(PS)Bruzzone v. Intel Corporation

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedNovember 15, 2021
Docket2:21-cv-01539
StatusUnknown

This text of (PS)Bruzzone v. Intel Corporation ((PS)Bruzzone v. Intel Corporation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
(PS)Bruzzone v. Intel Corporation, (E.D. Cal. 2021).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 MICHAEL A. BRUZZONE, No. 2:21-cv-1539-TLN-CKD PS 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER AND 14 INTEL CORPORATION, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 15 Defendant. (ECF Nos. 6, 7) 16

17 18 Plaintiff Michael A. Bruzzone proceeds pro se in this action against defendant Intel 19 Corporation. This matter was referred to the undersigned pursuant to Local Rule 302(c)(3). See 20 28 U.S.C. § 636(b). Defendant’s motions to dismiss the complaint and to declare plaintiff a 21 vexatious litigant came before the court and the parties appeared for a hearing via 22 videoconference on November 10, 2021. Plaintiff appeared pro se and attorney Christine Peek 23 appeared on behalf of defendant. 24 Having considered the papers filed and statements at the hearing, the undersigned 25 recommends the court grant the motion to dismiss and dismiss the complaint without leave to 26 amend. The undersigned further recommends the court grant the motion to declare plaintiff a 27 vexatious litigant and enter a pre-filing order applicable to further pro se actions initiated by 28 plaintiff against defendant Intel. 1 I. BACKGROUND 2 A. Prior Action 3 On or about April 10, 2018, plaintiff commenced a pro se, in forma pauperis action 4 against Intel and other defendants in the Eastern District of California with a complaint 5 mentioning malicious slander, libel, fraud, contract interference, and price fix recovery (“prior 6 action”). See Bruzzone v. Intel Corp., No 2:18-cv-0865-KJM-DB, 2019 WL 6878152, at *5 (E.D. 7 Cal. December 17, 2019). In the prior action, the assigned magistrate judge twice granted plaintiff 8 leave to amend, advising him of the deficiencies of the complaint. See Id. Ultimately, it was 9 determined plaintiff would be unable to successfully amend the complaint. Id. at *5 (describing 10 the second amended complaint as “nearly impossible to decipher” and finding that granting 11 further amendment would be futile). By order dated February 13, 2020, the court declared the 12 prior action was frivolous and dismissed the operative complaint without leave to amend. Id., 13 2020 WL 731623, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Feb. 13, 2020) (“adopt[ing] in full [the findings and 14 recommendations], including the finding that this action is frivolous”). 15 Plaintiff appealed the dismissal of the prior action to the United States Court of Appeals 16 for the Ninth Circuit. The Ninth Circuit dismissed the appeal as frivolous and the United States 17 Supreme Court denied review. Bruzzone v. Intel Corp., No. 20-15326, 2020 WL 4728782 (9th 18 Cir. July 2, 2020), cert. denied, 141 S. Ct. 567 (October 13, 2020). Plaintiff further sought, 19 unsuccessfully, to alter or amend judgment in the Ninth Circuit, and petitioned, unsuccessfully, 20 for Supreme Court review a second time, culminating in a second denial of a petition for writ of 21 certiorari on April 5, 2021. Id., 2020 WL 9074456 (9th Cir. November 5, 2020), cert. denied, 141 22 S. Ct. 2473 (April 5, 2021). 23 B. Present Action 24 Plaintiff filed the complaint in the present action on August 27, 2021. (ECF No. 1.) 25 Defendant filed the pending motions on September 24, 2021. Defendant moves to dismiss the 26 complaint for failure to state a claim, or, alternatively, for improper venue. (ECF No. 6.) 27 Separately, defendant moves the court to declare plaintiff a vexatious litigant and to enter an 28 order requiring pre-filing review of further actions filed by plaintiff against defendant. (ECF No. 1 7.) Plaintiff has filed oppositions to both motions. (ECF No. 11, 12.) Plaintiff additionally filed a 2 declaration with exhibits in further opposition to the vexatious litigant motion. (ECF No. 15.) 3 II. LEGAL STANDARDS FOR MOTION TO DISMISS 4 The purpose of a motion to dismiss under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 12(b)(6), 5 is to test the legal sufficiency of the complaint. N. Star Int’l v. Ariz. Corp. Comm’n, 720 F.2d 6 578, 581 (9th Cir. 1983). A dismissal may be warranted where there is “the lack of a cognizable 7 legal theory or the absence of sufficient facts alleged under a cognizable legal theory.” Balistreri 8 v. Pacifica Police Dep’t, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1990). In order to state a valid claim for 9 relief, a plaintiff must allege “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” 10 Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). A claim is plausible on its face “when the 11 plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the 12 defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). 13 In evaluating whether a complaint states a claim on which relief may be granted, the court 14 accepts as true the allegations in the complaint and construes the allegations in the light most 15 favorable to the plaintiff. Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 73 (1984); Love v. United 16 States, 915 F.2d 1242, 1245 (9th Cir. 1989). The court does not, however, assume the truth of 17 legal conclusions cast in the form of factual allegations. United States ex rel. Chunie v. Ringrose, 18 788 F.2d 638, 643 n.2. (9th Cir. 1986). In addition, while Rule 8(a) does not require detailed 19 factual allegations, “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere 20 conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 676. A complaint must do more than 21 allege mere “labels and conclusions” or “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of 22 action.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555. 23 In ruling on a motion to dismiss, the court may consider material that is properly 24 submitted as part of the complaint, documents that are not physically attached to the complaint if 25 their authenticity is not contested and the plaintiff’s complaint necessarily relies on them, as well 26 as matters of public record. Lee v. City of Los Angeles, 250 F.3d 668, 688–89 (9th Cir. 2001). 27 The court may also consider matters properly subject to judicial notice. Outdoor Media Group, 28 Inc. v. City of Beaumont, 506 F.3d 895, 899 (9th Cir. 2007). 1 III. DISCUSSION 2 A. Request for Judicial Notice (ECF No. 9) 3 A court may “judicially notice a fact that is not subject to reasonable dispute because it: 4 (1) is generally known within the trial court’s territorial jurisdiction; or (2) can be accurately and 5 readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.” Public 6 records are properly the subject of judicial notice because the contents of such documents contain 7 facts that are not subject to reasonable dispute, and the facts therein “can be accurately and 8 readily be determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.” Federal 9 Rule of Evidence 201(b); see Intri-Plex Techs. v. Crest Grp., Inc.,

Related

Hishon v. King & Spalding
467 U.S. 69 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Harry Franklin v. Ms. Murphy and Hoyt Cupp
745 F.2d 1221 (Ninth Circuit, 1984)
Lee v. City Of Los Angeles
250 F.3d 668 (Ninth Circuit, 2001)
Weilburg v. Shapiro
488 F.3d 1202 (Ninth Circuit, 2007)
Molski v. Evergreen Dynasty Corp.
500 F.3d 1047 (Ninth Circuit, 2007)
Outdoor Media Group, Inc. v. City of Beaumont
506 F.3d 895 (Ninth Circuit, 2007)
Intri-Plex Technologies, Inc. v. Crest Group, Inc.
499 F.3d 1048 (Ninth Circuit, 2007)
Jeremy Pinson v. Charles Samuels
761 F.3d 1 (D.C. Circuit, 2014)
United States ex rel. Chunie v. Ringrose
788 F.2d 638 (Ninth Circuit, 1986)
De Long v. Hennessey
912 F.2d 1144 (Ninth Circuit, 1990)
Love v. United States
915 F.2d 1242 (Ninth Circuit, 1989)

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Bluebook (online)
(PS)Bruzzone v. Intel Corporation, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/psbruzzone-v-intel-corporation-caed-2021.