Naparala v. Pella Corp.

106 F. Supp. 3d 715, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65025, 2015 WL 2379492
CourtDistrict Court, D. South Carolina
DecidedMay 19, 2015
DocketNos. 2:14-mn-00001-DCN, 2:14-mn-03465-DCN
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 106 F. Supp. 3d 715 (Naparala v. Pella Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Naparala v. Pella Corp., 106 F. Supp. 3d 715, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65025, 2015 WL 2379492 (D.S.C. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER

DAVID C. NORTON, District Judge.

This matter is before the court on a motion to dismiss brought by defendant Pella Corporation (“Pella”). For the reasons set forth below, the court dismisses plaintiffs Wisconsin Deceptive Trade Practices Act claim; negligence claim; breach of implied warranty claims; and declaratory relief claim.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Ted Naparala, Sr. (“Naparala”) built a new home in August 2005 at which time Pella windows were installed in the home. Compl. ¶ 29. In December 2005, Naparala first discovered moisture in the windows. Id. ¶33. He contacted Pella, and a Pella representative inspected his home and denied that 'his windows contained any moisture or were otherwise damaged. Id. The windows gradually began to exhibit worse signs of moisture and wood rot, and Naparala contacted Pella again in November 2013 to make a warranty claim. Id. ¶ 34. Pella inspected the windows in January 2014 and sent a letter to Naparala stating that his windows “were black because of moisture” due to “high humidity in the area.” Id. ¶ 35. Pella declined coverage under the warranty, stating that the warranty “does not cover condensation or high humidity situations.” Id. Pella provided Naparala with a quote to replace the window sashes, which included the cost of materials but did not include labor costs. Id. ¶ 36.

Naparala alleges that the windows suffer from various design deficiencies, including “a defect in the design of the sill extrusion and sill nailing fin attachment as well as a defect in the design of allowing a gap between the jamb gasket and the sill gasket.” Id. ¶ 46. According to Naparala, these defects cause leaks and allow water to be “trapped between the aluminum and the operable wood frame causing damage to the Windows and other property within the home.” Id. Naparala alleges that Pella was or should have been aware that its windows were defective and that Pella concealed its knowledge of repeated product defects. Id. ¶¶ 50, 52.

On May 20, 2014, Naparala filed a class action complaint against Pella in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, alleging jurisdiction based on the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d). The complaint brings the following nine causes of action: (1) violation of the Wisconsin Deceptive Trade Practices Act (“WDTPA”); (2) negligence; (3) breach of implied warranty of [720]*720merchantability; (4) breach of implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose; (5) breach of express warranty; (6) fraudulent concealment; (7) unjust enrichment; (8) violation of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (“MMWA”); and (9) declaratory relief.

On August 15, 2014, the United States Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred the case to this court as part of the consolidated multidistrict litigation. Pella filed the instant motion to dismiss on September 15, 2014. Naparala opposed the motion on October 21, 2014, and Pella replied on November 7, 2014. Pella’s motion to dismiss has been fully briefed and is ripe for the court’s review.

II. STANDARDS

A. Motion to Dismiss

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), a party may move to dismiss for “failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” When considering a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, the court must accept the plaintiffs factual allegations as true and draw all reasonable inferences in the plaintiffs favor. See E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. v. Kolon Indus., 637 F.3d 435, 440 (4th Cir.2011). But “the tenet that a court must accept as true all of the allegations contained in a complaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). On a motion to dismiss, the court’s task is limited to determining whether the complaint states a “plausible claim for relief.” Id. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937. Although Rule 8(a)(2) requires only a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,” “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). The “complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955). “Facts pled that are ‘merely consistent with’ liability are not sufficient.” A Soc’y Without A Name v. Virginia, 655 F.3d 342, 346 (4th Cir.2011) (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937).

B. Applicable Law

This case is predicated on diversity jurisdiction and was filed in federal court, so it is governed by state substantive law and federal procedural law. Shady Grove Orthopedic Assocs., P.A. v. Allstate Ins. Co., 559 U.S. 393, 416, 130 S.Ct. 1431, 176 L.Ed.2d 311 (2010) (citing Hanna v. Plumer, 380 U.S. 460, 465, 85 S.Ct. 1136, 14 L.Ed.2d 8 (1965)). “In multidistrict litigation, the law of the transferee circuit governs questions of federal law.” In re KBR, Inc., 736 F.Supp.2d 954, 957 (D.Md.2010) modified on reh’g sub nom. In re KBR, Inc., Burn Pit Litig., 925 F.Supp.2d 752 (D.Md.2013) vacated and remanded on other grounds, 744 F.3d 326 (4th Cir.2014); see also In re Gen. Am. Life Ins. Co. Sales Practices Litig., 391 F.3d 907, 911 (8th Cir.2004); Menowitz v. Brown, 991 F.2d 36, 40 (2d Cir.1993); In re Korean Air Lines Disaster of Sept. 1, 1983, 829 F.2d 1171, 1176 (D.C.Cir.1987); cf. Bradley v. United States, 161 F.3d 777, 782 n. 4 (4th Cir.1998) (applying Fourth Circuit law to questions of federal law in a case transferred from the Fifth Circuit). Therefore, this court must apply Wisconsin substantive law and Fourth Circuit procedural law.

III. DISCUSSION

Pella asserts that all of Naparala’s claims should be dismissed. The court considers each of Pella’s arguments in turn.

[721]*721A. Count I — Violation of the WDTPA

Pella contends that Naparala’s WDTPA claim should be dismissed because he fails to plead fraud with the particularity required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b). Def.’s Mot. 12.

Rule 9(b) provides that a party alleging fraud “must state with particularity the circumstances constituting fraud.” See Am. Orthodontics Corp. v.

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
106 F. Supp. 3d 715, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65025, 2015 WL 2379492, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/naparala-v-pella-corp-scd-2015.