Depu v. Yahoo! Inc.

334 F. Supp. 3d 315
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit·Decided September 24, 2018·No. Civil Action No. 17-635 (JDB)·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

JOHN D. BATES, United States District Judge *317Before the Court is [42] plaintiffs' motion to alter or amend this Court's judgment of March 30, 2018 and for leave to amend their first amended complaint, both of which defendants oppose. Plaintiffs' first amended complaint alleged that a settlement agreement arising from a 2007 lawsuit brought by imprisoned Chinese activists against Yahoo established a charitable trust of which plaintiffs are beneficiaries and that defendants, all of whom are allegedly trustees, improperly depleted the trust's assets and unlawfully terminated the trust's humanitarian purpose. See Depu v. Yahoo! Inc., 306 F.Supp.3d 181, 185 (D.D.C. 2018). Defendants moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that the settlement agreement did not establish a charitable trust and that plaintiffs lack standing to enforce any trust. Id. This Court dismissed the complaint with prejudice, holding that the settlement did not establish a trust and that even if it had, plaintiffs lack standing to enforce it. Id. at 189, 191. Now, plaintiffs move the Court to set aside the judgment and for leave to file a second amended complaint that, they assert, will cure some of the first amended complaint's defects, allowing some of plaintiffs' claims to survive a motion under Rule 12(b)(6). For the reasons explained below, the Court will deny plaintiffs' motion to alter or amend the March 30, 2018 judgment and will deny plaintiffs' motion for leave to amend their complaint.

BACKGROUND

The full facts and procedural history of this case are laid out in this Court's earlier memorandum opinion. See Depu, 306 F.Supp.3d at 185-87. In short, as part of a settlement agreement to end a 2007 lawsuit filed by Chinese political activists (the " Wang Settlement"), Yahoo agreed to pay $17.3 million to the Laogai Research Foundation ("LRF"), a non-profit corporation founded by Harry Wu, to establish the Yahoo Human Rights Fund ("YHRF" or "YHR Fund"). See id. at 185. In 2017, plaintiffs1 filed a lawsuit alleging that the YHRF is a charitable trust established for plaintiffs' benefit and contending that defendants2 -all of whom are allegedly trustees-unlawfully breached and modified the purported trust under D.C. law. See id. at 186-87 ; FAC ¶¶ 125-130, 135-41.3

*318The Court granted defendants' subsequent motions to dismiss the trust-based claims under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) and 12(b)(1). First, the Court held that plaintiffs failed to allege plausibly that the Wang Settlement created a charitable trust. See Depu, 306 F.Supp.3d at 187-89. Second, the Court held that even if the Wang Settlement had somehow established a charitable trust, plaintiffs failed to allege plausibly that they had standing to enforce the trust, both under the principles of trust law and, as to six of seven plaintiffs, under Article III. See id. at 189-91 & n.9. Because the Court's order dismissing the FAC did not specify whether the complaint was dismissed with or without prejudice, the claims were dismissed with prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b). See Rollins v. Wackenhut Servs., Inc., 703 F.3d 122, 131 (D.C. Cir. 2012) ("[ Rule] 41(b) provides, in part, that '[u]nless the dismissal order states otherwise, [an involuntary dismissal]-except one for lack of jurisdiction, improper venue, or failure to join a party under Rule 19-operates as an adjudication on the merits."). Plaintiffs now move to set aside the judgment and for leave to amend their trust claims in a proposed second amended complaint that they claim will survive. See Rule 59(e) Mot. to Alter J. from Dismissal With Prejudice to Dismissal Without Prejudice, Rule 15(a) Mot. for Leave to Amend, and Mem. of P. & A. in Support Thereof ("Pls.' Mot. to Amend") [ECF No. 42].

LEGAL STANDARD

Plaintiffs may move to "amend their complaint after it was dismissed with prejudice 'only by filing ... a [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure] 59(e) motion to alter or amend the judgment combined with a [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure] 15(a) motion requesting leave of court to amend their complaint.' " Brink v. Cont'l Ins. Co., 787 F.3d 1120, 1128 (D.C. Cir. 2015) (quoting Firestone v. Firestone, 76 F.3d 1205, 1208 (D.C. Cir. 1996) (per curiam) ). Plaintiffs followed that procedure here, filing a combined Rule 59(e) and Rule 15(a)(2) motion requesting that the Court grant leave to amend. See Pls.' Mot. to Amend at 3.

Rule 59(e) motions to amend or alter a judgment provide "a limited exception to the rule that judgments are to remain final" and, because they "are aimed at 'reconsideration, not initial consideration,' " "may not be used to relitigate old matters, or to raise arguments or present evidence that could have been raised prior to the entry of judgment." Leidos, Inc. v. Hellenic Republic, 881 F.3d 213, 217 (D.C. Cir. 2018) (citations omitted).

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

Depu v. Yahoo! Inc., 334 F. Supp. 3d 315 (D.C. Cir. 2018).

334 F. Supp. 3d 315 (Depu v. Yahoo! Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Depu v. Oath Holdings, Inc.
District of Columbia, 2021
He Depu v. Yahoo! Inc.
950 F.3d 897 (D.C. Circuit, 2020)
Seth v. District of Columbia
District of Columbia, 2019