Dunbar v. Airbnb, Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, D. Hawaii
DecidedNovember 17, 2022
Docket1:21-cv-00451
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Dunbar v. Airbnb, Inc., (D. Haw. 2022).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF HAWAII

JOHN P. DUNBAR, Civ. No. 21-00451 JMS-WRP

Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT AIRBNB, INC.’S MOTION TO vs. DISMISS, ECF NO. 15, WITH LEAVE TO AMEND AIRBNB, INC.,

Defendant.

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT AIRBNB, INC.’S MOTION TO DISMISS, ECF NO. 15, WITH LEAVE TO AMEND

I. INTRODUCTION On October 6, 2021, an arbitrator dismissed pro se Plaintiff John P. Dunbar’s (“Plaintiff” or “Dunbar”) arbitration claim seeking damages for alleged defamation against Defendant Airbnb, Inc. (“Defendant” or “Airbnb”). See ECF No. 15-10. Dunbar then filed a petition in this court, titled “Motion for De Novo Judicial Review of Arbitrator’s Ruling and Petition to Vacate Award” (the “Petition”). ECF No. 1. After much delay caused by issues with proper service of the Petition, Defendant filed the instant Motion to Dismiss, seeking to dismiss the Petition for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. ECF No. 15. Based on the following, the court GRANTS the Motion to Dismiss, but does so without prejudice and with leave to amend. II. SUMMARY The Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq., among

other things, authorizes courts to compel arbitration under 9 U.S.C. § 4, as well as to confirm, vacate, or modify arbitral awards under 9 U.S.C. §§ 9−11. Chapter 1 of the FAA, however, does not itself create federal jurisdiction. Rather, for such

actions to proceed in federal court, there must be “an independent jurisdictional basis,” Vaden v. Discover Bank, 556 U.S. 49, 59 (2009), such as a federal question under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 or complete diversity of citizenship under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Vaden held that, under 9 U.S.C. § 4, courts may “look through” to the

substance of the underlying controversy between the parties to find the necessary federal jurisdiction over an action seeking to compel arbitration. See 556 U.S. at 62.

On March 31, 2022, the Supreme Court issued Badgerow v. Walters, 142 S. Ct. 1310 (2022), which drew a distinction between petitions seeking to compel arbitration from those seeking to confirm or vacate an arbitration award under 9 U.S.C. §§ 9 or 10 (or, for that matter, any other provision of chapter 1 of

the FAA besides 9 U.S.C. § 4). Badgerow held that, in determining whether federal subject-matter jurisdiction exists over a petition to confirm or vacate an arbitral award—unlike a petition to compel arbitration—a court may not “look

through” to the underlying controversy to find federal jurisdiction. See Badgerow, 142 S. Ct. at 1314. Rather, under the language of the relevant provisions of the FAA, “a court may look only to the application actually submitted to it in assessing

its jurisdiction.” Id. That is, a federal court has subject-matter jurisdiction only if the “face of the application [to confirm or vacate] itself . . . shows that the contending parties are citizens of different States (with over $75,000 in dispute)

. . . [o]r if it alleges that federal law (beyond Section 9 or 10 itself) entitles the applicant to relief.” Id. at 1316. Badgerow reasoned that—unlike other provisions of chapter 1 of the FAA—9 U.S.C. § 4 specifically directs courts to look at “the controversy between the parties,” in determining whether to compel parties to

arbitrate.1 142 S. Ct. at 1317. The posture of this case between Dunbar and Airbnb presents an issue that arises from and is ultimately controlled by Badgerow. As will be explained,

even though the court previously had jurisdiction to compel the parties to arbitrate Dunbar’s claim for defamation against Airbnb (or at least to have an arbitrator

1 The first sentence of § 4 provides:

A party aggrieved by the alleged failure, neglect, or refusal of another to arbitrate under a written agreement for arbitration may petition any United States district court which, save for such agreement, would have jurisdiction under title 28, in a civil action or in admiralty of the subject matter of a suit arising out of the controversy between the parties, for an order directing that such arbitration proceed in the manner provided for in such agreement.

9 U.S.C. § 4 (emphasis added). Sections 9 or 10 do not include similar language. decide in the first instance whether the claim was arbitrable), the court does not have jurisdiction over Dunbar’s present Petition seeking “de novo judicial review”

and vacatur of the Arbitrator’s decision (at least as the Petition is currently written). The court would have to—in violation of Badgerow—“look through” the current Petition to the underlying controversy before Dunbar could satisfy the

requirements of federal jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332.2 As the Petition is currently written, the court cannot tell based on the “face” of the Petition whether the citizenship of the parties is diverse, nor whether the amount-in-controversy exceeds $75,000.

Nevertheless, it may be that Dunbar could amend the Petition so that it states a basis for federal diversity jurisdiction on its face. The court will thus give him an opportunity to amend the Petition to state a basis for federal

jurisdiction. See, e.g., Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1130–31 (9th Cir. 2000) (explaining that leave to amend should be granted if it appears at all possible that a pro se plaintiff can correct the defect in the pleading). III. BACKGROUND

To understand the posture of this case, the court first sets forth the relevant details of the long procedural history of the dispute. Because they are not

2 It is undisputed that subject-matter jurisdiction here could not be based on a federal question under 28 U.S.C. § 1331—for example, an alleged violation of a federal statute that provides a cause-of-action. critical to deciding the present Motion, the substantive allegations regarding Dunbar’s claim of defamation are not discussed in detail and are mentioned only to

provide context. A. The First Arbitration On July 20, 2018, Dunbar—who offered accommodations to third-

parties (“guests”) as a “host” via Airbnb’s online platform, which facilitates rentals between “hosts” and “guests”—filed an arbitration demand against Airbnb with the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”). ECF No. 15-3. The demand described the issues in dispute as “breach of contract, violations of due process,

misrepresentation,” and sought $100,000, along with fees, interest, and costs. Id.

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

Related

Prescott v. Northlake Christian School
141 F. App'x 263 (Fifth Circuit, 2005)
Hall Street Associates, L. L. C. v. Mattel, Inc.
552 U.S. 576 (Supreme Court, 2008)
Vaden v. Discover Bank
556 U.S. 49 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Biller v. Toyota Motor Corp.
668 F.3d 655 (Ninth Circuit, 2012)
Theis Research, Inc. v. Brown & Bain
400 F.3d 659 (Ninth Circuit, 2005)
Morneau v. Stark Enterprises, Ltd.
539 P.2d 472 (Hawaii Supreme Court, 1975)
Smallwood v. NCsoft Corp.
730 F. Supp. 2d 1213 (D. Hawaii, 2010)
Foytik v. Chandler
966 P.2d 619 (Hawaii Supreme Court, 1998)
Fatemeh Johnmohammadi v. Bloomingdale's, Inc.
755 F.3d 1072 (Ninth Circuit, 2014)
Lopez v. Smith
203 F.3d 1122 (Ninth Circuit, 2000)
Miller v. Gammie
335 F.3d 889 (Ninth Circuit, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Dunbar v. Airbnb, Inc., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dunbar-v-airbnb-inc-hid-2022.