Fed. Trade Comm'n v. Pointbreak Media, LLC

376 F. Supp. 3d 1257
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedApril 4, 2019
DocketCASE NO. 18-61017-CIV-ALTONAGA/McAliley
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 376 F. Supp. 3d 1257 (Fed. Trade Comm'n v. Pointbreak Media, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fed. Trade Comm'n v. Pointbreak Media, LLC, 376 F. Supp. 3d 1257 (S.D. Fla. 2019).

Opinion

CECILIA M. ALTONAGA, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

On March 11, 2019, Magistrate Judge McAliley entered a Report [ECF No. 251] on Plaintiff, Federal Trade Commission's Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 228]. Judge McAliley recommends the Court grant Plaintiff's Motion and enter a permanent injunction against pro se Defendants, *1267Dustin Pillonato and Justin Ramsey. (See Report 1289-90). On March 18, 2019, Defendants timely filed their Objections [ECF No. 253] to the Report. Plaintiff filed its Response to Defendants' Objections [ECF No. 255] ("Pl.'s Resp. to Objs.") on March 21, 2019.

When a magistrate judge's "disposition" has properly been objected to, as is the case here, district courts must review the disposition de novo . Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b)(3). Defendants timely filed objections to the Report (see generally Objs.), and so the Court reviews the record de novo . The Court has carefully reviewed the parties' written submissions, the record, and applicable law. For the following reasons, Judge McAliley's Report is affirmed, and Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment is granted.

I. BACKGROUND

The Report details the relevant facts. (See Report 1274-81). Judge McAliley relies on Plaintiff's Statement of Undisputed Material Facts [ECF No. 229] ("Pl.'s SOF"), as Defendants failed to file their own statement of material facts. (See Report 1274 (citing cases) ). The Court agrees and fully adopts Plaintiff's facts here. Given Defendants' status as pro se litigants, however, the Court also considers all evidence Defendants reference in their briefing.

For brevity, the undersigned outlines the general nature of the case, reserving specific reference to the evidence in her analysis below. The dispute involves Plaintiff's allegations against various companies and their principals for deceptive representations, unfair billing practices, and abusive telemarketing practices. (See generally First Amended Complaint [ECF No. 109] ). Every Defendant in the case, other than Pillonato and Ramsey, as principals of Pointbreak Media, LLC and Modern Source Media LLC (see id. ¶¶ 16-17), has either settled or has defaulted.

Plaintiff asks the Court to enter summary judgment, a permanent injunction, and a money judgment for $ 3,367,666.30, jointly and severally, against Pillonato and Ramsey. (See generally Mot.). Plaintiff moves for summary judgment on all claims for which Pillonato and Ramsey are named as Defendants: (1) Section 5(a) of the FTC act for alleged misrepresentations to induce consumers to purchase "claiming and verifying" and Citation Program services under both a personal liability and common enterprise theory (Count I) (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 208-10); (2) Section 5(a) of the FTC Act for Pointbreak Media's unfair billing practices (Count II) (see id. ¶¶ 211-13); and (3) Telemarketing Sales Rule ("TSR"), 16 C.F.R. section 310.4(b), arising from Pointbreak Media's initiation of unlawful prerecorded messages and robocalls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry (Counts III and IV) (see id. ¶¶ 224-27).

The parties have completed extensive briefing. In all, Plaintiff filed its Motion, Reply [ECF No. 241], and Response to Defendants' Objections. Defendants filed a Response [ECF No. 234], Surreply [ECF No. 244], and their Objections to the Report. Plaintiff's Motion is ripe for review.

II. ANALYSIS

In her Report, Judge McAliley thoughtfully addresses every argument Defendants raise in opposition to Plaintiff's Motion. (See Report 1281-87). The Magistrate Judge also references the arguments in Plaintiff's Motion that Defendants do not challenge. (See generally id. ). Having had the benefit of reviewing Defendants' Objections, the undersigned addresses the merits of Plaintiff's Motion by evaluating the four claims against Pillonato and Ramsey. The Court concludes by addressing, *1268and ultimately rejecting, Defendants' remaining objections.

A. Count I

In Count I, Plaintiff alleges Pillonato and Ramsey made false, misleading, and unsubstantiated representations, in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act. (See Am. Compl. ¶ 210). Section 5 prohibits "unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce." 15 U.S.C. § 45(a)(1). To establish a violation of Section 5, Plaintiff must prove: "(1) there was a representation, (2) the representation was likely to mislead customers acting reasonably under the circumstances, and (3) the representation was material." F.T.C. v. Tashman , 318 F.3d 1273, 1277 (11th Cir. 2003) (citations omitted).

Plaintiff has established all the elements of a claim under Section 5(a) as a matter of law. (See Report 1281). Defendants have not challenged this conclusion in either their briefing before or after the Report. (See generally Resp.; Surreply; Objs.). The Court has independently reviewed the evidence and agrees there is no genuine dispute of material fact that Pointbreak Media's robocalls and live sales agent calls violated Section 5(a). In so doing, the undersigned fully adopts the Report's analysis on Count I here. (See Report 1281-83).

But the Court's analysis does not stop there, for Plaintiff asks the Court to hold Pillonato and Ramsey liable for the conduct of Co-Defendants , Modern Spotlight LLC, Modern Spotlight Group LLC, Perfect Image Online LLC, National Business Listings LLC, and DCP Marketing LLC (the "Co-Defendants") under a common enterprise theory. (See id. 1282-84). Plaintiff also asks the Court to find Pillonato and Ramsey liable for the conduct of the Co-Defendants under a personal liability theory. (See id. 1284-86). The Court addresses both theories of liability in turn.

i. Common Enterprise Liability

The Court first turns to common enterprise liability. "When a common enterprise exists, each corporation may be held liable for the others' violations." F.T.C. v. Life Mgmt. Servs. of Orange Cty., LLC , 350 F.Supp.3d 1246, 1257 (M.D. Fla. 2018) (citation omitted).

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Bluebook (online)
376 F. Supp. 3d 1257, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fed-trade-commn-v-pointbreak-media-llc-flsd-2019.