Smith v. Findlay Automotive, Inc.

District Court, D. Nevada·Decided March 31, 2025·No. 2:24-cv-01226·Unknown

Opinion

* * *

KARIN SMITH, et al., individually and on Case No. 2:24-cv-01226-RFB-EJY behalf of all others similarly situated,

Plaintiffs,

v.

Defendant.

Before the Court is Defendant Findlay Automotive, Inc.’s Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 27) Plaintiffs’ Consolidated Class Complaint (ECF No. 21). For the reasons below, the Motion is granted in part and denied in part. The Court summarizes the procedural history relevant to the instant Motion. On June 12, 2024, Plaintiffs Karin Smith and Pholisith Bouphapraseuth, individually and on behalf of others similarly situated, filed their Class Action Complaint in the Eighth Judicial District Court for the State of Nevada (“Smith Action”). (ECF No. 1-1). On July 8, 2024, Defendant Findlay Automotive, Inc. filed a Petition for Removal and a Notice of Related Case Stevens v. Findlay Automotive, Inc., Case No. 2:24-cv-01227-APG-BNW (“Stevens Action”). (ECF Nos. 1-2). On July 12, 2024, Defendant filed a Motion to Consolidate the Smith and Stevens Actions. (ECF No. 7). On July 24, 2024, Defendant filed its Statement Regarding Removal, which identified the basis for removal as federal question jurisdiction, and an alternative basis for removal pursuant to the Class Action Fairness Act. (ECF No. 11). The same day the parties filed a Stipulation to Consolidate the Smith and Stevens Actions. (ECF No. 12). On August 1, 2024, the Court granted the Motion to Consolidate and ordered the Stevens Action consolidated under this Smith Action. (ECF No. 14). On August 9, 2024, Defendant filed its first Motion to Dismiss. (ECF No. 17). On August 16, 2024, Plaintiffs filed their operative Amended Consolidated Class Complaint (“Complaint”). (ECF No. 21). The Complaint brings claims under Nevada law for (1) Negligence and Negligence Per Se; (2) Breach of Express Contract; (3) Breach of Implied Contract; (4) Invasion of Privacy; (5) Unjust Enrichment; (6) Declaratory Judgment and Injunctive Relief. Id. On August 27, Defendants filed the instant Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). (ECF No. 28). Defendant concurrently filed a Motion to Stay. (ECF No. 32). As of September 23, 2024, the Motion to Stay was fully briefed. (ECF No. 32-33). As of October 17, 2024, the Motion to Dismiss was fully briefed. (ECF Nos. 37-38). On October 24, 2024, the Honorable Magistrate Judge Elayna J. Youchah granted in part and denied in part the Motion to Stay. (ECF No. 39). Individual discovery was opened for a period of 90 days, while no class related discovery was allowed to proceed. Id. On February 10, 2025, the parties entered a Joint Status Report regarding discovery and sought an extension of time to submit a case schedule and proposed discovery plan. (ECF No. 47). On February 12, 2025, Judge Youchah granted the parties until seven days after resolution of the instant Motion to Dismiss. (ECF No. 48). The Courts Order on the pending Motion to Dismiss follows. The following allegations are taken from the Amended Consolidated Class Complaint. This action arises out of a targeted ransomware attack on Findlay Automotive, Inc.’s which Plaintiffs allege led to the unauthorized access and acquisition of their personally identifiable information (“PII”) including full names, addresses, driver’s license numbers, social security numbers, insurance policy numbers, credit and debit card numbers, and financial information. Plaintiffs allege that up to and through June 2024, Defendant obtained the PII of Plaintiffs and class members and stored it in an unencrypted, internet-accessible environment on its network from which unauthorized actors used an extraction tool to retrieve Plaintiffs’ PII. On information and belief, Defendant failed to properly monitor its computer network, IT systems and integrated services which housed the PII and failed to timely recognize malicious activity on its information system. Through the attack, a notorious cybercriminal group called “Scattered Spider” obtained Plaintiffs’ PII. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released a joint report identifying Scattered Spider as a cybercriminal group that targets large companies and their contracted information technology help desks. Per the report, Scattered Spider threat actors typically engage in data theft for extortion and publication to the dark web and for subsequently carrying out ransomware attacks to disrupt business operations. Defendant was unprepared for such an attack, which resulted in delays in customers being paid money Defendant owed to them, who were told the delay was due to a cyberattack. As a result, Defendant failed to timely remit payment of $2,500 owed to Plaintiff Farrell as compensation for a vehicle trade-in and failed to properly and timely register Plaintiff Sax’s vehicle, which cost him money, including his income as an Uber driver, and time. Defendants further failed to meet statutory requirements to provide affected persons with timely notice of the data breach. Plaintiffs allege they have suffered harms including lost time in responding to the data breach, in the form of valuable hours spent calling Defendant to investigate the harm and attempting to mitigate its effects and seeking payment of monies owed to them by Defendant (Plaintiffs Sax and Farrell). They also allege they “may” incur out-of-pocket expenses purchasing credit monitoring services, credit freezes, credit reports, and other protective measures to deter and detect identity theft. They further allege they suffered damage to and diminution in the value of their PII; violation of their privacy rights; and present, imminent, and impending injury arising from the theft of their PII. As a result of the data breach, Plaintiffs allege they suffered emotional distress, including anxiety about unauthorized parties viewing, selling, and/or using their PII for the purposes of identity theft and fraud. An initial pleading must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). The court may dismiss a complaint for “failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). In ruling on a motion to dismiss, “[a]ll well-pleaded allegations of material fact in the complaint are accepted as true and are construed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party.” Faulkner v. ADT Sec. Servs., Inc., 706 F.3d 1017, 1019 (9th Cir. 2013) (citations omitted). To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint need not contain “detailed factual allegations,” but it must do more than assert “labels and conclusions” or “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action . . . .” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl.Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). In other words, a claim will not be dismissed if it contains “sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face,” meaning that the court can reasonably infer “that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. at 678 (internal quotation and citation omitted). The Ninth Circuit, in elaborating on the pleading standard described in Twombly and Iqbal, has held that for a complaint to survive dismissal, the plaintiff must allege non-conclusory facts that, together with reasonable inferences from those facts, are “plausibly

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Smith v. Findlay Automotive, Inc., (D. Nev. 2025).

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