Douglas Coder & Linda Coder Family LLLP v. RNO Exhibitions, LLC

District Court, D. Nevada·Decided October 9, 2020·No. 3:19-cv-00520·Unknown

Opinion

* * *

DOUGLAS CODER & LINDA CODER Case No. 3:19-cv-00520-MMD-CLB FAMILY LLLP, Plaintiff, v.

RNO EXHIBITIONS, LLC, et al.,

Defendants.

Plaintiff Douglas Coder and Linda Coder Family LLLP sued Defendants RNO Exhibitions, LLC (“RNO”) and Vincent L. Webb (RNO’s alleged alter ego) after Plaintiff lent some money to RNO, but RNO never repaid Plaintiff. (ECF No. 37 (“FAC”).)1 Before the Court are Webb’s motion to dismiss all of Plaintiff’s claims against him (ECF No. 42), and RNO’s motion to dismiss all but one of Plaintiff’s claims against it (ECF No. 43).2 As further explained below, the Court will grant in part, and deny in part, Defendants’ motions to dismiss. The Court finds Plaintiff sufficiently pleaded Webb is RNO’s alter ego, and that Plaintiff’s breach of contract claims should procced against both Defendants. And while the Court agrees with Defendants that Plaintiff’s breach of the implied covenant of good

1Defendants moved to dismiss and for a more definite statement as to Plaintiff’s initial complaint. (ECF Nos. 10, 11.) After those motions were fully briefed, Plaintiff filed a motion for leave to file an amended complaint. (ECF No. 29.) Then, after a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Carla L. Baldwin (ECF No. 32), the parties conferred and stipulated to both allow Plaintiff to file an amended complaint, and Defendants to withdraw their motions (ECF No. 35). The Court granted the parties’ stipulation. (ECF No. 36.) Plaintiff subsequently filed the FAC (ECF No. 37), which is now the operative complaint in this case. 2Plaintiff filed responses (ECF Nos. 46, 47), and Defendants filed replies (ECF Nos. 52, 53). The parties subsequently stipulated to stay this case pending the Court’s resolution of these motions to dismiss (ECF No. 54), and the Court granted their finds Plaintiff’s remaining claims should proceed. The following allegations are adapted from the FAC. Defendant Webb sent Plaintiff a business plan for RNO in 2014 representing RNO would be significantly profitable in 2015. (ECF No. 37 at 2-3.) Without correcting this rosy projection, Webb contacted Plaintiff again in 2015, seeking a “short term bridge loan that was 80% funded and Over Secured.” (Id. at 3 (internal quotation marks omitted).) Based on Webb’s representations, Plaintiff entered into an “agreement entitled a ‘Term Sheet,’ which consisted of two parts: a 2 Year Promissory Note, and a Buy/Sell Agreement” (collectively, the “Agreement”). (Id.; see also ECF No. 37-1 (Agreement).) Webb signed the Agreement on RNO’s behalf, and held himself out to both be an executive of RNO, and Plaintiff’s contact for any questions. (ECF No. 37 at 3.) RNO was supposed to repay Plaintiff the money Plaintiff lent RNO under the Agreement, but RNO did not repay all of the money in the timeframe specified in the Agreement. (Id. at 4.) RNO’s financial situation was much worse than Webb had represented to Plaintiff. (Id.) If Plaintiff had known RNO’s true financial situation, it would not have entered into the Agreement. (Id.) In filing this suit, Plaintiff wants its money back from RNO and Webb, plus interest, and attorneys’ fees and costs. (Id. at 5-6.) Plaintiff asserts six claims against Defendants: (1) breach of contract; (2) breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing; (3) unjust enrichment; (4) accounting; (5) intentional misrepresentation; and (6) alter ego—alleging that Webb is essentially inseparable from RNO, so should be held equally as liable. (Id. at 6-12.) A court may dismiss a plaintiff’s complaint for “failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). A properly pleaded complaint must provide “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2); Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007). While conclusions” or a “formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555). “Factual allegations must be enough to rise above the speculative level.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555. Thus, to survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter to “state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570). In Iqbal, the Supreme Court clarified the two-step approach district courts are to apply when considering motions to dismiss. First, a district court must accept as true all well-pleaded factual allegations in the complaint; however, legal conclusions are not entitled to the assumption of truth. See id. at 678. Mere recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported only by conclusory statements, do not suffice. See id. Second, a district court must consider whether the factual allegations in the complaint allege a plausible claim for relief. See id. at 679. A claim is facially plausible when the plaintiff’s complaint alleges facts that allow a court to draw a reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the alleged misconduct. See id. at 678. Where the complaint does not permit the Court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has “alleged—but it has not show[n]—that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Id. at 679 (alteration in original) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). That is insufficient. When the claims in a complaint have not crossed the line from conceivable to plausible, the complaint must be dismissed. See Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570. Defendant Webb moves to dismiss all six of the claims Plaintiff asserts against him, and Defendant RNO moves to dismiss five of the six claims Plaintiff asserts against it. (ECF Nos. 42, 43.) The Court thus addresses Defendants’ motions as to each of Plaintiff’s six asserted claims below. The Court then addresses whether it will grant Plaintiff leave to amend the claims it agrees with Defendants should be dismissed. /// While Webb seeks to dismiss this claim, RNO does not. (ECF Nos. 42 at 2-3, 43.) Webb argues this claim should be dismissed because Plaintiff failed to identify a contract Webb (as opposed to RNO) entered into, or actions he took to breach that contract beyond otherwise alleging RNO is an alter ego of Webb. (ECF No. 42 at 2-3.) Plaintiff responds it “plausibly alleged claims against Webb as an alter ego of RNO[.]” (ECF No. 47 at 3.) Webb replies that Plaintiff’s breach of contract claim against Webb must fail because Plaintiff’s alter ego theory also fails. (ECF No. 53 at 2.) The Court thus addresses the parties’ arguments regarding breach of contract and alter ego together—especially considering that Plaintiff relies on its alter ego theory to bring its other claims against Webb as well. Under Nevada law, “[a] person acts as the alter ego of a corporation only if: (a) [t]he corporation is influenced and governed by the person; (b) [t]here is such unity of interest and ownership that the corporation and the person are inseparable from each other; and (c) [a]dherence to the notion of the corporation being an entity separate from the person would sanction fraud or promote a manifest injustice.” NRS § 78.747. Whether a person acted as the alter ego of a corporation is a question of law. See id. Further, “the alter ego doctrine applies to LLCs.”3 Gardner on Behalf of L.G. v. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court in & for Cty. of Clark, 405 P.3d 651, 655 (Nev. 2017). And “[a]lthough ‘there is no litmus test for determining when th

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Douglas Coder & Linda Coder Family LLLP v. RNO Exhibitions, LLC, (D. Nev. 2020).

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