Ray v. Spirit Airlines, Inc.

126 F. Supp. 3d 1332, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120033, 2015 WL 5168367
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedJuly 27, 2015
DocketCivil Action No. 12-61528-Civ-Scola
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 126 F. Supp. 3d 1332 (Ray v. Spirit Airlines, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ray v. Spirit Airlines, Inc., 126 F. Supp. 3d 1332, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120033, 2015 WL 5168367 (S.D. Fla. 2015).

Opinion

Order Denying Motion for Relief

Robert N. Scola, Jr., United States District Judge

THIS MATTER is before the Court on Plaintiffs’ Motion for Relief from Judgment (ECF No. 91.) Defendant Spirit Airlines, Inc. (“Spirit”) filed a Response in Opposition (ECF No. 93) and Plaintiffs replied (ECF No. 94.) The Court held oral argument on the Motion on July 15, 2015. After careful consideration of the applicable law, the parties’ briefing, and arguments made during the hearing, and [1335]*1335for the reasons explained below, the Court denies the Motion.

1. Factual and Procedural Background

After several years of motion practice, appeal, and amended complaints, this Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) case has not yet proceeded beyond the motion to dismiss stage. Most recently, the Court granted Spirit’s Motion to Dismiss the Second Amended Complaint. (ECF No. 85.) The Court allowed Plaintiffs leave to amend and, subsequently, Plaintiffs asked for an extension of time to file their Third Amended Complaint. (ECF No. 86.) The Court granted that request and required Plaintiffs to file their Third Proposed Amended Complaint by June 29, 2015, warning them that the case would be closed if they failed to file by that date.

Plaintiffs did not file by June 29 and, on June 30, the Court closed the case and entered judgment. Within hours, Plaintiffs filed a Motion for Relief from Judgment and filed their Third Amended Complaint, the fourth complaint filed in this action. (ECF Nos. 1, 13, 35, and 92.) In the Motion to Set Aside Judgment, Plaintiffs explained that they had miscalendared the date and had inadvertently missed the deadline. (See Mot. Relief, ECF No. 91.) Spirit responded to the Motion, arguing that the mistake was not excusable neglect and that even if it was, allowing the Third Amended Complaint would be futile. (Resp. ECF No. 93.) The Court accepted that the miscalendaring was excusable neglect but asked the parties to address the futility of proceeding on the Third Amended Complaint during the hearing held on July 15, 2015.

The factual background of this case is included in detail in the Court’s previous orders. (See, e.g., Order on Motion to Dismiss, ECF No. 85.) Essentially, Plaintiffs allege that Spirit, an “ultra-low cost” commercial passenger airline carrier advertises lower fares but adds additional charges and fees to generate “non-ticket revenue.” One such fee — the “Passenger Usage Fee” (“PUF”) — is charged to consumers who purchase tickets on Spirit’s website or through Spirit’s call center. Plaintiffs claim that this PUF is a supplementary fare deceptively hidden amid official taxes and fees. Plaintiffs allege that this scheme allows Spirit to advertise competitive low base fares, but recover the revenue under the pretense of a service fee. Plaintiffs claim that Spirit’s action constitutes a RICO violation based on 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c).

2. Legal Standard

Plaintiffs’ Motion for Relief from Judgment was filed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(1). (Mot. ¶ 5, ECF No. 91.) The Court already agreed to consider the complaint timely filed for purposes of excusable neglect, but “[t]o obtain relief under 60(b), a party must demonstrate a defense that probably would have been successful, in addition to showing excusable neglect.” Solaroll Shade & Shutter Corp., Inc. v. Bio-Energy Sys., Inc., 803 F.2d 1130, 1133 (11th Cir.1986). “Leave to amend a complaint is futile when the complaint as amended would still be properly dismissed or be immediately subject to summary judgment for the defendant.” Burger King Corp. v. Weaver, 169 F.3d 1310, 1320 (11th Cir.1999). In other words, leave to amend should be denied when the complaint as amended “would necessarily fail.” Fla. Evergreen Foliage v. E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co., 470 F.3d 1036, 1040 (11th Cir.2006) (citation omitted).

Spirit argues that the Third Amended Complaint is futile because it does not state a claim for which the Court may [1336]*1336grant relief. In order to address whether the Third Amended Complaint is futile, the Court must consider whether the Complaint would be subject to dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Therefore, the Court must accept all of the complaint’s well-pled factual allegations as true, construing them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Pielage v. McConnell, 516 F.3d 1282, 1284 (11th Cir.2008). The allegations must comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) which requires “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, 677-78, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (brackets, internal citation, and internal quotation marks omitted). However, the Court need not accept an inference when there is “an obvious alternative explanation.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 567, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2006). When “[djetermining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for relief’ a “reviewing court” should “draw on its judicial experience and common sense.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937. And “where the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint ... has not shown that the pleadér is entitled to relief.” Id. (internal punctuation omitted) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2)); accord Am. Dental Ass’n v. Cigna Corp., 605 F.3d 1283, 1290 (11th Cir.2010)

Plaintiffs’ single RICO claim is based on wire fraud and mail fraud, criminalized in 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341,1343. (3d Am. Compl. ¶¶ 1-15, 75, 85; ECF No. 92.) Because Plaintiffs’ claim arises from an alleged pattern of racketeering consisting of fraud, their substantive RICO allegations must comply not only with the plausibility criteria articulated in Twombly and Iqbal, but also with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b)’s heightened pleading standard. Rule 9(b) requires that “[i]n alleging fraud or mistake, a party must state with particularity the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 9

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126 F. Supp. 3d 1332, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120033, 2015 WL 5168367, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ray-v-spirit-airlines-inc-flsd-2015.