East Point Systems, Inc. v. Steven Maxim, S2K, Inc.

133 F. Supp. 3d 430, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125588, 2015 WL 5595399
District Court, D. Connecticut·Decided September 21, 2015·No. CIVIL ACTION NO.: 3:13-cv-00215-VAB·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

RULING AND ORDER

VICTOR A. BOLDEN, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs, East Point Systems, Inc. (“EPS”), Thomas Margarido, Jason Mar-gando, and Paul Taff, filed this action against Defendants, Steven Maxim, S2K, Inc. (“S2K”), Maxim Enterprises, Inc. (“MEI”), Maxim Field Service Supply, Inc. (“MFSS”), Edwin Pajemola, and Cleveland Field Systems, LLC (“CFS”) for breach of contract, statutory and common law breach of fiduciary duty, specific performance, tortious interference with business expectancy, violations of the Connecticut Uniform Trade Secrets Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 35-50 et seq. (“CUTSA”), violations of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 42a-110a et. seq. (“CUTPA”), computer-related offense under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53a-251, copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 501, and imposition of a constructive trust.

In their original Answer, Steven Maxim, S2K, MEI, and MFSS (collectively, the “Maxim Defendants”) counterclaimed for breach of contract, fraud, quantum meruit, accounting, specific performance, violations of CUTPA, rescission or reformation, punitive damages, injunction, and declaratory judgment. ECF No. 22 at 62-75.

Plaintiffs moved to dismiss all of those counterclaims. ECF No. 29. The Court granted Plaintiffs’ motion by order dated February 7, 2014 (the “First Order”). ECF No. 59. In the First Order, the Court concluded that the Maxim Defendants had not pleaded fraud with sufficient particularity, and granted them leave to re-plead only those claims sounding in .fraud- — -specifically, fraud, quantum meruit based on fraud, CUTPA based on fraud, and rescission or reformation based on fraud. See id. at 13,16, 20, 23.

The Maxim Defendants then filed an Amended Answer. ECF No. 63. In it, the Maxim Defendants re-asserted all of the dismissed counterclaims except the independent count for punitive damages, and added a new counterclaim for breach of implied warranty. See generally id. at 72-99.

Plaintiffs have moved to dismiss all of the counterclaims asserted in the Maxim Defendants’ Amended Answer. ECF No. 66. Plaintiffs also have moved for summary judgment as to those amended counterclaims. ECF No. 134.

The Maxim Defendants ultimately realized that the First Order had not given them leave to re-plead certain of the counterclaims asserted in their Amended Answer. They have moved to withdraw those counterclaims, specifically, counts 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, and 10, as well as paragraphs 380 through 383 of count 6. ECF No. 123. Plaintiffs ask that the Court dismiss those claims with prejudice. ECF No. 126.

A. Motion to Withdraw Amended Counterclaims [ECF No. 123]

The Maxim Defendants’ motion to withdraw counterclaims (ECF No. 123) is GRANTED. Counts 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, and 10 are dismissed with prejudice consistent with the First Order. Paragraphs 380 through 383 of count 6 are withdrawn. The counterclaims that remain are addressed in the [434] Court’s below ruling on Plaintiffs’ motion to dismiss.

B. Motion to Dismiss Amended Counterclaims [ECF No. 66]

Plaintiffs have moved under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 9(b)' and 12(b)(6) to dismiss all remaining counterclaims in the Maxim Defendants’ Amended Answer. For the reasons stated below, the motion is GRANTED.

1. Standard of Review

To survive a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), a plaintiff must state a claim for relief that is plausible on its face. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). A claim is facially plausible if “the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. Although “detailed factual allegations” are not required, a complaint must offer more than “labels and conclusions,” or “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action” or “naked assertion[s]” devoid of “further factual enhancement.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). “The plausibility standard is not akin to a ‘probability requirement,’ but it asks for more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955).

In determining whether the plaintiff has met this standard, the Court must accept the allegations in the complaint as true and draw all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, In re NYSE Specialists Sec. Litig., 503 F.3d 89, 95 (2d Cir.2007), and generally may consider only “the facts as asserted within the four corners of the complaint, the documents attached to the complaint as exhibits, and any documents incorporated in the complaint by reference.” McCarthy v. Dun & Bradstreet Corp., 482 F.3d 184, 191 (2d Cir.2007).

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East Point Systems, Inc. v. Steven Maxim, S2K, Inc., 133 F. Supp. 3d 430, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125588, 2015 WL 5595399 (D. Conn. 2015).

133 F. Supp. 3d 430 (East Point Systems, Inc. v. Steven Maxim, S2K, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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