Samms v. Abrams

198 F. Supp. 3d 311, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 99505, 2016 WL 4045473
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJuly 28, 2016
Docket15-cv-2741 (JSR)
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 198 F. Supp. 3d 311 (Samms v. Abrams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Samms v. Abrams, 198 F. Supp. 3d 311, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 99505, 2016 WL 4045473 (S.D.N.Y. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ORDER AND FINAL JUDGMENT

JED S. RAKOFF, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE.

Plaintiff Larry Samms brought this action against the law firm of Abrams, Fen-[315]*315sterman, Fensterman, Eisman, Formato, Ferrara & Wolf, LLP (“Abrams”), alleging two violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) and one violation of N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law (“GBL”) § 349. After trial, a jury awarded Samms $5,795 in economic damages and $1,000 in damages for physical injuries and/or emotional distress. See Jury Verdict dated April 21, 2016, ECF No. 88. Samms now seeks in-junctive relief, treble damages under GBL § 349, and attorney’s fees and costs. For the following reasons, the Court denies Samms’s request for injunctive relief, grants his request for treble damages, and grants his request for attorney’s fees and costs.

The facts of this case are set out in greater detail in the Court’s opinion denying in part and granting in part defendant’s motion for judgment on the pleadings. See Memorandum Order dated July 7, 2015, at 1-3, ECF No. 21. By way of background, Abrams filed an action in New York State Supreme Court in West-chester County on behalf of its client the Bishop Charles W. Maclean Episcopal Nursing Home (the “Nursing Home”). The state court complaint alleged that Samms owed the Nursing Home a debt of $21,000 for services rendered. Samms brought the present action alleging that the state court proceeding against him violated the FDCPA and GBL § 349. Samms’s first FDCPA claim was a “distant venue” claim under 15 U.S.C. § 1692i(a)(2): Abrams filed the lawsuit against Samms in West-chester County, but Samms resides in Bronx County. Samms’s second FDCPA claim was based on the request in the debt collection lawsuit for attorney’s fees, which were without legal basis, in violation of 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692e, 1692f(l). Samms’s GBL § 349 claim also rested on the baseless request for attorney’s fees. The jury found Abrams hable on all three, consolidated claims, but awarded only modest damages.

Turning now to Samms’ motion for post-verdict relief, Samms first asks this Court to enter a permanent injunction barring Abrams from seeking attorney’s fees when not expressly allowed by law or contract. The Supreme Court has explained that

[according to well-established principles of equity, a plaintiff seeking a permanent injunction must satisfy a four-factor test before a court may grant such relief. A plaintiff must demonstrate: (1) that it has suffered an irreparable injury; (2) that remedies available at law, such as monetary damages, are inadequate to compensate for that injury; (3) that, considering the balance of hardships between the plaintiff and defendant, a remedy in equity is warranted; and (4) that the public interest would not be disserved by a permanent injunction.

eBay Inc, v. MercExchange, L.L.C., 547 U.S. 388, 391, 126 S.Ct. 1837, 164 L.Ed.2d 641 (2006). Samms’s request for injunctive relief arises only from his GBL § 349 claim.

GBL § 349(h) states “[i]n addition to the right of action granted to the attorney general pursuant to this section, any person who has been injured by reason of any violation of this section may bring an action in his own name to enjoin such unlawful act or practice.” Samms argues that this language exempts him from eBay’s four-factor test. Specifically, Samms argues that the text of § 349(h) places private plaintiffs like himself in the shoes of the New York attorney general, to the extent that, like the attorney general, they need not show some elements of the eBay test. See City of New York v. Golden Feather Smoke Shop, Inc., 597 F.3d 115, 121 (2d Cir.2010) (“[Ajgencies need not prove irreparable injury or the inadequacy of other remedies as required in private [316]*316litigation suits,” (internal quotation marks omitted)). However, the text of § 349(h) does not say this. Rather than assimilating private suits and suits brought by the attorney general, it allows private suits “in addition” to those brought by the attorney general. See GBL § 349(h). Moreover, cases like Golden Feather reiterate the difference between suits brought by public entities and those brought by private individuals. See id. (“[AJgencies need not prove irreparable injury or the inadequacy of other remedies as required in private litigation suits”, (internal quotation marks omitted) (emphasis added)); CFTC v. British Am. Commodity Options, 560 F.2d 135, 141 (2d Cir.1977).

Samms also argues that the eBay test does not apply here because GBL § 349(h) authorizes a private plaintiff to seek in-junctive relief, and “[wjhere an injunction is authorized by statute it is enough if the statutory conditions are satisfied.” Henderson v. Burd, 133 F.2d 515, 517 (2d Cir.1943). However, every Second Circuit case cited by Samms supporting this point involves some public authority seeking an injunction. See City of New York v. Golden Feather Smoke Shop, Inc., 597 F.3d 115 (2d Cir.2010); S.E.C. v. Management Dynamics, Inc., 515 F.2d 801 (2d Cir.1975); Henderson v. Burd, 133 F.2d 515 (2d Cir.1943) (suit brought by Leon Henderson, Price Administrator, Office of Price Administration). As such, these cases merely reinforce that public entities may be exempted from the eBay test under certain circumstances.

Plaintiff also relies heavily on Barkley v. United Homes, LLC, 848 F.Supp.2d 248, 273-75 (E.D.N.Y.2012), where the Eastern District of New York concluded that private plaintiffs suing under GBL § 349(h) could win permanent injunctions without satisfying the eBay test. Barkley is not binding on this Court, and, with respect, this Court, like another court in this District, must disagree with it. See Koch v. Greenberg, 14 F.Supp.3d 247, 282-83 (S.D.N.Y.2014). To begin with, Barkley inappropriately relies on Second Circuit cases involving public authorities as plaintiffs for the significantly more general proposition that plaintiffs of any kind, including private plaintiffs, can win permanent injunctions when statutory conditions are satisfied. Moreover, even if the Court were to apply Burd’s rule that “[w]here an injunction is authorized by statute it is enough if the statutory conditions are satisfied,” here there are no statutory conditions to be satisfied: GBL § 349(h) merely authorizes injunctions for private plaintiffs and does not predicate the issuance of injunctions on any specific conditions. Barkley seems to consider the elements of proving a violation of GBL § 349 to be the “statutory conditions” necessary for an injunction to issue. See Barkley, 848 F.Supp.2d 248 at 274. However, as pointed out in Koch, if the statutory conditions were simply the elements of a GBL § 349 claim, the “absurd result” would be that permanent injunctions would be available, as a matter of course, to any plaintiff with a successful GBL § 349 claim. Koch, 14 F.Supp.3d at 283. In sum, there is no basis for exempting private § 349 plaintiffs from the eBay test, and it must be applied here.

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198 F. Supp. 3d 311, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 99505, 2016 WL 4045473, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/samms-v-abrams-nysd-2016.