D'Addario v. D'Addario

CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedSeptember 23, 2019
Docket3:16-cv-00099
StatusUnknown

This text of D'Addario v. D'Addario (D'Addario v. D'Addario) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
D'Addario v. D'Addario, (D. Conn. 2019).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT

VIRGINIA A. D’ADDARIO, Individually, and on behalf of the F. Francis D'Addario Testamentary | Givi] No, 3:16cv99 (JBA) Trust and the Virginia A. D’Addario Trust; and VIRGINIA A. D’ADDARIO, EXECUTRIX, as Executrix of the Probate Estate of Ann T. D’Addario, September 23, 2019 Deceased, and on behalf of the F. Francis D’Addario Testamentary Trust and the Ann T. D’Addario Marital Trust, Plaintiffs, v. DAVID D’ADDARIO; MARY LOU D’ADDARIO KENNEDY; GREGORY S. GARVEY; RED KNOT ACQUISITIONS, LLC; SILVER KNOT, LLC; and NICHOLAS VITTI, Defendants. RULING ON PLAINTIEFF’S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT

Plaintiff Virginia D’Addario moves for leave to file a Second Amended Complaint. (Mot. for Leave to File Second Am. Compl. [Noc. # 55].) Defendants oppose that motion. (Defs.’ Joint Opp. [Doc. # 62].) For the reasons that follow, Plaintiffs motion is granted in part and denied in part. I. Background The Court assumes the parties’ familiarity with the facts alleged in this case, set out in detail in D’Addario v. D’Addario, 901 F.3d 80, 86-91 (2d Cir. 2018). In January 2016, Virginia D’Addario filed this action against Defendants. (Compl. [Doc. # 1].) In May 2016, she filed the First Amended Complaint (“FAC”), asserting claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) and Connecticut state law. In keeping with the Court’s

procedures, Defendants moved for a pre-filing conference, setting out in detail the grounds for a forthcoming motion to dismiss the FAC. (Mot. for Pre-Filing Conf. [Doc. # 27].) Plaintiff did not seek leave to further amend her complaint to cure the asserted deficiencies, and Defendants moved to dismiss the FAC. (Mot. to Dismiss First Am. Compl. [Doc. # 37].) The Court granted that motion to dismiss, holding that Plaintiff had failed to plead a viable RICO claim and declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over her remaining state law claims. (Ruling Granting Mot. to Dismiss [Doc. # 49].) Plaintiff appealed that ruling. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of certain of Plaintiffs claims but reinstated others. Specifically, the Court of Appeals concluded that Plaintiff “has sufficiently identified a distinct acquisition and maintenance injury under section 1962(b) [of RICO] to support her collection expenses claim with regard to [Defendants] David [D’Addario], Gregory Garvey, and Red Knot, but not with regard to the other defendants.” D’Addario, 901 F.3d at 92- 93. It also determined that “Virginia has also sufficiently alleged a section 1962(c) ‘enterprise’ with regard to all six defendants, supporting her claim for collection expenses on this theory of

recovery as well.” Id. at 93. Thus the Court of Appeals vacated the “dismissal as to Virginia’s RICO claim on her own behalf and on behalf of her mother’s estate for collection expenses and remand{ed] that claim and her state law claims for further proceedings.” Id. Virginia! now moves for leave to file her Proposed Second Amended Complaint (“PSAC”) “to (a) conform to the Second Circuit decision; (b) add additional facts and claims as to the relevant enterprises for Plaintiffs’ RICO claims; (c) add two additional causes of action against Defendant David D’Addario related to the claims asserted in the prior Complaint; and

' In this ruling the Court will refer to members of the D’Addario family by first name to limit confusion.

(d) clarify that Plaintiff Virginia A. D’Addario is also asserting claims for and on behalf of the Probate Estate of F. Francis D’Addario, Deceased.” (Mem. Supp. Mot. for Leave to File [Doc. # 55-2] at 1.) II. Discussion A party may amend its pleading more than once only with “the opposing party’s written consent or the court’s leave.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). “The court should freely give leave when justice so requires.” Id. But leave to amend “should generally be denied in instances of futility, undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive, repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments previously allowed, or undue prejudice to the non-moving party.” Burch v. Pioneer Credit Recovery, Inc., 551 F.3d 122, 126 (2d Cir. 2008). Leave may be denied where plaintiffs were “given ample prior opportunity to allege a claim” but did not do so previously. DeJesus v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 87 F.3d 65, 72 (2d Cir. 1996). Plaintiff argues that leave to file the PSAC should be given because “[t]here is no undue delay[,] .. . no bad faith or dilatory motive[,] . . . no prior failure by Plaintiffs to cure pleading deficiencies, and no undue prejudice would result to the Defendants.” (Mem. Supp. Mot. for Leave to File at 2.) She also contends that “it would not be ‘futile’ to allow Plaintiffs to assert the additional claims set forth” because the “additional ‘enterprises’ for Plaintiffs’ RICO claims are in accordance with the Second Circuit’s decision”; because “Plaintiffs have asserted additional viable causes of action against David D’Addario for conversion (Count Six) and for statutory theft [(Count Seven)]” “based on the detailed factual allegations in the proposed Second Amended Complaint”; and because “the proposed Second Amended Complaint clarifies that Plaintiff Virginia A. D’Addario is also asserting claims against the Defendants for and on behalf of her deceased father’s probate Estate as allowed under Connecticut law.” (Id. at 2-3.)

Defendants respond that “the Plaintiffs now attempt to begin the entire process again, alleging new legal theories, new causes of action, and newly expanded damages claims, all based

on the same alleged conduct that occurred years before the filing of the first Complaint in this matter” despite “multiple prior opportunities to amend .. . after full notice of all the deficiencies [of the FAC] the Defendants ultimately raised in their motion to dismiss.” (Defs.’ Joint Opp. at 1- 2, 13-14.) Defendants explain that “[a]ll of the alleged facts upon which the Plaintiffs rely in crafting their new theories of liability and causes of action were in existence for many years before this Court provided the Plaintiffs with their ‘final’ opportunity to amend the Complaint” following Defendants’ Motion for Pre-Filing Conference which explained the bases for a forthcoming motion to dismiss. (Id. at 16.) Moreover, “Plaintiffs have offered no justification for why they failed to include these causes of action[] and legal theories at that time, or why after failing to do so, they should be allowed to assert new theories now, years later, after a lengthy appeal process.” (Id.) Defendants also contend that “[aJll of the factors supporting denial of leave to amend are present here and mandate denial of” Plaintiff's motion, including that Defendants would suffer prejudice if they are “now required to begin the process anew and litigate the new claims” after “already dedicat[ing] significant resources to litigating the claims in the FAC” and that “any further amendment would be futile.” (Id.) Defendants argue that they would “be significantly prejudiced if they are forced to continue to incur litigation costs endlessly defending against the Plaintiffs’ repeated attempts to fashion various causes of action and damages theories from the

same alleged facts.” (Id. at 19.) Because the PSAC represents Plaintiff's opportunity to accord with the Second Circuit's opinion and because Defendants acknowledge that “[a]lthough the Plaintiffs have substantially

revised their legal theories and claims [in the PSAC], the alleged conduct underlying these claims remains essentially the same,” (Defs.’ Joint Opp.

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Related

Burch v. Pioneer Credit Recovery, Inc.
551 F.3d 122 (Second Circuit, 2008)
D'Addario v. D'Addario
901 F.3d 80 (Second Circuit, 2018)

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Bluebook (online)
D'Addario v. D'Addario, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/daddario-v-daddario-ctd-2019.