O & G Industries, Inc. v. Aon Risk Services Northeast, Inc.

922 F. Supp. 2d 257, 2013 WL 424774, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24929
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedJanuary 29, 2013
DocketCivil Action No. 3:12-CV-723 (JCH)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 922 F. Supp. 2d 257 (O & G Industries, Inc. v. Aon Risk Services Northeast, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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O & G Industries, Inc. v. Aon Risk Services Northeast, Inc., 922 F. Supp. 2d 257, 2013 WL 424774, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24929 (D. Conn. 2013).

Opinion

RULING RE: MOTION TO DISMISS (DOC. NO. 24)

JANET C. HALL, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs 0 & G Industries, Inc. (“0 & G”), Kleen Energy Systems, LLC (“Kleen”), Keystone Construction and Maintenance Services, Inc. (“Keystone”), and Bluewater Energy Solutions, Inc. (“Bluewater”) (collectively “Contractor Controlled Insurance Program (‘CCIP’) Participants”) bring this suit against defendant, Aon Risk Services Northeast, Inc. (“Aon”) for declaratory judgment, breach of contract, negligence, professional malpractice, and misrepresentation. The case involves a dispute over whether Aon failed to procure for the CCIP Participants insurance coverage that included defense cost coverage in excess of the CCIP policies.

Aon moved to dismiss the Complaint on July 2, 2011, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6), for [262]*262failure to state a claim for relief and lack of standing as to Kleen, Keystone, and Bluewater.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

A. Standard of Review Under Rule 12(b)(1)

A motion to dismiss for lack of standing is made pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1). See Granite Comm., Inc. v. One Comm. Corp., 2008 WL 4793729, at *3 (D.Conn. Oct. 31, 2008) (citing Alliance for Environmental Renewal, Inc. v. Pyramid Crossgates Co., 436 F.3d 82, 88 (2d Cir. 2006)). “In deciding a motion to dismiss, ‘standing cannot be inferred argumentatively from averments in the pleadings, but rather must affirmatively appear in the record.’ ” Spencer v. Kemna, 523 U.S. 1, 11, 118 S.Ct. 978, 140 L.Ed.2d 43 (1998).

A case is properly dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1) when the district court lacks the statutory or constitutional power to adjudicate it. Makarova v. United States, 201 F.3d 110, 113 (2d Cir.2000). In assessing a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, the court “aceept[s] as true all material factual allegations in the complaint.” Shipping Fin. Serv. Corp. v. Drakos, 140 F.3d 129, 131 (2d Cir.1998) (citing Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974)). The court, however, refrains from “drawing from the pleadings inferences favorable to the party asserting [jurisdiction].” Id. (citing Norton v. Larney, 266 U.S. 511, 515, 45 S.Ct. 145, 69 L.Ed. 413 (1925)). On a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1), the plaintiff must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the court has subject matter jurisdiction over the complaint. Makarova, 201 F.3d at 113; see also Malik v. Meissner, 82 F.3d 560, 562 (2d Cir.1996); In re Joint E. & So. Dist. Asbestos Litig., 14 F.3d 726, 730 (2d Cir.1993). Courts evaluating Rule 12(b)(1) motions “may resolve the disputed jurisdictional fact issues by reference to evidence outside the pleadings, such as affidavits.” Zappia Middle East Constr. Co. Ltd. v. Emirate of Abu Dhabi 215 F.3d 247, 253 (2d Cir.2000).

B. Standard of Review Under Rule 12(b)(6)

Upon a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), the court must determine whether the plaintiff has stated a legally-cognizable claim by making allegations that, if true, would show he is entitled to relief. See Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (interpreting Rule 12(b)(6), in accordance with Rule 8(a)(2), to require allegations with “enough heft to ‘sho[w] that the pleader is entitled to relief ”). The court takes the factual allegations of the complaint to be true, Hemi Group, LLC v. City of New York, 559 U.S. 1, 130 S.Ct. 983, 986-87, 175 L.Ed.2d 943 (2010), and from those allegations, draws all reasonable inferences in the plaintiffs favor, Fulton v. Coord, 591 F.3d 37, 43 (2d Cir.2009).

To survive a motion pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged. The plausibility standard is not akin to a ‘probability requirement,’ but it asks for more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Iqbal, [263]*263129 S.Ct. at 1949 (2009) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955).

The plausibility standard does not impose an across-the-board, heightened fact pleading standard. Boykin v. Key-Corp, 521 F.3d 202, 213 (2d Cir.2008). The plausibility standard does not “require!] a complaint to include.specific evidence [or] factual allegations in addition to those required by Rule 8.” Arista Records, LLC v. Doe 3, 604 F.3d 110, 119 (2d Cir. 2010); see Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007) (holding that dismissal was inconsistent with the “liberal pleading standards set forth by Rule 8(a)(2)”). However, the plausibility standard does impose some burden to make factual allegations supporting a claim for relief. As the Iqbal court explained, it “does not require detailed factual allegations, but it demands more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation. A pleading that offers labels and conclusions or a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do. Nor does a complaint suffice if it tenders naked assertions devoid of further factual enhancement.” Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1949 (citations and internal quotations omitted).

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922 F. Supp. 2d 257, 2013 WL 424774, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24929, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/o-g-industries-inc-v-aon-risk-services-northeast-inc-ctd-2013.