New York v. United Parcel Service, Inc.

131 F. Supp. 3d 132, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123771, 2015 WL 5474067
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 16, 2015
DocketNo. 15-cv-1136 (KBF)
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 131 F. Supp. 3d 132 (New York v. United Parcel Service, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
New York v. United Parcel Service, Inc., 131 F. Supp. 3d 132, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123771, 2015 WL 5474067 (S.D.N.Y. 2015).

Opinion

[134]*134 OPINION & ORDER

KATHERINE B. FORREST, District Judge:

In this action, the State of New York (“State”) and the City of New York (“City”) allege that defendant United Parcel Service, Inc; (“UPS”), a package delivery company, has delivered and continues to deliver hundreds of thousands of contraband untaxed packs of cigarettes to persons within the State and' City, in violation of federal and state law. (Am. Compl., ECF No. 14.) Plaintiffs’ amended complaint (“Amended Complaint”) seeks injunctive relief, damages and penalties under the Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2341 et seq. (“CCTA”), and the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act, 15 U.S.C. § 375 et seq. (“PACT Act”), as well as treble damages and attorneys’ fees under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1961 et seq. (“RICO”), injunctive relief and penalties under New York Executive Law § 63(12) (“N.Y. Exec. Law § 63(12)”) and New York Public Health Law § 1399-ll (“N.Y. PHL § 1399-ZZ ”), and penalties under an Assurance of Discontinuance (“AOD”) with the New York State Attorney General (“NYAG”). (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 2, 89-168.)

Pending before the Court is UPS’s motion to dismiss the Amended Complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6). (ECF No. 21.) UPS raises several arguments in its motion, including that (l) all claims must be dismissed for failure to plausibly allege that UPS delivered cigarettes or that UPS knew those deliveries contained cigarettes, (2)the CCTA claims fail because there are no allegations that UPS engaged in any single transaction involving the shipment of more than 10,000 unstamped cigarettes, (3) the PACT Act claims fail'because UPS is exempt from' suit based on its AOD, and (4) the N.Y. PHL § 1399-ZZ claims fail because that statute is preempted by the PACT Act and the bulk of plaintiffs’ claims nonetheless fail on retroactivity grounds. For the reasons that follow, UPS’s motion to dismiss the Amended Complaint is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. The Court dismisses plaintiffs’ claims brought under the PACT Act and N.Y. PHL § 1399 — ZZ. All other claims may proceed.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background1

1. New York’s cigarette taxation regime.

Like- the federal government, the State and the City tgx the sale and use of tobacco products, such as cigarettes. (Am. Compl. ¶ 9.) Under New York law, all cigarettes possessed for sale or use are presumed to be taxable and therefore must bear a tax stamp, unless an exemption applies. (Id. ¶ 12.) State and City cigarette excise taxes must be pre-paid by licensed “stamping agents” who are usually wholesale cigarette dealers licensed by the State and the City to purchase and affix tax stamps to each pack of cigarettes possessed by the agent for sale within the State and/or the City. (Id. ¶¶ 13-14.) At all times relevant to this suit, the State’s excise tax has been either $2.75 or $4.35 per pack and the City’s excise tax has been $1.50 per pack. (Id. ¶ 16.)

The most common and longstanding form of tax evasion in the State has been the sale of untaxed cigarettes by Indian reservation retailers to non-tribal members. (Id. ¶¶ 19-21.) Such reservation [135]*135sellers have long refused to participate in the tax stamping system for the collection of cigarette taxes. (Id. ¶19.) Although courts have upheld application of the State’s cigarette taxation regime to Indian cigarette sales to the public, some reservation smoke- shops continue to sell cigarettes, including through mail,' telephone, and Internet orders, without affixing the tax stamps of any of the jurisdictions -into which the stores make sales. (Id., ¶ 24.)

2.The NYAG’s first investigation of UPS.

In 2004, the NYAG began investigating residential cigarette deliveries made by UPS in violation of N.Y. PHL § 1399-K, which prohibits the delivery of cigarettes by common carriers to persons who are not licensed cigarette wholesalers and retailers or government officials. (Id. ¶ 25.) The NYAG’s investigation found that UPS regularly delivered unstamped and untaxed cigarettes to New York residential customers and that such deliveries originated principally from sellers located on New York State Indian reservations. (Id. ¶27.) Many of these sellers advertised their cigarettes as “tax-free” and accepted orders over the Internet or by telephone for later delivery by UPS to residences throughout the State. (Id.)

3.UPS’s Assurance of Discontinuance.

Following the NYAG’s investigation, UPS and the NYAG entered into an

Assurance of Discontinuance (“AOD”) on October 21, 2005.2 (Am. Compl. ¶ 28; see McPherson Decl. Ex. 1 (“AOD”), EOF No. 23-1.) Under the AOD, UPS agreed, inter alia, to comply with N.Y. PHL § 1399-ll by prohibiting cigarette deliveries to unauthorized recipients in the State and undertaking measures to ensure compliance among its employees.' (Am. Compl. ¶ 28.) The AOD subjects UPS to a $1,000 stipulated penalty for each violation of its terms, provided that no penalty would be imposed if: (a) the violation involved the shipment of cigarettes to a person, located within the State of New York, who was not otherwise authorized to possess such unstamped cigarettes, and (b) UPS established to the reasonable satisfaction of the NYAG that UPS did not know and had no reason to know that the shipment was prohibited. (AOD ¶ 42). In. the AOD, UPS also represented that in June 2003 it informed approximately 400 shippers having accounts with UPS that it would no longer accept packages containing cigarettes for delivery to unauthorized recipients in the State. (Id. ¶ 12.) As a result of the AOD, the NYAG declined to commence a" civil action against UPS for its alleged past violations of § 1399-11. (Id. ¶ 15.) In a report to the NYAG dated on or around December 20, 2005, UPS confirmed that it would give nationwide effect to the AOD and that it no longer shipped cigarettes to consumers and would only deliver tobacco products from licensed entities. (Am. Compl. ¶ 29.)

4.UPS’s alleged ongoing delivery of cigarettes after the AOD.

Plaintiffs allege that despite the assurances UPS made in the AOD, from at least 2010 through the present, UPS knowingly shipped and delivered thousands of cartons of unstamped cigarettes from manufacturers to unlicensed wholesalers and retailers, and delivered such cigarettes from smoke shops (including some shops that have been the subject of federal criminal prosecution for trafficking in contraband cigarettes) to residences in the State and the City. (E.g., Am. Compl. ¶¶ 30, 48-49.) In 2012, an undercover City investigator placed an Internet order for cigarettes from a company located in Bason, New York, which is located on the Seneca Indi[136]*136an Nation Reservation. (Id.

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131 F. Supp. 3d 132, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123771, 2015 WL 5474067, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/new-york-v-united-parcel-service-inc-nysd-2015.