Digizip.com, Inc. v. Verizon Services Corp.

139 F. Supp. 3d 670, 92 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1449, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140935, 2015 WL 6076532
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedOctober 16, 2015
DocketNo. 14 Civ. 1741(GWG)
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 139 F. Supp. 3d 670 (Digizip.com, Inc. v. Verizon Services Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Digizip.com, Inc. v. Verizon Services Corp., 139 F. Supp. 3d 670, 92 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1449, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140935, 2015 WL 6076532 (S.D.N.Y. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

GABRIEL W. GORENSTEIN United States Magistrate Judge.

The plaintiff in this action, Digizip.com, Inc. (“Digizip”), has brought claims for breach of contract and unjust enrichment under New York law against entities that we refer to collectively as “Verizon.” Verizon now moves to dismiss Digizip’s complaint pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P.- 12(b)(1) or 12(b)(6), or, in the alternative, for summary judgment pursuant to ■ Fed.R.Civ.P. 56.1 The parties have consented to a United States Magistrate Judge presiding over this case pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c). For the reasons that follow, Verizon’s motion is granted in part and denied in part.

I. BACKGROUND

This case centers around a series of written contracts known as “Service Agreements” that Digizip entered into with each of the defendants. See Complaint and Jury Demand, filed Mar, 13, 2014 (Docket #2) (“Compl.”), ¶ 2. Under the Service Agreements, Digizip .resold Verizon’s telephone services to businesses in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania from July -1, 2005 until December 31, 2012. Id. Each of the Service Agreements contained a section entitled “Tax Exemptions and Exemption Certificates,” which provided that if Digizip was exempt from paying a tax and complied with the procedures to certify that exemption, Verizon would not collect that tax. See id. ¶¶28, 30, 32, 35. Digizip contends that it was exempt from certain surcharges and taxes, and that it provided Verizon with the necessary proof of this exempt status, but that Verizon nonetheless continued to include those surcharges and taxes on its monthly bills to Digizip from approximately September 2005 through November 2011. Id. ¶¶ 3, 36, 39. By Digizip’s calculation, the total amount it paid to Verizon in exempt, surcharges over this period was $386,451.57. See id. ¶9. Digizip first discovered these overpay-ments in April 2013.. Id. ¶ 39, When Digizip brought the issue to Verizon’s representative, Verizon refused to credit Digizip for its past overpayment. Id. ¶¶ 40-41.

Before the overpayments came to Digi-zip’s attention, however, Digizip had sold its business to a nonparty known as Wholesale Carrier Services, Inc. (“WCS”). See' Purchase and Sale Agreement, annexed as Ex. 1 to Schneider-Decl. (“Purchase and Sale Agreement”), at 1. That sale was accomplished through a transfer of - assets from Digizip to WCS. See id. [674]*674§ 3.01. In an agreement entered into by WCS, Digizip, and Verizon just prior to the completion of Digizip’s sale to WCS, Verizon agreed to Digizip’s assignment of the Service Agreements to WCS; in return for a payment to Verizon of $433,380.71,. “an amount less than the full amount” Verizon contended was due at that time under the Service Agreements. Consent to Assignment of Contracts from Digi-zip.com, Inc. (“Digizip”), to Wholesale Carrier Services, Inc. (“WCS”), annexed as Ex. 1 to Plummer Aff. (“Consent to Assignment”), at 2.

Digizip filed the complaint in the instant case on March 13, 2014. It seeks to recover $386,451.57 in damages for breach of contract and the same amount for unjust enrichment, plus interest, attorney’s fees, court costs, and disbursements. Compl. ¶¶ 46, 50. Verizon filed its first motion to dismiss on June 6, 2014. See Notice of Motion, filed June 6, 2014 (Docket # 17). In that motion, Verizon argued, inter alia, that Digizip had assigned the instant claims to WCS through the Purchase and Sale Agreement and that Digizip therefore lacked standing to pursue them. See Memorandum of Law in Support of Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss the Complaint or, in the Alternative, for Summary Judgment, filed June 6, 2014 (Docket # 18), at 11-13. Digizip opposed the motion by arguing, inter alia, that the claims at issue had not been transferred by the Purchase and Sale Agreement. See Plaintiffs Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss the Complaint or, in the Alternative, for Summary Judgment, filed July 25, 2014 (Docket# 23); at 8-10. It also argued that if the claims had been assigned to WCS, they were later assigned back to Digizip by means of an email from WCS’s CEO, Chris Barton (the “Barton email”). See id. at 11-12.

The Court subsequently ordered the parties to address the question of whether the Barton email constituted a “ratification” within the meaning of Fed.R.Civ.P. 17(a)(3), assuming it was not a valid reassignment. See Order, filed Dec. 10, 2014 (Docket # 29), at 2. In its responsive letters, Digizip again argued that the Barton email constituted a valid re-assignment but conceded that it would not constitute a ratification under Rule 17(a)(3). See Letter from Mark I. Reisman, filed Jan. 23, 2015 (Docket #31), at 1-2; Letter from Mark I. Reisman, filed Jan. 30, 2015 (Docket # 33), at 1.

On March 20, 2015, we issued an Opinion. and Order holding that (1) the Purchase and Sale Agreement transferred the claims at issue to WCS, and (2) the Barton email did not constitute a valid re-assignment of the claims to Digizip. See Digizip.com, Inc. v. Verizon Services Corp., 2015 WL 1283676 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 20, 2015) (“Mar. 20 Op.”), at *4-*7. As a result, we concluded that Digizip’s claims should be dismissed for lack of standing. See id. at *8. However, we stayed the entry of judgment to allow WCS 60 days to ratify, join, or be substituted in as the real party in interest pursuant to Rule 17(a)(3). See id.

On May 8, 2015, Digizip filed a declaration from Barton, in which he reiterated his belief that the instant claims were not included within the Digizip assets purchased by WCS. See Declaration of Chris S. Barton, filed May 8, 2015 (Docket # 35) (“May 2015 Barton Decl.”), at ¶¶ 14, 17. Barton also stated that, to the extent the Court believed that the instant claims were transferred to WCS and did not consider the Barton email ’to be a valid re-assignment back to Digizip, “WCS hereby assigns any and all right, title and interest to such claims to Digizip,” ‘WCS consents to have Digizip substituted for WCS as the actual party of interest in connection with this lawsuit,” and WCS ... approves and ratifies Digizip’s pursuit of recovery against Verizon in this litigation.” Id. [675]*675¶¶ 18-19. Barton also stated that WCS “agrees to be bound by any judgment rendered in this action” relating to the claim and agrees to be bound by “any release Digizip may execute with Verizon in connection with the claims asserted in this lawsuit.” Id. ¶20. Barton further covenants that “WCS will not institute a separate action against Verizon” relating to these claims.

Following the filing of this declaration, Verizon filed the instant motion to dismiss.

II. STANDING

A. Applicable Law on Standing

“It is well established ... that before a federal court can consider the merits of a legal claim, the person seeking to invoke the jurisdiction of the court must establish the requisite standing to sue.” Whitmore v. Arkansas,

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139 F. Supp. 3d 670, 92 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1449, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140935, 2015 WL 6076532, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/digizipcom-inc-v-verizon-services-corp-nysd-2015.