Evans Hotel, LLC v. Unite Here! Local 30

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedJanuary 28, 2022
Docket3:18-cv-02763
StatusUnknown

This text of Evans Hotel, LLC v. Unite Here! Local 30 (Evans Hotel, LLC v. Unite Here! Local 30) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Evans Hotel, LLC v. Unite Here! Local 30, (S.D. Cal. 2022).

Opinion

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 EVANS HOTELS, LLC, a California ) Case No.: 3:18-cv-02763-LL-AHG limited liability company; BH ) 12 PARTNERSHIP LP, a California limited ) ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’: 13 partnership; EHSW, LLC, a Delaware ) limited liability company, ) (1) MOTION FOR 14 ) RECONSIDERATION and Plaintiffs, 15 ) v. ) (2) REQUEST FOR ORAL 16 ) ARGUMENT UNITED HERE! LOCAL 30; BRIGETTE 17 BROWNING; SAN DIEGO COUNTY ) ) [ECF Nos. 100, 111, 112] 18 BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION ) TRADES COUNCIL, AFL-CIO; TOM 19 LEMMON, an individual; and DOES 1 ) ) 20 through 10, ) 21 Defendants. ) 22 I. INTRODUCTION 23 Plaintiff EVANS HOTEL, LLC, a California limited liability company; BH 24 PARTNERSHIP LP, a California limited partnership; and EHSW, LLC, a Delaware 25 limited liability company (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) bring this action against Defendants 26 UNITED HERE! LOCAL 30 (“Unite Here!”); BRIGETTE BROWNING (“Browning”); 27 SAN DIEGO COUNTY BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION TRADES COUNCIL, 28 AFL-CIO (“SDCBCTC”); and TOM LEMMON, an individual (“Lennon”) (collectively, 1 “Defendants”) along with DOES 1 through 10,1 alleging that Plaintiffs engaged in conduct 2 qualifying as unfair labor practices in violation of the Labor Management Relations Act, 3 29 U.S.C. § 187(a) (the “LMRA”). 4 Before the Court are Defendants’ (1) Motion for Reconsideration, ECF No. 100, 5 and (2) Request for Oral Argument, ECF No. 111. The motions were submitted on the 6 papers without oral argument pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7.1(d)(1) and Rule 78(b) of the 7 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. ECF No. 110. After considering the papers submitted, 8 supporting documentation, and applicable law, the Court DENIES the motions. 9 II. BACKGROUND 10 A. Statement of Facts 11 The Court incorporates the detailed factual history from its August 26, 2021 order 12 denying the motions to dismiss and strike in this matter set forth in ECF No. 93. 13 B. Procedural History 14 On December 7, 2018, Plaintiffs filed their complaint in this matter, alleging, (1) 15 unlawful secondary boycott; (2) attempted monopolization in violation of Section 2 of the 16 17 1 The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“FRCP”) neither authorize nor prohibit the use of fictitious parties; however, FRCP 10 requires a plaintiff to include the names of all 18 parties in his complaint. See Keavney v. Cty. of San Diego, No. 3:19-cv-01947-AJB-BGS, 2020 WL 4192286, at *4-5 (S.D. Cal. July 21, 2020) (Battaglia, J.). Plaintiffs’ complaint 19 includes allegations against Does 1 through 10. Naming doe defendants also implicates 20 FRCP 4, requiring service of the complaint. Id. (noting that “it is effectively impossible for the United States Marshal or deputy marshal to fulfill his or her duty to serve an 21 unnamed defendant”). “A plaintiff may refer to unknown defendants as Defendant John 22 Doe 1, John Doe 2, John Doe 3, and so on, but he must allege specific facts showing how 23 each particular doe defendant violated his rights.” Keavney, 2020 WL 4192286 at *4-5. Where a plaintiff fails to link any alleged wrongful act to a specific doe defendant, the court 24 must dismiss those individuals, especially when they have not been served. See, e.g., FED. 25 R. CIV. P. 4(m) (providing that “[i]f a defendant is not served within 90 days after the complaint is filed, the court—on motion or on its own after notice to the plaintiff—must 26 dismiss the action without prejudice against that defendant or order that service be made 27 within a specified time.”); see also S.D. Cal. Civ. R. 41.1(a); Keavney, 2020 WL 4192286 at *4-5 (dismissing a plaintiff’s first amended complaint). Thus, all doe defendants are 28 1 Sherman Act; (3) conspiracy to monopolize in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act; 2 (4) violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (the “RICO 3 Act”), 18 U.S.C. § 1962; (5) violation of the RICO Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d), by conspiring 4 to violate 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c); (6) violation of the RICO Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d), by 5 conspiring to violate 18 U.S.C. § 1962(a); (7) violation of the RICO Act, 18 U.S.C. § 6 1962(d), by conspiring to violate 18 U.S.C. § 1962(b); (8) interference with prospective 7 economic advantage; and (9) attempted extortion. ECF No. 1. 8 On February 15, 2019, Defendants timely filed motions to dismiss pursuant to 9 FRCP 12(b)(6) and special motions to strike under California’s anti-Strategic Lawsuit 10 Against Public Participation (“anti-SLAPP”) statute, CAL. CIV. PROC. CODE § 425.16. 11 ECF Nos. 15, 16, 17, 18. However, on March 7, 2019, these motions were mooted by 12 Plaintiffs’ filing of a First Amended Complaint (the “FAC”), alleging essentially the same 13 claims as in their original complaint aside from adding SDCBCTC to the First Claim for 14 Relief. See ECF Nos. 19, 24. 15 On April 15, 2019, Defendants again filed motions to dismiss the FAC, see ECF 16 Nos. 29, 31, while Browning and Unite Here! Moved to strike Plaintiffs’ eighth and ninth 17 claims for relief, ECF No. 32. 18 On January 7, 2020, the Court granted Defendants’ motions to dismiss, dismissing 19 the FAC without prejudice and denying the pending motion to strike as moot. ECF No. 20 60. The Hon. William Q. Hayes found that Plaintiffs had failed to allege specific facts 21 showing that Defendants’ conduct was not protected under the Noerr-Pennington 22 doctrine.2 Id. The Court granted Plaintiffs thirty days to request leave to amend. Id. On

23 2 The Noerr–Pennington Doctrine provides immunity to private entities from liability 24 under federal or state antitrust laws for conduct related to petitioning any branch of 25 government in an attempt to influence the passage or enforcement of laws that might have anticompetitive effects. Microsoft Corp. v. Motorola, Inc., 795 F.3d 1024, 1047 (9th Cir. 26 2015); Sosa v. DIRECTTV, Inc., 437 F.3d 923, 942 (9th Cir. 2006). The doctrine arises 27 out of the belief that antitrust laws should not be applied in the political arena, and that the First Amendment protects political speech. See Microsoft, 795 F.3d at 1047 (“The doctrine 28 1 February 4, 2020, Plaintiffs filed a motion for reconsideration of the Court’s order granting 2 the Defendants’ motions to dismiss. ECF No. 61. Two days later, on February 6, 2020, 3 Plaintiffs also filed a motion for leave to file a Second Amended Complaint (the “SAC”). 4 ECF No. 62.

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Evans Hotel, LLC v. Unite Here! Local 30, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/evans-hotel-llc-v-unite-here-local-30-casd-2022.