, “will

replace Blue Ivy Solutions as a reseller.” Ware called English

the next day to clarify that, so far as he knew, no such

acquisition had occurred, and Mobility and Solutions remained

separate entities (as Bowser had explained to them at the earlier

meeting). Ware did not, however, contact the other Symbol

personnel who had received his supervisor’s email to correct her

misstatement.

Bowser informed Ware in early April 2006 that he was leaving

Solutions to join Mobility, which Ware recalls as an “abrupt

change of plans from what he had been telling me up to that

point.” According to an internal ScanSource email, Ware then

5 Plaintiffs argue that, in light of that application, Ware’s account of what Bowser said at the earlier meeting “seems implausible.” But it is entirely plausible that Bowser could have changed plans after his offer to buy Solutions was rejected, or that he could have been feigning concern over Mobility’s application in order to gauge how Symbol would respond if plaintiffs tried to quash i t . Plaintiffs have not provided any evidence to contradict Ware’s account of the meeting (such as a differing account from one of the other attendees).

10 contacted ScanSource employee Van Thomas on April 1 1 , stated

(falsely) that Solutions was “in the process of changing their

name” to Mobility, and expressed “concern . . . around

[ScanSource’s] ability to adjust their credit terms to facilitate

this [Stop & Shop] business” through Mobility. See document n o .

45-12. As explained in Part I , supra, however, that unsworn

description of what Ware told Thomas cannot be considered for its

truth, because it is hearsay within hearsay, see Fed. R. Evid.

801, 8 0 2 , 805, and carries no “circumstantial guarantees of

trustworthiness” equivalent to those of any recognized hearsay

exceptions, see Fed. R. Evid. 807. 6

6 In an abundance of caution, this court gave plaintiffs an opportunity, by holding a second “continuation of argument” hearing expressly for this purpose (see 8/15/11 Hearing Notice) to attempt to identify any hearsay exception that could salvage that email (and others, including the Mike Reid email discussed infra, document n o . 45-24) as admissible evidence, but they were unable to do s o . Plaintiffs argued that the emails are admissible to show their authors’ state of mind or belief about the relationship between Mobility and Solutions, which is one of the issues raised by the summary judgment motion. See Fed. R. Evid. 803(3). But, even assuming arguendo that they are admissible for that purpose, they still cannot be used for the purpose of establishing that Ware made statements that gave the sender that state of mind or belief. See Fed. R. Evid. 803(3), advisory committee notes (1972) (“The exclusion of ‘statements of . . . belief to prove the fact . . . believed’ is necessary to avoid the virtual destruction of the hearsay rule which would otherwise result from allowing state of mind, provable by a hearsay statement, to serve as the basis for an inference of the happening of the event which produced the state of mind.”) (quoting Fed. R. Evid. 803(3)).

11 Ware arranged a meeting with Bowser and Thomas on April 19

for the purpose of introducing Mobility to ScanSource and

discussing what Mobility would need to do to obtain credit

approval from ScanSource for the Stop & Shop deal. In advance of

that meeting, Ware recalls explaining to Thomas the difference

between Solutions and Mobility, and Bowser’s move between them.

According to internal ScanSource emails, which again cannot be

considered for their truth because they are inadmissible hearsay,

see Fed. R. Evid. 8 0 1 , 8 0 2 , 805 the meeting included further

discussion of “the recent move by Gary [Bowser] and approximately

6 others to form” Mobility and “discussions of possibl[y] using

another company for the [Stop & Shop] deal.” Documents n o . 45-29

and 45-30.

Meanwhile, Ware continued to communicate with Solutions’

founder, Shawn Lowney. On April 2 4 , Lowney informed Ware that

his plan was “to move forward with a better team.” Ware told

Lowney that Symbol would continue to support Solutions as an

authorized reseller and that Solutions could continue to pursue

the Stop & Shop deal, with its price discount. But Lowney

acknowledged that it would be difficult to do s o , given the

recent loss of key personnel. Ware urged Lowney on April 25 to

“get this all resolved . . . sooner not later,” and said he would

send the “same message” to Mobility. Lowney reported back that

12 Clearview and Mobility were entering into a memorandum of

understanding (later replaced by a formal agreement) that

“resolves this all” and “politically postures everything so Stop

N Shop and Symbol can bless the whole Kit N Caboodle.”

The memorandum of understanding, dated April 2 5 , authorized

Mobility to resell Clearview’s TEA software to Stop & Shop at the

same price available to Solutions (but did not address who would

be reselling Symbol’s hardware). Ware claims that, in light of

that agreement and his communications with Lowney and the

president of Clearview, he “understood that Solutions had decided

not to pursue the Stop & Shop contract and that, instead,

Clearview and Mobility had joined together to pursue it.” After

that point, Solutions never expressed any further interest to

Ware in pursuing the Stop & Shop deal. Lowney acknowledged at

his deposition that Solutions understood that Mobility was

pursuing i t , and “we were staying away from it for the best

interest of our software deal.”

On April 2 6 , Ware notified Bowser that Mobility had been

approved by Symbol as an authorized reseller, would be

“protected” by the same price discount as Solutions on the Stop &

Shop deal, and would attain “premier” status “as your volume goes

up this year.” Ware denies, however, having any involvement in

Symbol’s decisions to approve Mobility’s application or extend

13 the price discount. Symbol “insulated” its channel account

managers from that decision-making process, he says, because of

their close working relationship with resellers. Ware merely

reported the results to Bowser.7

That same day, ScanSource received a formal credit

application from Mobility. According to internal ScanSource

emails, there was considerable confusion there about whether

Solutions or Mobility would be getting the Stop & Shop deal, and

whether Mobility would have the same pricing structure as

Solutions. See documents n o . 45-21 and 45-22. According to

those emails, ScanSource employees had separate conversations

with Bowser (on behalf of Mobility) and Richard Lowney (on behalf

of Solutions), each of whom believed that the Stop & Shop deal

was his, leading ScanSource to suspect that the “split between

the two companies is not as clean as we think” and that a

“lawsuit could rear its head” if Mobility received the deal instead of Solutions.8

7 Plaintiffs argue that Ware’s reporting of those results, plus an email in which he asked Bowser to confirm Mobility’s address for the application, belie his denial of involvement in the decision-making process. But Ware’s explanation--that he was merely the messenger--is consistent with the documents. Plaintiffs have not presented any contrary evidence that Ware was involved in the decision-making. 8 Those emails also appear to contain inadmissible hearsay, see Fed. R. Evid. 8 0 1 , 8 0 2 , 805, but this court need not reach

14 On May 1 1 , 2006, Symbol employee Mike Reid--who, according

to internal emails, was the person ScanSource was “going through

. . . to get to the bottom of this”--provided the following

assurances in an email to ScanSource:

According to our CAM [Ware] who manages both [Solutions and Mobility], they have agreements in place as to how this separation is working and the structure around i t . . . . In the separation, according to our CAM, [Mobility] is entitled to take the customer base. As such, the expectation is now that [Mobility] will take the Stop & Shop order and place that on ScanSource.

Document n o . 45-24. Again, however, that unsworn description of

what Ware told Reid cannot be considered for its truth, because

it is hearsay within hearsay, see Fed. R. Evid. 8 0 1 , 8 0 2 , 805,

807, and carries no “circumstantial guarantees of

trustworthiness” equivalent to those of any recognized hearsay

exceptions, see Fed. R. Evid. 807. 9

Reid’s email also addressed the “pricing structure,”

explaining that it would be “the same . . . regardless of which

Blue Ivy takes the deal.” Id. Internal emails indicate that,

having received those assurances from Reid, ScanSource proceeded

to review Mobility’s credit application, treating Mobility as a

“new entity” separate from Solutions. Document n o . 45-26; see

that issue because they have no significant impact on the summary judgment analysis. 9 See also note 6, supra.

15 also document n o . 45-23 (stating that “Mobility has taken this

deal from [Solutions]”).

By mid-May 2006, Ware was telling third parties (including

Jim Rapp at the company Avnet) that Mobility, not Solutions,

would be getting the Stop & Shop deal. In an effort to drum up

more business, Ware forwarded to three other Symbol employees an

email containing a link to “non Stop & Shop” “demo software” for

Symbol’s bar code scanner, saying that they “can share this demo

with any interested parties or make it available to anyone within

Symbol.” Richard Lowney claims that he thereafter “received a

call from a Symbol employee in South Africa who informed me that

he just opened the link,” which contained “the demo software that

was created for the Stop & Shop project.” Again, however, that

employee’s statement to Lowney is inadmissible hearsay and cannot

be considered for its truth. See Fed. R. Evid. 8 0 1 , 802. The

link itself no longer exists, and there is no admissible evidence

in the record from anyone who accessed or used it (except Ware,

who claims that the link was to a PDF presentation that merely

displayed an image of Symbol’s scanner, without using plaintiffs’

TEA software).

ScanSource’s review of Mobility’s credit application

continued into June 2006. Emails, some of which were forwarded

to Ware, indicate that the review was not going well for

16 Mobility. ScanSource had floated the idea of requiring Valarioti

to make a personal guarantee, or else having Stop & Shop issue a

joint purchase order to both Mobility and ScanSource. In early

June, Symbol executive Pete Grimes sent an email to his

subordinates (with a copy to Ware) warning that ScanSource “is

not, under any circumstances, to talk to Stop & Shop about this,”

that “we don’t understand why ScanSource can’t simply work with

Blue Ivy Mobility . . . the same way they did with Blue Ivy

Solutions,” and that “[i]f they refuse, we’ll figure another way

to get the product from Symbol to Blue Ivy/Stop & Shop.”

ScanSource ultimately approved Mobility’s credit application

without the personal guarantee or joint purchase order. Ware

denies having any influence over ScanSource’s decision.

Having made all the necessary arrangements with Symbol and

ScanSource, Mobility successfully completed the deal with Stop &

Shop in fall 2006. It is not entirely clear from the record how

Stop & Shop came to place the order through Mobility, rather than

plaintiffs. There is evidence, however, that Mobility sent

technical specifications to Stop & Shop with its name where

Solutions’ name had been; that it sent letters to another

Solutions customer (Demoulas Super Markets) describing a “change

we had with the ownership of Blue Ivy” and asking that customer

to replace Solutions with Mobility in its vendor database; and

17 that Mobility insisted (in an email copied to Ware) that Symbol

use the generic name “Blue Ivy” in letters confirming the price

discount for the Stop & Shop deal. So one could infer that

Mobility led Stop & Shop to believe that Mobility was the same

entity as Solutions. But Ware claims, and the plaintiffs

conceded at oral argument, that he had no interaction with Stop &

Shop regarding that issue.

After losing the Stop & Shop deal, plaintiffs brought

lawsuits in New Hampshire Superior Court against various

individuals and entities allegedly involved in diverting that

business away from them, including Mobility (now doing business

as Optical Phusion, Inc. and/or Mobiltaneous, L L C ) , several of

its employees (including Valorioti, Bowser, Knowlton, and

Barnes), Symbol (and its parent Motorola), and Ware. The cases

generally included claims for unfair and deceptive business

practices, see N.H. Rev. Stat. § 358-A et seq., tortious

interference with contractual relations, and civil conspiracy.

Ware, Symbol, and Motorola removed the cases against them to this

court, see 28 U.S.C. § 1441, but the other cases remained in

Superior Court.

Plaintiffs entered into a settlement agreement in February

2009 with all of the remaining state-court defendants, agreeing

to release those defendants (and anyone “acting . . . in concert

18 with them”) from liability in exchange for an undisclosed

settlement payment and other consideration. See note 1 , supra.

Later that year, they also voluntarily dismissed their lawsuit

against Symbol and Motorola in this court without prejudice. See

Clearview Software Int’l, Inc. v . Motorola, Inc., N o . 09-cv-314

(D.N.H. Nov. 2 4 , 2009) (document n o . 1 1 ) . But their lawsuit

against Ware, an employee of Symbol/Motorola, was not voluntarily

dismissed with the lawsuits against his employer, nor was it

covered by the state-court settlement agreement. See note 1 ,

supra.

Ware initially moved to dismiss for lack of personal

jurisdiction, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2), but this court denied

that motion after allowing jurisdictional discovery. See

Clearview Software Int’l, Inc. v . Ware, 2008 DNH 182; oral order

dated Dec. 1 8 , 2008. Ware then moved to dismiss for failure to

state a claim. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). In an admittedly

“close call,” this court concluded that plaintiffs’ allegations

were sufficient to state claims for (1) unfair and deceptive

business practices, (2) tortious interference with their

contractual relations with Stop & Shop, and (3) civil conspiracy

with Mobility and several of its employees, but not for (4)

misappropriation of trade secrets. See Clearview Software Int’l,

Inc. v . Ware, 2009 WL 2151017, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60444

19 (D.N.H. July 1 5 , 2009); margin orders dated Aug. 28 and Sept. 2 5 ,

2009. Following discovery, Ware moved for summary judgment on

all of the remaining claims.

III. Analysis

Ware argues that he is entitled to summary judgment because

plaintiffs have not presented any evidence that he engaged in

unfair, deceptive, or otherwise tortious conduct. Plaintiffs

argue, in response, that “there are significant factual disputes

. . . regarding the level of involvement of [Ware] in assisting

Mobility” and whether his actions in that regard were tortious.

As explained below, it is more accurate to say that there are

significant factual gaps in the summary judgment record, because

plaintiffs have done virtually nothing to develop their claims

through discovery, despite this court’s earlier warnings that the

Rule 12(b)(6) motion presented a “close call” and that compliance

with Rule 56's requirements “regarding evidentiary support for

factual assertions . . . will be required.” See Part I at 5 ,

supra, see also document n o . 3 5 , at 2 . Because plaintiffs have

not supported their claims with admissible evidence, Ware is

entitled to summary judgment.

20 A. “Passing off”

Plaintiffs’ primary theory of liability is that Ware “passed

off” Mobility as Solutions, or otherwise caused or conspired to

cause confusion as to Mobility’s identity and its relationship

with Solutions, for the purpose of diverting the Stop & Shop

business from Solutions to Mobility. That theory, if supported

by admissible evidence, could support each of plaintiffs’ tort

claims against Ware. See N.H. Rev. Stat. § 358-A:2, I-III

(listing “passing off” and “causing likelihood of confusion or of

misunderstanding as to the source . . . of goods or services” or

“as to affiliation, connection, or association with . . .

another” as unfair and deceptive business practices);

Demetracopoulos v . Wilson, 138 N.H. 3 7 1 , 374 (1994) (noting that

“fraudulent misrepresentation ordinarily constitutes ‘a wrongful

means of interference [with contractual relations] and makes an

interference improper’”) (quoting Restatement (Second) of Torts §

767, cmt. c (1977)).

Plaintiffs have not presented any admissible evidence,

however, that Ware “passed off” Mobility as Solutions. Their

only evidence in that regard consists of inadmissible hearsay in

an unsworn email from a ScanSource employee, which states that

Ware told the employee that Solutions was “in the process of

changing their name to” Mobility. See document n o . 45-12. As

21 explained in Parts I and I I , supra, that evidence cannot be

considered for its truth--i.e., that Ware in fact made that

statement--and without it the most that the summary judgment

record shows is that Ware knew that others were “passing off”

Mobility as Solutions or causing confusion about their

relationship. One cannot reasonably infer from such knowledge

that Ware, too, engaged in such conduct or conspired to do s o .

See, e.g., United States v . Boidi, 568 F.3d 2 4 , 30 (1st Cir.

2009) (stating, in a criminal case, that “mere knowledge . . . is

not enough” to establish conspiracy).

Moreover, even if plaintiffs could prove that Ware “passed

off” Mobility as Solutions or conspired to do s o , they still have

not presented any evidence that this conduct caused them any

harm. As plaintiffs acknowledged at oral argument, it is clear

from the summary judgment record that both Symbol and ScanSource

understood, by the time they made their relevant decisions to

approve Mobility, that it was a separate entity from Solutions

(even if there may have been some initial confusion or

misunderstanding on that point). So any earlier “passing off”

did not cause their decisions. And while it is unclear whether

Stop & Shop understood the distinction between Mobility and

Solutions when it decided to place its order through Mobility,

plaintiffs have presented no evidence--admissible or not--that

22 Ware made or conspired to make any misrepresentations directly to

Stop & Shop.

As a last resort, plaintiffs argue that Ware had an

affirmative duty to correct any “passing off” by others of which

he was aware (including even supervisors at his own company).

“The duties of one who merely omits to act are more restricted,”

however, “and in general are confined to situations where there

is a special relation between the actor and the other which gives

rise to the duty.” Coan v . N.H. Dep’t of Enviro. Servs., 161

N.H. 1 , 8 (2010) (quoting Restatement, supra, § 3 0 2 , at cmt. a ) .

Absent such a relationship, the “mere fact that [an] actor

realizes or should realize that action on his part is necessary

for another’s aid or protection does not of itself impose upon

him a duty to take such action.” Id. (quoting Restatement,

supra, § 3 1 4 ) ; see also, e.g., Marquay v . Eno, 139 N.H. 7 0 8 , 716

(1995) (“As a general rule, a person has no affirmative duty to

aid or protect another.”).

Plaintiffs strive mightily to identify some “special”

relationship between themselves and Ware, emphasizing their long

course of dealing with Symbol and the value they added to its

products by developing their TEA software. They even go so far

as to argue in their summary judgment objection (albeit not in

their complaint) that Symbol and Ware had a fiduciary duty to

23 them. But plaintiffs have not cited, nor has this court found,

any authority for the proposition that a manufacturer has a

fiduciary or other “special” relationship to its resellers (much

less that an employee like Ware has such a relationship, or that

it trumps his obligations to his employer or supervisors). See,

e.g., Franchi v . New Hampton Sch., 656 F. Supp. 2d 2 5 2 , 263

(D.N.H. 2009) (explaining that, under New Hampshire law, such

relationships are “‘unique’ or at least ‘rarely seen’”) (quoting

Schneider v . Plymouth State Coll., 144 N.H. 4 5 8 , 463 (1999)).

That is a commonplace business relationship governed by the

ordinary principles of tort law.

It is worth noting, moreover, that the reseller agreement

between Symbol and plaintiffs belies any suggestion of a

fiduciary or other “special” relationship. The agreement

provides, among other things, that “Symbol ha[d] the right to

appoint other . . . resellers . . . and/or to make direct sales”

in the plaintiffs’ territory “without any obligation” to them and

“without [their] prior consent” (i.e., the right to compete

directly with plaintiffs, their supposed fiduciaries), that the

agreement shall not be construed to establish a “partnership” or

“agency relationship” between the parties, that plaintiffs “shall

conduct business” as “independent contractor[s],” and that the

“relationship between the parties shall be limited to the express

24 provisions of this Agreement.” Plaintiffs’ argument for a

fiduciary relationship with Symbol flies in the face of that

contractual limitation and, again, would not establish a

fiduciary relationship with Ware personally, in any event.

B. Other misrepresentations

Plaintiffs also claim that Ware made or conspired to make

other misrepresentations in connection with the Stop & Shop deal.

One is that Ware allegedly misrepresented to ScanSource that the

memorandum of understanding between Clearview and Mobility gave

Mobility the right to take the Stop & Shop deal away from

Solutions. Again, however, the only evidence of that alleged

misrepresentation consists of inadmissible hearsay in an unsworn

email by a third party. See document n o . 45-24 (stating that

Ware told another Symbol employee, who then told ScanSource, that

Solutions had agreed that Mobility was “entitled to take the

customer base,” including the Stop & Shop deal).

Another alleged misrepresentation is the email in which Ware

indicated to a third party, Jim Rapp at Avnet, that Mobility

would be getting the Stop & Shop deal, not Solutions (before the

deal had been completed). But that was not a misrepresentation;

it was an accurate prediction of what would happen, based on what

Ware knew at the time. Plaintiffs’ real complaint is with the

25 events that enabled Mobility to get the Stop & Shop deal, not

with Ware’s accurate prediction that it would. Moreover, even if

the email were a misrepresentation, plaintiffs have not presented

any evidence that it had any impact on Rapp, Avnet, or others, so

their argument fails anyway for lack of causation.

C. Preferential treatment

Plaintiffs’ next theory of liability is that Ware induced

Symbol and ScanSource to give preferential treatment to Mobility,

enabling it to become an authorized reseller of Symbol products,

obtain the same price discount from Symbol as plaintiffs, and

obtain credit approval from ScanSource, all without having to

meet the usual requirements that had been previously satisfied by

plaintiffs. But plaintiffs have not identified any contractual

provision that required Symbol or ScanSource to treat other

resellers the same as plaintiffs, or that prohibited Symbol or

ScanSource from exempting other resellers from their usual

requirements.

Nor have plaintiffs identified any authority for the

proposition that, absent a contractual requirement or other

evidence of improper means, it is unfair, deceptive, or otherwise

tortious for a manufacturer or distributor to give preferential

treatment to one reseller over another (much less for an employee

26 like Ware to participate in doing s o ) . Plaintiffs once again

resort to the argument that Symbol and Ware had a fiduciary or

other “special” relationship with them that prohibited favoritism

toward their competitors. But this court rejects that argument

for the reasons already discussed in Part III.A, supra. No

fiduciary or “special” relationship existed between Symbol (much

less Ware) and plaintiffs.

Moreover, even if plaintiffs could show that the decisions

by Symbol and ScanSource to give preferential treatment to

Mobility violated contract or tort law, and that an employee like

Ware could somehow be held personally liable for his role in

those decisions, they still have not presented any admissible

evidence that Ware influenced or was substantively involved in

the decisions (which Ware denies). As to Symbol, the evidence

shows only that Ware served as a messenger between Symbol’s

decisionmakers and Mobility. As to ScanSource, the evidence

shows only that Ware arranged the introduction of Mobility to

ScanSource and discussed with them the process for seeking credit

approval (a process that took months and ended only after

pressure from a Symbol executive). That evidence is not

sufficient to show that Ware caused either entity to give

Mobility preferential treatment.

27 D. Misappropriation of Stop & Shop opportunity

Plaintiffs’ next theory of liability is that Ware helped

Mobility misappropriate their exclusive opportunity to resell

Symbol products to Stop & Shop and to do so with the benefit of a

“price exception.” But plaintiffs have not presented any

admissible evidence that they had exclusive rights to the Stop &

Shop opportunity or the “price exception.” If anything, their

reseller agreement with Symbol suggests the opposite: that

plaintiffs had “a non-exclusive right” to resell Symbol products

within their territory, while Symbol retained “the right to

appoint other . . . resellers” in the same territory “without any

obligation to” plaintiffs and “without [their] prior consent.”

According to Ware, “[i]t was not unusual” for Symbol’s authorized

resellers “to compete against one another for a particular

contract,” and “the decision to grant the price exceptions to

Solutions and Mobility . . . was consistent with Symbol’s

approach to its [resellers].”

Plaintiffs argue that there is a genuine dispute of material

fact on this issue, because Clearview’s founder Richard Lowney

has attested that his understanding was that the Stop & Shop

opportunity and “price exception” belonged exclusively to

plaintiffs. But Lowney’s affidavit says nothing about the basis

of that understanding, making it impossible to determine whether

28 it was based on personal knowledge or mere ipse dixit. See Fed.

R. Civ. P. 56(c)(4) (affidavit in support of summary judgment

“must be made on personal knowledge”). “Self-serving affidavits

that do not ‘contain adequate specific factual information based

on personal knowledge’ are insufficient to defeat a motion for

summary judgment.” Spratt v . R.I. Dep’t of Corr., 482 F.3d 3 3 ,

39 (1st Cir. 2007) (quoting Quinones v . Houser Buick, 436 F.3d

284, 290 (1st Cir. 2006)).

At oral argument, plaintiffs conceded that Lowney’s

understanding was not based on any written contract, written

policy, or specific representation by Symbol. Instead, their

counsel suggested that Lowney’s understanding was based on his

“experience” and “course of dealing” with Symbol, including in

particular that plaintiffs had invested significant resources in

pursuing the Stop & Shop opportunity, and Symbol had never given

“any indication that [it] was going to allow other [resellers] to

compete.” But that explanation appears nowhere in Lowney’s

affidavit and, in any event, would be insufficient to show that

plaintiffs had an exclusive right. Virtually all business

opportunities, whether exclusive or not, require some investment,

and Symbol had expressly indicated in the reseller agreement that

plaintiffs’ right to sell its products was “non-exclusive” and

subject to competition.

29 Even assuming, dubitante, that the Stop & Shop opportunity

and “price exception” were exclusively assigned, plaintiffs have

not identified any authority for the proposition that it is

unfair, deceptive, or otherwise tortious for an employee to

induce his own employer to breach a contract with a third party

where he considers it advantageous to his employer, absent some

evidence that he used improper means. See, e.g., Beer v .

Bennett, 160 N.H. 166, 171 (2010) (statute barring unfair

business practices “does not supply a remedy for an ordinary

breach of contract”); Singer Asset Fin. C o . v . Wyner, 156 N.H.

468, 478 (2007) (tortious interference must be with “third party”

contract); 1A Callman on Unfair Competition, Trademarks &

Monopolies § 9:6, at 9-84 (4th ed. 2011) (an “employee . . . of a

corporation, acting on the corporation’s behalf, cannot be liable

for interference with the corporation’s contract”). The proper

remedy in such circumstances would seem to be a breach of

contract action against the employer, not a tort action against

its employee, like this one.

It is worth noting, moreover, that plaintiffs have not even

asserted a claim against Ware for tortious interference with

their contract with Symbol. Their tortious interference claim

relates only to their contract with Stop & Shop--or, rather,

their purported contract. As Ware notes, plaintiffs never

30 actually had a contract with Stop & Shop. Plaintiffs argue that

a contract existed by virtue of “part performance,” but that

performance was merely an effort to win the competition for the

Stop & Shop contract. It was not a contract in itself. See,

e.g., Greene v . McLeod, 156 N.H. 7 2 4 , 729 (2008) (part

performance must be “in some degree evidential of the existence

of a contract and not readily explainable on any other ground”).

For that reason alone, plaintiffs cannot possibly sustain their

tortious interference claim. See, e.g., Roberts v . Gen. Motors

Corp., 138 N.H. 5 3 2 , 539 (1994) (existence of contract is a

required element of such a claim). 10

E. Misappropriation of business pipeline

Plaintiffs also claim that Ware misappropriated or conspired

to misappropriate the business pipeline that Bowser emailed to

him after their meeting in March 2006, using it to help Mobility

compete against them. At oral argument, however, plaintiffs

clarified that the only business opportunity at issue in this

case is the Stop & Shop account, so this theory is really no

different from the one just discussed in Part III.D, supra. In

10 Plaintiffs confirmed at oral argument that they are not pursuing any claim for tortious interference with prospective contractual relations.

31 any event, as explained in note [ 4 ] , supra, plaintiffs have not

presented any evidence to contradict Ware’s claim that he used

that pipeline only for Symbol’s inventory and other planning

purposes, not to benefit Mobility.

F. Misappropriation of software demo

to misappropriate their TEA software by distributing, without

their permission, a link to their software demo. That appears to

be an improper attempt to revive the trade secret

misappropriation claim that this court dismissed earlier in the

case. See margin order dated Aug. 2 8 , 2009. In any event,

plaintiffs have not presented any admissible evidence (and in

fact conceded at oral argument that it does not know) of what

that link contained. Moreover, even assuming arguendo that it

contained their software demo, plaintiffs conceded at oral

argument that they have not presented any evidence of how or by

whom the linked software demo was used or how any such use

damaged them.

G. Failure to warn or disclose

Plaintiffs’ final theory of liability is that Ware failed to

warn them of Mobility’s competition or to disclose to them what

he was doing to help Mobility. As discussed in Part III.A,

32 supra, however, there is generally no affirmative duty under tort

law to take action to protect or assist a third party, including

by way of warning or disclosure. Coan, 161 N.H. at 8 .

Plaintiffs once again resort to the argument that Symbol and Ware

had a fiduciary or other “special” relationship that gave rise to

such a duty. But this court rejects that argument for the

reasons already discussed in Part III.A, supra. No fiduciary or

“special” relationship existed between Symbol (much less Ware)

and plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs also argue that warning and disclosure were

required by the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing

in their reseller agreement. But no such claim or theory appears

in their complaint. And, even if such a claim had been properly

asserted, the reseller agreement was with Symbol, not Ware, and

it expressly provided that Symbol could allow competition by

other resellers “without any obligation” to plaintiffs (which

would presumably include any obligation to disclose that

competition) and “without [plaintiffs’] prior consent.” The

implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing cannot be used to

“rewrite” the parties’ contract. Livingston v . 18 Mile Point

Drive, Ltd., 158 N.H. 619, 623-24 (2009) (citation omitted).

Moreover, even if Ware had a duty to warn and disclose,

plaintiffs have not explained how his failure to discharge that

33 duty caused them to lose the Stop & Shop deal. While plaintiffs

may not have known precisely how Mobility was obtaining the

Symbol and ScanSource approvals necessary to compete for the Stop

& Shop deal, or what role Ware was playing in that effort,

plaintiffs knew that Mobility was pursuing the Stop & Shop deal

and, according to Solutions’ founder Shawn Lowney, they “were

staying away from it for the best interest of our software deal.”

Nothing in the record suggests that plaintiffs would have taken a

different approach if they had known the precise details of

Mobility’s competition and Ware’s role in i t . So plaintiffs have

not shown that Ware’s failure to warn or disclose caused their

damages.

IV. Conclusion

For the reasons set forth above, Ware’s motion for summary

judgment11 is GRANTED. His motions to strike certain summary

judgment exhibits12 are GRANTED in part to the extent reflected

in this order and otherwise DENIED as moot. The clerk shall

enter judgment accordingly and close the case.

11 Document n o . 3 8 . 12 Documents n o . 47 and 5 5 .

34 SO ORDERED.

Joseph N. Laplante fUnited States District Judge

Dated: September 9, 2011

cc: Steven M . Latici, Esq. Daniel E . Will, Esq. Jonathan M . Shirley, Esq.