Johnson v. Tamarack Aerospace Group Inc

• Court: District Court, E.D. Washington
• Decided: October 2, 2020
• Docket: 2:20-cv-00062
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 FILED IN THE 2 EASTERU N. S D. I SD TI RS IT CR TI C OT F C WO AU SR HT I NGTON Oct 02, 2020 3 SEAN F. MCAVOY, CLERK 4

5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 6

7 JAMES JOHNSON and BRADLEY HERMAN, individually and as NO: 2:20-CV-62-RMP 8 Independent Co-Administrators of the Estate of Sandra Johnson, deceased, ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT 9 CRANFIELD AEROSPACE Plaintiff, SOLUTIONS LIMITED’S MOTION 10 TO DISMISS AMENDED v. COMPLAINT FOR LACK OF 11 PERSONAL JURISDICTION TAMARACK AEROSPACE 12 GROUP, INC., and CRANFIELD AEROSPACE SOLUTIONS 13 LIMITED,

14 Defendants.

15 16 BEFORE THE COURT is Defendant Cranfield Aerospace Solutions 17 Limited’s Motion to Dismiss, ECF No. 20, for lack of personal jurisdiction, under 18 Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2), and failure to state a claim for relief, under Fed. R. Civ. P. 19 12(b)(6). The Court has reviewed the briefing submitted by the parties, the 20 remaining docket, the relevant law, and is fully informed. 21 1 The Court first must resolve Cranfield’s challenge to personal jurisdiction 2 under Rule 12(b)(2) before reaching any Rule 12(b)(6) arguments to dismiss. 3 Sinochem Int’l Co. v. Malay. Int’l Shipping Corp., 549 U.S. 422, 431 (2007). 4 “‘Without jurisdiction the court cannot proceed at all in any cause’; it may not

5 assume jurisdiction for the purpose of deciding the merits of the case.” Id. (quoting 6 Steel Co. v. Citizens for Better Environment, 523 U.S. 83 (1998)). 7 Plaintiffs James Johnson and Bradley Herman does not contest that this Court

8 lacks personal jurisdiction over Defendant Cranfield and requests dismissal without 9 prejudice. ECF No. 27 at 2. Cranfield does not object to dismissal without 10 prejudice, but requests that the Court award Cranfield its attorney fees and costs 11 under the Washington State long-arm statute, Revised Code of Washington

12 (“RCW”) § 4.28.185(5). ECF No. 31 at 3. 13 The Washington long-arm statute gives the Court discretion to award 14 reasonable fees:

15 In the event the defendant is personally served outside the state on causes of action enumerated in this section, and prevails in the action, 16 there may be taxed and allowed to the defendant as part of the costs of defending the action a reasonable amount to be fixed by the court as 17 attorneys’ fees.

18 RCW § 4.28.185(5). Courts should evaluate a request for fees under RCW § 19 4.28.185(5) and should balance the statute’s twin aims: “(1) compensating an out-of- 20 state defendant for its reasonable efforts to contest jurisdiction and avoid 21 harassment; and (2) encouraging the full exercise of state jurisdiction.” 1 DiscoverOrg Data LLC v. NDivision Servs., No. C19-5508RBL, 2019 U.S. Dist. 2 LEXIS 221157, at *2 (W.D. Wash. Dec. 26, 2019) (citing Scott Fetzer Co. v. Weeks, 3 122 Wash.2d 141, 149 (1993) (Fetzer II); Scott Fetzer Co., Kirby Co. Div. v. Weeks, 4 114 Wash.2d 109, 122 n.6 (1990) (Fetzer I)). The Court has especially broad

5 discretion to deny a motion for attorney’s fees “‘when the circumstances of a case 6 fall outside the heartland of RCW 4.28.185(5)[’s] purpose’ of deterring frivolous, 7 unfair, or unjust litigation in Washington.” DiscoverOrg Data, 2019 U.S. Dist.

8 LEXIS 221157, at *2 (quoting Johnson v. Venzon, Case No. C12-895RSL, 2012 9 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123934, at *16−17 (W.D. Wash. Aug. 30, 2012)). “These 10 principles ‘serve to ensure that otherwise valid claims are not abandoned merely out 11 of fear of the possibility of fee shifting.’” DiscoverOrg Data, 2019 U.S. Dist.

12 LEXIS 221157, at *2 (quoting Johnson, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123934, at *16−17). 13 Plaintiffs Johnson and Herman allege in the Amended Complaint that 14 Cranfield is subject to personal jurisdiction in this Court because Cranfield

15 transacted business in the State of Washington and the business related specifically 16 to the design, production, and/or sale of the Tamarack Aerospace “Winglets” load 17 alleviation system at issue in this action. ECF No. 19 at 3. Cranfield supported its

18 Motion to Dismiss with a declaration from Cranfield’s Head of Design denying the 19 alleged contacts by Cranfield with the State of Washington. ECF No. 21. Johnson 20 and Herman conceded the lack of personal jurisdiction based on the additional 21 information provided through Cranfield’s Motion to Dismiss. ECF No. 27 at 2. 1 Cranfield posits that RCW § 4.28.185(5) applies because Johnson and Herman 2 served Cranfield at its home office in England, and Johnson and Herman are 3 voluntarily dismissing Cranfield from the case for want of personal jurisdiction. 4 ECF No. 31 at 2−3. However, Johnson and Herman’s initial allegations and the

5 subsequent developments set forth above do not support that Plaintiffs’ basis for 6 asserting jurisdiction was frivolous. Cranfield does not make any argument toward 7 that end. Nor do the circumstances of Cranfield’s Motion to Dismiss compel a

8 conclusion that traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice favor an award 9 of fees. See Johnson, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123934, at *16−17. Therefore, the 10 Court declines to exercise its discretion to award fees and costs in these 11 circumstances, which the Court finds to be outside of the “heartland” of the purposes

12 supported by RCW § 4.28.185(5). DiscoverOrg Data, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13 221157, at *2. 14 Accordingly, the Court grants dismissal of the Amended Complaint as against

15 Cranfield and denies an award of fees under RCW § 4.28.185(5). 16 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 17 1. Defendant Cranfield’s Motion to Dismiss, ECF No. 20, is GRANTED,

18 with respect to dismissal pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2). The remainder of the 19 Motion, with respect to dismissal pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), is DENIED 20 AS MOOT. 21 1 2. The claims against Defendant Cranfield in Plaintiffs Johnson and 2 Herman’s Amended Complaint, ECF No 19, are dismissed without prejudice. 3 Cranfield shall be terminated as a party in this action. 4 3. The Court denies Cranfield’s request for fees and costs.

5 IT IS SO ORDERED. The District Court Clerk is directed to enter this 6 Order and provide copies to counsel. 7 DATED October 2, 2020.

8 s/ Rosanna Malouf Peterson 9 ROSANNA MALOUF PETERSON United States District Judge 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

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