In re Zappos.com, Inc.

108 F. Supp. 3d 949, 2015 WL 10892034, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71195
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedJune 1, 2015
DocketNo. 3:12-cv-00325-RCJ-VPC; MDL No. 2357
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 108 F. Supp. 3d 949 (In re Zappos.com, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Zappos.com, Inc., 108 F. Supp. 3d 949, 2015 WL 10892034, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71195 (D. Nev. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER

ROBERT C. JONES, District Judge.

This multidistrict litigation case arises out of a security breach of Zappos.com’s customer data. Pending before the Court is a Motion to Dismiss, (ECF No. 217), filed by Amazon.com, Inc. doing business as Zappos.com (“Zappos”). Also pending is Zappos’s Motion to Strike Prayers for Punitive Damages and Restitution. (ECF No. 219). Zappos has also filed a Motion for Leave to File Excess Pages. (ECF No. 218). The Court has considered all of the briefing on the pending Motions. For the reasons contained herein, the Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED, and the Motion to Strike is DENIED as moot.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On January 15, 2012, Zappos’s servers located in Kentucky and Nevada were targeted by a hacker or group of hackers. The servers contained the personal identifying information of approximately 24 million Zappos’s customers. On January 16, 2012, Zappos sent an email to its customers notifying them that its servers had been breached and that data had been stolen, including customers’ names, account numbers, passwords, email addresses, billing and shipping addresses, phone numbers, and the last four digits of their credit cards used to make purchases. Shortly thereafter, a number of lawsuits were filed against Zappos seeking damages.

On June 14, 2012, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (“JPML”) granted Zappos’s motion to create the present case pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407, transferring six extra-district actions to [952]*952this District, consolidating them with three actions from this District, and assigning the consolidated case to this Court. (Transfer Order, ECF No. 1). Zappos moved to compel arbitration and stay the case. While that motion was pending, the JPML transferred an additional action to be consolidated with the instant case. (Conditional Transfer Order, ECF No. 5). The Court denied the motion to compel arbitration because the arbitration contract was “browsewrap” not requiring any objective manifestation of assent (as opposed to a “clickwrap” agreement), and there was no evidence that Plaintiffs had knowledge of the offer such that assent could be implied merely by use of the website. (See Sept. 27, 2012 Order 7-10, ECF No. 21).

Plaintiffs then amended their pleadings into two separate consolidated class action complaints, and Zappos filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaints for lack of standing and for failure to state a claim. (ECF No. 62). On September 9, 2013, the Court granted in part and denied in part Zappos’s motion. (ECF No. 114). Thereafter, Plaintiffs Preira, Ree, Simon, Hasner, Habashy, and Nobles (“the Preira Plaintiffs”) filed their Second Amended Consolidated Complaint (the “Preira SAC”). (ECF No. 118). And Plaintiffs Stevens, Penson, Elliot, Brown, Seal, Relethford, and Braxton (the “Stevens Plaintiffs”) filed their Second Amended Consolidated Class Action Complaint (the “Stevens SAC”). (ECF No. 119).

On November 4, 2013, Zappos moved for dismissal of the Preira SAC and the Stevens SAC. (ECF No. 122). Zappos also moved to strike Plaintiffs’ prayers for punitive damages and restitution. (ECF No. 124). While those motions were pending, the parties engaged in mediation in an attempt to reach a settlement. The parties stipulated to stay the proceedings various times, each time representing to the Court that settlement negotiations were progressing. (See ECF Nos. 192, 196, 201). After the third stipulation to stay, which was filed on September 17, 2014, and in reliance on the parties’ representation that a Settlement agreement was close, the Court entered an order denying Zappos’s still pending motion to dismiss and motion to strike without prejudice. (ECF No. 202).

Despite the progress made during mediation as to class-wide relief, a final agreement could not be reached between the parties due to a disagreement over attorneys’ fees. However, Plaintiffs filed a motion on December 4, 2014 to enforce a supposed settlement. (ECF No. 207), claiming that a cap on the fees class counsel would request was not material to the settlement. After responding to Plaintiffs’ arguments regarding whether an enforceable settlement had been reached, Zappos renewed its previous dismissal arguments by filing the instant Motions on January 30, 2015. (ECF Nos. 217, 219). Plaintiffs then requested an extension of time to oppose the Motions pending the Court’s determination of the motion to enforce. On March 27, 2015, the Court, finding that no final settlement had been reached, denied the motion to enforce and ordered Plaintiffs to respond to the instant Motions so that the case might proceed. Accordingly, the Court now considers the merits of Zappos’s Motion to Dismiss the Preira and Stevens SACs pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) for lack of standing.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

“Lack of standing is a defect in subject-matter jurisdiction and may properly be challenged under Rule 12(b)(1).” Wright v. Incline Vill. Gen. Imp. Dist., 597 F.Supp.2d 1191, 1199 (D.Nev.2009) (citing Bender v. Williamsport Area Sch. Dist., 475 U.S. 534, 541, 106 S.Ct. 1326, 89 [953]*953L.Ed.2d 501 (1986)). Zappos argues that the Preira and Stevens SACs fail to establish Plaintiffs’ standing to sue. This is considered a “facial” challenge to subject-matter jurisdiction. Thornhill Publ’g Co. v. Gen. Tel. & Elec. Corp., 594 F.2d 730, 733 (9th Cir.1979). “In a facial attack, the challenger asserts that the allegations contained in a complaint are insufficient on their face to invoke federal jurisdiction.” Safe Air for Everyone v. Meyer, 373 F.3d 1035, 1039 (9th Cir.2004). If the movant’s challenge is a facial one, then the “court must consider the allegations of the complaint to be true and construe them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.” Nevada ex rel. Colo. River Comm’n of Nev. v. Pioneer Cos., 245 F.Supp.2d 1120, 1124 (D.Nev.2003) (citing Love v. United States, 915 F.2d 1242, 1245 (9th Cir.1989)).

III. DISCUSSION

Zappos contends that Plaintiffs lack standing in this case because they have not alleged any actual damages arising from the data breach. Plaintiffs contend that their injury stems from an increased risk that they will become victims of identity theft or other fraudulent activities because their personal information has been jeopardized. None of the Plaintiffs, however, allege that they have suffered such harm as of yet. Moreover, only three of the twelve named Plaintiffs have taken the additional step of purchasing credit monitoring services to protect against the allegedly increased threat of fraud. In addition to the increased threat of harm, Plaintiffs further argue that they have standing based on damage to the intrinsic value of their data.

The Court was presented with similar arguments when ruling on Zappos’s previous motion to dismiss. At that time, the Court determined that Plaintiffs’ allegations “that they have had to pay money to monitor their credit scores and secure their financial information due to the increased risk of criminal fraud” were sufficient to establish standing. (Sept. 9, 2013 Order 5).

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

Related

Hemphill v. Horne, LLP
S.D. Mississippi, 2025
Theresa Stevens v. zappos.com., Inc.
884 F.3d 893 (Ninth Circuit, 2018)
Fero v. Excellus Health Plain, Inc.
236 F. Supp. 3d 735 (W.D. New York, 2017)
Richard Beck v. Robert McDonald
848 F.3d 262 (Fourth Circuit, 2017)
Vigil v. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.
235 F. Supp. 3d 499 (S.D. New York, 2017)
Welborn v. Internal Revenue Service
218 F. Supp. 3d 64 (District of Columbia, 2016)
Attias v. Carefirst, Inc.
199 F. Supp. 3d 193 (District of Columbia, 2016)
Torres v. Wendy's Co.
195 F. Supp. 3d 1278 (M.D. Florida, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
108 F. Supp. 3d 949, 2015 WL 10892034, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71195, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-zapposcom-inc-nvd-2015.