Ouellette v. True Penny People, LLC

352 F. Supp. 3d 144
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedNovember 29, 2018
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 18-40046-TSH
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 352 F. Supp. 3d 144 (Ouellette v. True Penny People, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ouellette v. True Penny People, LLC, 352 F. Supp. 3d 144 (D.D.C. 2018).

Opinion

True Penny is a Florida corporation. True Penny asserts that it has never performed any work in Massachusetts, serviced any Massachusetts-based clients, and has not registered to do business in the Commonwealth.

Standard of Review

When considering a Rule 12(b)(2) motion without an evidentiary hearing, a district court uses the prima facie standard to evaluate whether it has personal jurisdiction over the defendant. Under this standard, "the inquiry is whether the plaintiff has proffered evidence which, if credited, is sufficient to support findings of all facts essential to personal jurisdiction." Phillips v. Prairie Eye Ctr. , 530 F.3d 22, 26 (1st Cir. 2008). The plaintiff bears the burden of showing that the court may exercise personal jurisdiction over the defendant and "must put forward evidence of specific facts to demonstrate that jurisdiction exists." A Corp. v. All Am. Plumbing , 812 F.3d 54, 58 (1st Cir. 2016) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Further, courts "take the plaintiff's evidentiary proffers as true and construe them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff's claim." C.W. Downer & Co. v. Bioriginal Food & Sci. Cor. , 771 F.3d 59, 65 (1st Cir. 2014). Finally, courts also "consider uncontradicted facts proffered by the defendant." Id.

Discussion

"In determining whether a non-resident defendant is subject to its jurisdiction, a federal court exercising diversity jurisdiction is the functional equivalent of a state court sitting in the forum state." Sawtelle v. Farrell , 70 F.3d 1381, 1387 (1st Cir. 1995). Thus, in order to establish personal jurisdiction over Defendant, Plaintiff must satisfy the requirements of both the Massachusetts long-arm statute and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson , 444 U.S. 286, 290, 100 S.Ct. 559, 62 L.Ed.2d 490 (1980).

The Massachusetts long-arm statute enumerates eight specific grounds on which a nonresident defendant may be subjected to personal jurisdiction by a court of the Commonwealth. See Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 223A, § 3. Massachusetts courts have held that the long-arm statute "asserts jurisdiction over the person to the constitutional limit only when some basis for jurisdiction enumerated in the statute has been established." Good Hope Indus., Inc. v. Ryder Scott Co. , 378 Mass. 1, 6, 389 N.E.2d 76 (1979). Therefore, this court is "required to decline to exercise jurisdiction if the plaintiff [is] unable to satisfy at least one of the statutory prerequisites." Id.

Additionally, "courts should consider the long-arm statute first, before approaching the constitutional question."

*151SCVNGR, Inc. v. Punchh, Inc. , 478 Mass. 324, 330, 85 N.E.3d 50 (2017). Determining first whether the long-arm statute's requirements are met is consistent with the duty to avoid "decid[ing] questions of a constitutional nature unless absolutely necessary to a decision of the case." Burton v. United States , 196 U.S. 283, 295, 25 S.Ct. 243, 49 L.Ed. 482 (1905).

1. Massachusetts Long-Arm Statute

The Massachusetts Long Arm Statute provides, in relevant part: "A court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a person, who acts directly or by an agent, as to a cause of action in law or equity arising from the person's transacting any business in this commonwealth." Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 223A, § 3. Thus, Defendant must have transacted business in the Commonwealth and Plaintiffs' claims must have arisen from that transaction of business.

The requirement that a defendant transact business in the Commonwealth "has been construed broadly." Tatro v. Manor Care, Inc. , 416 Mass. 763, 767, 625 N.E.2d 549 (1994) (citations omitted). "Although an isolated (and minor) transaction with a Massachusetts resident may be insufficient, generally the purposeful and successful solicitation of business from residents of the Commonwealth, by a defendant or its agent, will suffice to satisfy this requirement." Id. Importantly, although the successful solicitation of business is a sufficient condition for exercising jurisdiction, it is not a necessary one. See Cossart v. United Excel Corp. , 804 F.3d 13, 19 (1st Cir. 2015) (" Tatro

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352 F. Supp. 3d 144, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ouellette-v-true-penny-people-llc-dcd-2018.