Monarch Landscape Holdings, LLC v. Kapsch

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 MONARCH LANDSCAPE HOLDINGS, ) Case No.: 3:21-cv-00371-BEN-BLM 12 LLC, a California limited liability ) company, ) ORDER: 13 ) Plaintiff, 14 ) (1) DENYING MOTION TO v. ) REMAND AS MOOT and 15 ) PAUL KAPSCH, an individual; Does 1 16 through 50 inclusive, ) (2) DISMISSING CASE ) 17 Defendant. ) [ECF Nos. 8, 14, 16, 23] 18 19 I. INTRODUCTION 20 Plaintiff MONARCH LANDSCAPE HOLDINGS, LLC, a California limited 21 liability company (“Plaintiff”) brings this action for, inter alia, breach of a confidentiality 22 agreement against Defendant PAUL KAPSCH, an individual (“Defendant”). ECF No. 1. 23 Before the Court are (1) Plaintiff’s Motion to Remand the Case, ECF No. 8, and 24 (2) both parties’ Stipulation for Dismissal, ECF No. 23. The motions were submitted on 25 the papers without oral argument pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7.1(d)(1) and Rule 78(b) 26 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. ECF No. 17. After considering the papers 27 submitted, supporting documentation, and applicable law, the Court (1) DENIES 28 Plaintiff’s Motion to Remand as moot and (2) dismisses this case with prejudice. 1 II. BACKGROUND 2 A. Statement of Facts 3 Plaintiff provides commercial and residential landscaping services throughout 4 California. ECF No. 1-2 at 6,1 ¶ 8. Plaintiff alleges that it employed Defendant as a 5 Business Development Manager at its San Diego, California branch between February 6 12, 2018, until his resignation on August 24, 2020. Id. at 7, ¶ 14. Plaintiff further alleges 7 that following Defendant’s resignation, he went to work and is currently employed by a 8 competitor landscaping service, where he disclosed Plaintiff’s trade secrets and 9 proprietary information to his new employer. Id. at 8, ¶ 18- 10 B. Procedural History 11 On February 19, 2021, Plaintiff filed suit against Defendant in the San Diego 12 Superior Court, alleging five causes of action for (1) breach of contract; (2) intentional 13 interference with prospective economic advantage; (3) trade secret misappropriation in 14 violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1836, et seq. (the “DTSA”); (4) 15 trade secret misappropriation, Cal. Civ. Code § 3426, et seq.; and (4) unfair competition, 16 Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200, et seq. ECF No. 1-2 at 4; see also ECF No. 1 at 2, ¶ 2. 17 On March 3, 2021, Defendant removed this case to the Southern District of 18 California on the basis that the case alleged violations of a federal law (the DTSA), ECF 19 No. 1 at 3, ¶ 6, and filed an answer to Plaintiff’s complaint, ECF No. 2. 20 On March 24, 2021, Plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint (the “FAC”). ECF 21 No. 6. On April 1, 2021, Plaintiff also filed a Motion to Remand the Case to State Court. 22 ECF No. 8. On April 9, 2021, Defendant filed an Answer to Plaintiff’s FAC. ECF No. 23 13. On April 26, 2021, Defendant also opposed Plaintiff’s Motion to Remand. ECF No. 24 14. On May 3, 2021, Plaintiff replied. ECF No. 16. 25 On June 3, 2021, the parties appeared before Magistrate Judge Barbara Major for 26 a Case Management Conference at which time the case settled. ECF Nos. 21, 22. On 27 28 1 Unless otherwise indicated, all page number references are to the ECF-generated l July 6, 2021, the parties filed a Joint Stipulation for Dismissal pursuant to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“Rule 41”), stipulating that the case should be 3 dismissed with prejudice, with each party to bear that party’s own attorney’s fees and 4 costs. ECF No. 23. LEGAL STANDARD 6 If a plaintiff wants to dismiss a case without a court order, the plaintiff may do so 7 pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1), “by filing” either (1) “a notice of dismissal before the opposing 8 party serves either an answer or a motion for summary judgment” or (2) “a stipulation of 9 dismissal signed by all parties who have appeared.” FED. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1).. Where a 10 plaintiff does not proceed by filing a notice or stipulation of dismissal, “an action may be i dismissed at the plaintiff's request only by court order, on terms that the court considers 12 || proper.” FED. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(2). 13 liv. ORDER 14 In this case, the parties filed a Stipulation for Dismissal. Thus, the Court construes Is the parties as seeking dismissal pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1), which does not require a court 16 order for dismissal of a case. In light of the settlement of this case and Stipulation for 7 Dismissal, the Court orders as follows: 18 1. Plaintiff's claims against Defendant are dismissed in their entirety as to all 19 claims for relief with prejudice pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1)(i). 20 2. In light of the dismissal, Plaintiff's Motion to Remand is DENIED as moot. See, e.g., Tur v. YouTube, Inc., 562 F.3d 1212, 1214 (9th Cir. 2009) (‘[A]n issue is moot 22 when deciding it would have no effect within the confines of the case itself.”’). 23 3. Each party is to bear that party’s own costs, fees, and expenses. a4 4. The Clerk of the Court is directed to close this case. 25 IT IS SO ORDERED. / DATED: July 30, 2021 27 HON-KOGER T. BENITEZ 28 United States District Judge

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