Pascal Pour Elle, Ltd. v. Jin

75 F. Supp. 3d 782, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 170486, 2014 WL 6980699
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedDecember 9, 2014
DocketNo. 14 C 7943
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 75 F. Supp. 3d 782 (Pascal Pour Elle, Ltd. v. Jin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pascal Pour Elle, Ltd. v. Jin, 75 F. Supp. 3d 782, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 170486, 2014 WL 6980699 (N.D. Ill. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Honorable THOMAS M. DURKIN, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Pascal Pour Elle (“Plaintiff’) brings this action by way of an amended [784]*784complaint against Eliza Jin (“Jin”), Paul Rehder (“Rehder”), Paul Rehder Salon, Inc. (“PRS”), Kelly Oldham, Jenna Kutska, Rachel Lagerhausen, Marissa Castillon, Priscilla Schiaffino, and Kristin Hallahan (collectively, “Defendants”). R. 22. Plaintiffs amended complaint contains numerous counts against the many Defendants. However, for purposes of this motion, the only relevant counts are I and II, which allege violations of § 2701 of the Stored Communications Act (“SCA”) and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”), respectively, against Jin. R. 22. These counts form the basis for federal jurisdiction. The Defendants have filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint contending that Plaintiff has not adequately pled violations of the SCA and the CFAA, and that the Court should decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state law claims.1 R. 28. Specifically, Defendants assert that Plaintiffs SCA cause of action should be dismissed for two reasons: 1) Plaintiff has not adequately pled that Rosy Salon, a cloud-based2 salon management software program, is an electronic communication service provider such that its servers are “facilities] through which [that] service is provided”; and 2) Plaintiff has not adequately pled that the data at issue was in electronic storage when it was accessed. Defendants further contend that Plaintiffs CFAA cause of action should be dismissed because Plaintiff has not adequately pled loss as defined by the CFAA. For the following reasons, the Defendants’ motion to dismiss is granted in part and denied in part.

BACKGROUND3

Plaintiff, a hair salon with multiple locations in the northern suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, has been owned and operated by Pascal Ibgui (“Pascal”) for over thirty years. R. 22, at 2.. Jin worked for Plaintiff for approximately fifteen years as Salon Director. Id. As Salon Director, Jin was responsible for overseeing the day-today operations of the salon. Id. In doing so, Jin was given access to Plaintiffs proprietary information, as well as various computer programs utilized by Plaintiff in the running of the salon, including a management program called Spa Salon. Id. Plaintiff provided Jin with login credentials for Plaintiffs Spa Salon account, as well as the other computer programs utilized by Plaintiff in the management of the salon. R. 22 ¶ 21. In late 2013, Plaintiff considered transitioning its salon management system from Spa Salon to Rosy Salon, the salon management program at issue. R. 22 ¶¶ 28-29. As a result, Plaintiff inputted some of its data into the Rosy Salon program at that time. Id.

On February 13, 2014, Jin sent Pascal a text message asking that he fire her. R. 22 ¶ 22. Pascal complied and fired Jin. [785]*785Id. Pascal then deactivated Jin’s computer passwords for its salon management computer programs. Id. Sometime thereafter, Jin began working with Defendants Rehder and PRS. Defendant PRS opened for business on September 2, 2014, and is located a short distance from two of Plaintiff’s salon locations. R. 22 ¶ 24.

In early September 2014, Plaintiff discovered that Jin had remotely accessed Plaintiffs data stored on the Rosy Salon software servers subsequent to her employment ending with Plaintiff. R. 22 ¶ 26. Jin initially tried to access Plaintiffs data on the Spa Salon software. R. 22 ¶27. However, Jin’s password had been deactivated, so she was unable to access Spa Salon. Id. Jin then attempted to log on to Plaintiffs account on Rosy Salon, which Plaintiff had transitioned to at that point, and was successful in doing so. R. 22 ¶¶ 27-30. Jin gained access to Plaintiffs client’s contact information, client’s hair service information including types of services, cost and frequency, as well as deals Plaintiff had offered to its clients. R. 22 ¶¶ 32-33. Jin then used this information to solicit Plaintiffs clients and induce them to schedule their next appointments with Defendant PRS. R. 22 ¶ 35.

LEGAL STANDARD

A Rule 12(b)(6) motion challenges the sufficiency of the amended complaint. See, e.g., Hallman v. Fraternal Order of Police of Chi. Lodge No. 7, 570 F.3d 811, 820 (7th Cir.2009). A complaint must provide “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2), sufficient to provide defendant with “fair notice” of the claim and the basis for it. Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). This “standard demands more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). While “detailed factual allegations” are not required, “labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. The complaint must “contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Ashcroft, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows courts to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Mann v. Vogel, 707 F.3d 872, 877 (7th Cir.2013) (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937) (internal quotation marks omitted). In applying this standard, the Court accepts all well-pleaded facts as true and draws all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party. Mann, 707 F.3d at 877.

ANALYSIS

I. Stored Communications Act Claim

“Congress passed the SCA to protect privacy interests in personal and proprietary information.” Int’l Brotherhood of Elec. Workers, Local 134 v. Cunningham, No. 12 C 7487, 2013 WL 1828932, at *3 (N.D.Ill. April 29, 2013) (citing Bloomington-Normal Seating Co. v. Albritton, No. 09-1073, 2009 WL 1329123, at *4 (C.D.Ill. May 13, 2009)). The SCA prohibits anyone from “intentionally accessing] without authorization a facility through which an electronic communication service is provided ... and thereby obtaining], altering], or preventing] authorized access to a wire or electronic communication while it is in electronic storage in such system.” 18 U.S.C. § 2701(a). “Electronic communication service” is defined as “any service [786]*786which provides to users thereof the ability to send or receive wire or electronic communications.” 18 U.S.C. § 2501(15).

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Bluebook (online)
75 F. Supp. 3d 782, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 170486, 2014 WL 6980699, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pascal-pour-elle-ltd-v-jin-ilnd-2014.