Kenneth Lenk v. Monolithic Power Systems Incorporated

District Court, D. Arizona·Decided August 24, 2026·No. 2:23-cv-02083·Unknown

Opinion

WO

Kenneth Lenk, No. CV-23-02083-PHX-SHD

Plaintiff, ORDER

v.

Monolithic Power Systems Incorporated,

Defendant. Pending before me are (1) Defendant Monolithic Power Systems, Inc.’s (“Monolithic”) Motion to Dismiss Counts 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 of Plaintiff Kenneth Lenk’s Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”) pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), (Doc. 66), and (2) Lenk’s Motion for Reconsideration of my August 6, 2025 Order, (Doc. 70). For the following reasons, Monolithic’s motion to dismiss will be granted and Lenk’s motion for reconsideration will be denied. This case “is merely the latest entry in a long-running litigation saga that commenced in 2015.”1 (Doc. 25 at 1.) Lenk was employed by Monolithic for approximately one year in 2012–2013. (Id.) Since 2015, he has filed five lawsuits against Monolithic. (Id.) The first four—Lenk I through Lenk IV—were litigated in the Northern 1 The parties are familiar with the factual background of this case, (see Doc. 55 at 1– 5; Doc. 25 at 1–5), so I include only the context relevant to the pending motions. District of California and were ultimately dismissed, largely under the doctrines of claim and issue preclusion. (Id. at 2–4.) The Northern District of California and the Ninth Circuit awarded Monolithic more than $55,000 in attorney fee sanctions against Lenk, and the Northern District declared him a vexatious litigant. See Lenk v. Monolithic Power Sys., Inc., 2024 WL 4529356, at 1 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 18, 2024). Lenk filed the present action in October 2023.2 (Doc. 1.) On September 19, 2024, Judge Tuchi granted Monolithic’s first motion to dismiss with leave to amend. (Doc. 25.) Judge Tuchi instructed Lenk that his amended pleading (1) could not “allege any facts or claims predicated thereon already rejected in Lenk I–IV” and (2) “must comply with Rule 8(a).” (Id. at 12.) Judge Tuchi observed that the original Complaint was “90 pages (plus 359 pages of attachments),” which was “excessive for a complaint in a case as straightforward as this,” and warned Lenk that further failure to comply could result in sanctions, an award of attorney fees, or a formal vexatious litigant designation. (Id. at 11– 12.) Lenk filed the First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) on October 3, 2024. (Doc. 26.) The FAC asserted the same fifteen causes of action pled in Lenk’s original complaint, including claims for age and race discrimination under federal and state law, retaliation, Sarbanes-Oxley (“SOX”) whistleblower retaliation, unfair competition under California’s Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”), and blacklisting under California, Washington, and Arizona state statutes. (Id.) Monolithic moved to dismiss, (Doc. 31), and on August 6, 2025, I granted the motion in part and denied it in part. (Doc. 55.) I dismissed with leave to amend the following: Lenk’s UCL claim (Count 11) and all three blacklisting claims (Counts 13-15). (Id. at 35.) I dismissed without leave to amend the following: Lenk’s California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) claims (Counts 3 and 10), his Arizona Civil Rights Act (“ACRA”) claim (Count 4), and his Washington Law Against Discrimination (“WLAD”) claims (Count 5). (Id.) I dismissed 2 Previously, Judge Tuchi presided over this action. On February 10, 2025, the case was transferred to me. (Doc. 45.) without leave to amend the following portions of certain claims: Lenk’s retaliation to the extent premised on the filing of an EEOC complaint (Counts 6-8), his 42 U.S.C. § 1981 to the extent premised on Monolithic’s failure to rehire (Count 9), and his SOX claim to the extent premised on conduct during his employment as either precluded or time-barred (Count 12). (Id. at 36.) Eleven claims were not conclusively dismissed in my prior order: age discrimination under the ADEA (Counts 1 and 2); retaliation to the extent premised on Lenk’s prior lawsuits or SOX complaint (Counts 6, 7, 8, 9, 12); age and race discrimination under UCL (Count 11); and blacklisting (Counts 13-15). (Id. at 35-36.) Lenk filed the operative Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”) on September 10, 2025. (Doc. 65.)3 The SAC asserts the same fifteen causes of action pled in the FAC. (Id.) The change between the FAC and SAC is primarily Lenk’s addition of allegations concerning his blacklisting claims. The crux of Lenk’s changes is that he is “highly qualified for employment” and that Monolithic “directly interfered” with Lenk’s future job prospects. (Id. ¶¶ 213, 225.) Lenk also argues that Monolithic’s failure to rehire him constitutes blacklisting. (Id. ¶¶ 233-235.) On September 24, 2025, Monolithic moved to dismiss Counts 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15. (Doc. 66.) Lenk responded, (Doc. 67), and Monolithic replied, (Doc. 68). On July 6, 2026, Lenk filed a second motion for reconsideration of the August 6, 2025 Order. (Doc. 70.)4 Before turning to the merits, I first address two preliminary issues raised in Lenk’s opposition. First, Lenk contends Monolithic failed to comply with Local Rule 12.1(c)’s requirement to meet and confer prior to filing the motion to dismiss. (Doc. 67 at ¶¶ 7–8.) The record refutes that assertion. Monolithic’s motion includes the required certification of compliance in its caption, (Doc. 66 at 1), and details the parties’ meet-and-confer

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