Johansen v. HomeAdvisor, Inc.

218 F. Supp. 3d 577, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150439, 2016 WL 6432821
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedOctober 31, 2016
DocketCase No. 2:16-cv-121
StatusPublished
Cited by59 cases

This text of 218 F. Supp. 3d 577 (Johansen v. HomeAdvisor, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johansen v. HomeAdvisor, Inc., 218 F. Supp. 3d 577, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150439, 2016 WL 6432821 (S.D. Ohio 2016).

Opinion

OPINION & ORDER

ALGENON L. MARBLEY, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This matter comes before the Court on HomeAdvisor, Inc.’s Motion to Dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. (Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss, Doc. 18). HomeAdvisor contends that the Court lacks jurisdiction due to the absence of “sufficient minimum contacts” between the company and the forum state of Ohio. Based on the record before this Court, HomeAdvisor’s Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED.

[581]*581I. BACKGROUND

In this putative class action, Ken Johan-sen alleges that a pair of companies— HomeAdvisor and One Planet Ops, Inc.— worked in tandem to violate the Telephone Consumer Privacy Act of 1991 (“TCPA”), codified at 42 U.S.C. § 227, by placing telephone calls to a number that he listed on the National Do Not Call Registry. (PL’s Compl., Doc. 1). Johansen seeks to represent a nationwide class of similarly situated individuals who received telemarketing calls from HomeAdvisor and One Planet. (Id.). Johansen requests that the Court name him as elass representative, enjoin Home Advisor and One Planet from engaging in the allegedly illegal telemarketing activity, and award class members $500 for each negligent violation of the TCPA and $1,500 for each knowing violation. (Id.).

Johansen is a resident of Ohio and has listed his home telephone number on the National Do Not Call Registry since 2003. (Id. at ¶¶ 5, 18). Nevertheless, on three separate dates in December 2015, he received telemarketing calls at that number. (Id. at ¶ 20). Johansen alleges that One Planet made the offending calls in connection with a contract that One Planet had with HomeAdvisor. (Id. at ¶¶ 21-22). Jo-hansen believes that, under their contract, One Planet made the calls to generate sales leads for HomeAdvisor and that, as a result, HomeAdvisor is vicariously liable for any TCPA violations stemming from the calls. (Id. at ¶¶ 21-35). Johansen maintains that he was not a customer of One Planet or HomeAdvisor, and that he had not provided either defendant with his personal information or telephone number. (Id. at ¶ 24).

HomeAdvisor, which is incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Colorado, contends that Johansen has it all wrong insofar as the offending calls are concerned. (Doc. 18). HomeAdvisor, which submitted a pair of supporting declarations from HomeAdvisor and One Planet executives, admits that it operates a business that connects “consumers looking for home services with prescreened and customer-rated home improvement, maintenance^] and repair service professionals.” (Id. at PageID 58). HomeAdvisor also admits that One Planet “operates an online marketing platform for the acquisition of locally-targeted and category-specific leads,” and that HomeAdvisor contracted with One Planet for the option to purchase certain sales leads. (Id. at PageID 58-59). But HomeAdvisor denies that One Planet itself made the offending calls or that HomeAd-visor or One Planet had any control over the party that did make the offending calls. (Id. at PageID 58-60). Instead, Ho-meAdvisor contends that another entity altogether, Lead House, LLC, made the offending calls. (Id. at PageID 60). Home-Advisor insists that Lead House serves as an independent contractor to One Planet, over whom neither One Planet nor Home-Advisor had any direction or control. (Id. at PageID 59-60).

According to the declarations from Ho-meAdvisor and One Planet executives, One Planet serves only as a middleman. The company generates leads through the websites of its operating companies and by “contracting with third parties for the purchase of lead data,” but One Planet itself does not place telemarketing calls to generate those sales leads. (Id. at PageID 59). Once acquired, One Planet then provides interested companies with the opportunity to purchase the leads it generates. (Id.). One Planet maintains a real-time digital “Marketplace” as a forum in which various entities can bid for the consumer information One Planet has amassed. (Id.).

One Planet acquires many of the leads it later sells from various third parties, including Lead House. (Id.). One Planet does [582]*582not “direct or control the manner by which Lead House generates leads” but, instead, allegedly arranges to receive from Lead House only those leads that have been “generated from inquiries from individuals who completed an online form hosted by Lead House.” (Id. at PageID 59-60). Included on this form is a confirmation from the consumer consenting to receive marketing telephone calls. (Id. at PageID 60). One Planet therefore limited the leads it would market from Lead House to those where the consumer had consented to be contacted. (Id.).

HomeAdvisor, unlike One Planet, has no direct business relationship with Lead House. (Id.). HomeAdvisor merely purchases leads that One Planet puts out to bid—some of which originated from Lead House. (Id.). Indeed, Home Advisor disclaims any knowledge of Lead House’s existence before this suit was filed. (Id.).

According to HomeAdvisor, Lead House submitted “lead information for [Johan-sen]” to One Planet on December 28, 2015, and HomeAdvisor ultimately purchased that lead from One Planet through its Marketplace. (Id.). The calls from December 11, 12, and 17, therefore, presumably were made by Lead House, and not One Planet or HomeAdvisor. (Id.).

In February 2016, Johansen sued Home-Advisor and One Planet, seeking to enforce the consumer-privacy provisions of the TCPA. (Doc. 1). Johansen alleged that the phone calls he received were placed by One Planet on behalf of HomeAdvisor. (Id.). Johansen argued that he and the putative class members are entitled to in-junctive relief and statutory damages as a result of the alleged TCPA violations. (Id.). HomeAdvisor subsequently filed a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, citing a lack of minimum contacts with the forum state. (Doc. 18). The matter is fully briefed and ripe for review.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2) provides for the dismissal of a claim based on the lack of personal jurisdiction. When challenged, the plaintiff bears the burden of establishing personal jurisdiction over each defendant “independently.” Beydoun v. Wataniya Rest. Holding, Q.S.C., 768 F.3d 499, 504 (6th Cir. 2014) (quotation omitted); see also Neogen Corp. v. Neo Gen Screening, Inc., 282 F.3d 883, 887 (6th Cir. 2002).

District courts have three options for ruling on a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(2): (1) they may “decide the motion upon the affidavits alone”; (2) they may “permit discovery in aid of deciding the motion”; or (3) they may “conduct an evidentiary hearing to resolve any apparent factual questions.” Theunissen v. Matthews, 935 F.2d 1454, 1458 (6th Cir. 1991).

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
218 F. Supp. 3d 577, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150439, 2016 WL 6432821, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johansen-v-homeadvisor-inc-ohsd-2016.