Sprint Solutions, Inc. v. Fils-Amie

44 F. Supp. 3d 1224, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 128020, 2014 WL 4494146
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedSeptember 12, 2014
DocketCase No. 14-60224-CIV
StatusPublished
Cited by66 cases

This text of 44 F. Supp. 3d 1224 (Sprint Solutions, Inc. v. Fils-Amie) 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
Sprint Solutions, Inc. v. Fils-Amie, 44 F. Supp. 3d 1224, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 128020, 2014 WL 4494146 (S.D. Fla. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS TO DISMISS

JAMES I. COHN, District Judge.

THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon Defendant Kedner Fils-Aime’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint [DE 23] and Defendant Paul Fils-Aime, Jr.’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint [DE 32]. The Court has reviewed the Motions, Defendants’ Responses, and the record in this case, and is otherwise advised in the premises. For [1226]*1226the following reasons, the Court will deny the Motions.

I. BACKGROUND

In this case, Plaintiffs Sprint Solutions, Inc. and Sprint Communications Company, L.P. (collectively “Sprint”) allege that Defendants Kedner Fils-Aime (“Kedner”) and Paul Fils-Aime, Jr. (“Paul”) carried out a scheme of unlawfully obtaining, modifying, and reselling wireless telephones sold by Sprint (“Sprint Phones”). Sprint contends that Defendants’ scheme has caused it reputational and business harms, and violates numerous federal laws, including the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § Í051 et seq., and various criminal statutes. See generally DE 14 (“Amended Complaint”) ¶¶ 55-177. On this basis, Sprint has asserted 14 causes of action against Defendants seeking both damages and injunctive relief. Defendants have responded with two substantially identical motions seeking dismissal of the Amended Complaint under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See DE 23 & 32.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

Under Rule 12(b)(6), a court shall grant a motion to dismiss where the factual allegations of the complaint cannot support the asserted cause of action. Glover v. Liggett Group, Inc., 459 F.3d 1304, 1308 (11th Cir.2006) (per curiam). “Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level----” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). The allegations must give a defendant fair notice of the plaintiffs claims and the grounds- upon which they rest. Id. Thus, a complaint must contain “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, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955).

A complaint must be liberally construed, assuming the facts alleged therein as true and drawing all reasonable inferences from those facts in the plaintiffs favor. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. A complaint should not be dismissed simply because the court is doubtful that the plaintiff will be able to prove all of the necessary factual allegations. Id. A well-pled complaint will survive a motion to dismiss “even if it appears that a recovery is very remote and unlikely.” Id. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955 (internal quotation marks omitted). Nevertheless, a plaintiff must provide “more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Id. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955.

III. ANALYSIS

Defendants’ Motions hint that the Amended Complaint is fatally flawed in countless ways. Defendants do not develop the bulk of their criticisms, and rather focus on one core argument: that the Amended Complaint does not give each Defendant notice of the allegations against him because it refers to Kedner and Paul together as “Defendants.” However, Splint’s use of the term “Defendants” is an acceptable method of pleading that Kedner and Paul each engaged in the alleged misconduct, and does not offend the applicable pleading standard. The Court also rejects Defendants’ less-developed arguments that Sprint proceeds on flawed legal theories and has failed to plead facts or produce evidence to support its claims. Therefore, the Court will deny the Motions.

A. Sprint’s Reference to Defendants as “Defendants” Does Not Require Dismissal of the Amended Complaint

In the Amended Complaint, Sprint alleges that Kedner and Paul, individually [1227]*1227and doing business as We Buy Phones, engaged in unlawful and deceptive business practices involving the resale of Sprint Phones. In each of the Amended Complaint’s 14 causes of action, Sprint alleges that each Defendant perpetrated these wrongs, often acting together. When referring to Kedner and Paul together, Sprint has used the term “Defendants.” See Am. Compl. ¶¶ 55-177.

Defendants argue that Sprint’s use of the term “Defendants” turns the Amended Complaint’s allegations into “group allegations” that cannot satisfy the pleading standard set forth in Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955. Defendants contend that a complaint must contain “specific facts supporting each allegation against each defendant individually.” DE 23 at 6-7; DE 32 at .6-7. Defendants conclude that because allegations about “Defendants’ ” conduct are not allegations against each individual Defendant, Sprint’s use of the term “Defendants” requires dismissal of the Amended Complaint.

However, a plaintiff may plead claims against multiple defendants by referring to them collectively, for example by referring to a group of defendants as “defendants.” See Crowe v. Coleman, 113 F.3d 1536, 1539 (11th Cir.1997). These collective allegations are construed as applying to each defendant individually. Id. The practice only runs afoul of the applicable pleading standard where it results in a complaint that fails to give each defendant notice of the claims against it. See Frazier v. U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n, No. 11-8775, 2013 WL 1337263 at *2-3, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45330 at *10-12 (N.D.Ill. Mar. 29, 2013) (holding that group pleading did not render complaint infirm where complaint provided fair notice of claims).

Collective references to defendants most often create problems when broad allegations are directed at a large and diverse group of defendants, leaving unclear just who is alleged to have committed which acts. See Pierson v. Orlando Reg’l Healthcare Sys., Inc., 619 F.Supp.2d 1260, 1271-74 (M.D.Fla.2009) (requiring repleader where plaintiff used single defined term to refer to numerous individual doctors and business entities, and alleged varying involvement in complex peer-review process as to entire group), aff'd, 451 Fed.Appx. 862 (11th Cir.2012) (per curiam). But here, Sprint alleges that two individuals—Kedner and Paul—participated in conduct relevant to each claim. When Sprint alleges that Kedner and Paul each engaged in an act, or acted together, it refers to Kedner and Paul collectively as “Defendants.” On the other hand, where Sprint alleges independent conduct by only one Defendant, Sprint refers to that Defendant separately by name. See Am. Compl. ¶ 42 (alleging purchase by Paul of Sprint Phone); id. ¶44 (alleging statements by Kedner regarding efforts to buy Sprint Phones).

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Bluebook (online)
44 F. Supp. 3d 1224, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 128020, 2014 WL 4494146, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sprint-solutions-inc-v-fils-amie-flsd-2014.