M. W. Prince Hall Grand Lodge v. Anderson

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedJune 4, 2025
Docket24-30517
StatusUnpublished

This text of M. W. Prince Hall Grand Lodge v. Anderson (M. W. Prince Hall Grand Lodge v. Anderson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
M. W. Prince Hall Grand Lodge v. Anderson, (5th Cir. 2025).

Opinion

Case: 24-30517 Document: 63-1 Page: 1 Date Filed: 06/04/2025

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

FILED ____________ June 4, 2025 No. 24-30517 Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk

M. W. Prince Hall Grand Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons of Louisiana, Inc.,

Plaintiff—Appellant,

versus

Eugene Anderson, Jr., Individually and in his capacity as President; Jeffery G. Jones, Individually and in his capacity as Vice President; Emanuel J. Stanley, Individually and in his Official Capacity as Executive Secretary; Victor C. Major, Individually and in his Official Capacity as Mid-Atlantic Regional Chairperson; Maurice F. Lucas, Individually and in his Official Capacity as Southeast Regional Chairperson; Ronald Davie, Individually and in his Official Capacity as Southwest Regional Chairperson; Timothy R. Seay, Individually and in his Official Capacity as the Regional Chairperson of the Four Corners Region; Corey D. Hawkins, Sr.; Laurice Lamont Banks; Noel C. Osborne, Sr.; Michael T. Anderson; Mark McGraw; Paul A. Hibner; Robert M. Estelle; Conference of Grand Masters Prince Hall Masons, Inc.,

Defendants—Appellees. ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana USDC No. 2:24-CV-1364 ______________________________ Case: 24-30517 Document: 63-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 06/04/2025

No. 24-30517

Before Wiener, Douglas, and Ramirez, Circuit Judges. Per Curiam: * Plaintiff-Appellant M.W. Prince Hall Grand Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons of Louisiana, Inc. (“Prince Hall Louisiana”) appeals the district court’s dismissal of its claims without prejudice for lack of personal jurisdiction. For the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM. I Prince Hall Louisiana is a Masonic grand lodge located in Louisiana. 1 Organized in 1863, and incorporated by the Louisiana legislature in 1869, Prince Hall Louisiana operates as “a fraternal organization dedicated to the fatherhood of [its] Supreme Being and the brotherhood of men.” The grand lodge has issued charters for, and oversees, several local Masonic lodges in Louisiana and other states, including Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. Prince Hall Louisiana is one of the founding members of the Conference of Grand Masters Prince Hall Masons, Inc. (“Conference”), an association of Prince Hall grand lodges throughout the country and world. In 2023, during its annual meeting held in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Conference voted to suspend Prince Hall Louisiana from its membership, apparently because Prince Hall Louisiana chartered and operated extra-

_____________________ * This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5. 1 “Prince Hall Freemasonry is the oldest recognized and continuously active organization founded by African Americans.” Sibyl E. Moses, Prince Hall Freemasonry: A Resource Guide, Libr. of Cong. (Sept. 24, 2019), https://guides.loc.gov/prince-hall- freemasonry. The Prince Hall Masons operate through grand lodges, each governing its own Masonic jurisdiction and presided over by a Grand Master. Grand lodges such as Prince Hall Louisiana are composed of affiliated local lodges and their members, who pay dues to the grand lodges.

2 Case: 24-30517 Document: 63-1 Page: 3 Date Filed: 06/04/2025

jurisdictional lodges in states other than Louisiana. As part of that suspension, the Conference requested that Prince Hall Louisiana cancel its charters and contracts with lodges outside of Louisiana. Prince Hall Louisiana did not comply, so the Conference voted to remove the grand lodge from the Conference’s membership rolls during its 2024 annual conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Conference also passed a resolution declaring Prince Hall Louisiana an “Irregular Grand Lodge” for its “persistent and deliberate UNMASONIC acts and violations of [the Conference’s] Constitution, policies & procedures.” Shortly thereafter, Prince Hall Louisiana brought suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against the Conference and fourteen individual defendants who hold office or other positions of authority within the Conference. In its complaint, Prince Hall Louisiana alleged that by declaring it “irregular,” the defendants interfered with its “contracts and interstate commerce” with its out-of-state lodges. Prince Hall Louisiana sought millions of dollars in damages and injunctive relief, asserting six claims for tortious interference of commerce, unfair competition, conspiracy to commit unfair competition, tortious interference with contract, conspiracy to commit tortious interference with contract, and defamation. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss, arguing in pertinent part that the district court lacked personal jurisdiction over the Conference and the fourteen individual defendants. The district court granted the motion and dismissed Prince Hall Louisiana’s claims without prejudice. The court concluded that Prince Hall Louisiana failed to establish a prima facie case for personal jurisdiction—both generally and specifically with respect to the tortious interference with commerce, unfair competition, and defamation claims—over any of the nonresident defendants. The district court also ruled that Prince Hall Louisiana had abandoned its claims for tortious

3 Case: 24-30517 Document: 63-1 Page: 4 Date Filed: 06/04/2025

interference with contract, “the related conspiracy allegation,” 2 and its claims for punitive damages and attorney’s fees by failing to address the defendants’ motion to dismiss these claims in its opposition to the motion. Prince Hall Louisiana timely appealed. II “We review the district court’s dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction de novo.” Panda Brandywine Corp. v. Potomac Elec. Power Co., 253 F.3d 865, 867 (5th Cir. 2001) (per curiam) (citing Alpine View Co. v. Atlas Copco A.B., 205 F.3d 208, 214 (5th Cir. 2000)). Prince Hall Louisiana, as the party seeking to invoke the power of the court, “bears the burden of proving that jurisdiction exists.” Luv n’ care, Ltd. v. Insta-Mix, Inc., 438 F.3d 465, 469 (5th Cir. 2006) (citing Wyatt v. Kaplan, 686 F.2d 276, 280 (5th Cir. 1982)). It “need not, however, establish jurisdiction by a preponderance of the evidence; a prima facie showing suffices.” Id. (italics omitted) (citing Wyatt, 686 F.2d at 280). We accept Prince Hall Louisiana’s uncontroverted, nonconclusory factual allegations as true and resolve undisputed facts in favor of jurisdiction. Panda Brandywine, 253 F.3d at 868; Luv n’ care, 438 F.3d at 469. In determining whether personal jurisdiction exists, we may consider the assertions in Prince Hall Louisiana’s complaint, as well as the

_____________________ 2 We presume this refers to Prince Hall Louisiana’s claim for conspiracy to commit tortious interference with contract. Although the district court did not specifically discuss the unfair competition conspiracy allegation in its order, the court’s abandonment holding applies equally to this second conspiracy claim. Indeed, Prince Hall Louisiana never once used the word “conspiracy” in its opposition. And regardless, because the district court dismissed Prince Hall Louisiana’s claim for unfair competition for lack of personal jurisdiction, and Louisiana does not recognize a freestanding civil conspiracy claim, see Crutcher-Tufts Res., Inc. v. Tufts, 2007-1556, p. 3 (La. App. 4 Cir. 9/17/08), 992 So. 2d 1091, 1094; Hardy v.

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M. W. Prince Hall Grand Lodge v. Anderson, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/m-w-prince-hall-grand-lodge-v-anderson-ca5-2025.