Travis L. Allison v. Shutterfly Lifetouch LLC

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedDecember 31, 2025
Docket1:25-cv-03546
StatusUnknown

This text of Travis L. Allison v. Shutterfly Lifetouch LLC (Travis L. Allison v. Shutterfly Lifetouch LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Travis L. Allison v. Shutterfly Lifetouch LLC, (N.D. Ill. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

TRAVIS L. ALLISON, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) No. 25 C 03546 ) SHUTTERFLY LIFETOUCH LLC, ) Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer ) Defendant. ) )

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

In December 2024, pro se Plaintiff Travis Allison (“Allison”) ordered his son’s school pictures from Defendant Shutterfly/LifeTouch, LLC (“Shutterfly”), the firm that provides photography service at his son’s school. Unfortunately, the photos he received were damaged, replacement copies were delivered to the wrong address, and a third mailing never arrived at all. One would expect these circumstances would support a claim, if any, for breach of an express or implied contract. Plaintiff Allison sees things differently, and has filed a federal lawsuit asserting a myriad of claims against Shutterfly. Shutterfly moves to dismiss all of the claims except the one for breach of contract. For the reasons set forth below, the motion [40] is granted. Apart from his contractual allegations, Allison has not alleged any plausible claim that he has standing to pursue. Because diversity is the only basis for jurisdiction over that claim, and it does not appear that $75,000 is at stake, the court directs Plaintiff to show cause why this complaint should not be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.1

1 The parties are diverse in citizenship: Allison is a citizen of Illinois, and Defendant Shutterfly Lifetouch, LLC (“Shutterfly”) is a limited liability company, whose sole member ultimately traces back to a Delaware corporation, which is headquartered in California. (Id. ¶¶ 5– 6; Def.’s Corp. Disclosure Statement [22] (describing Shutterfly Lifetouch, LLC’s sole member as another LLC, whose sole member is another LLC, and so on)); West v. Louisville Gas & Elec. Co., 951 F.3d 827, 829 (7th Cir. 2020) (to determine the citizenship of a member that “is itself a partnership or limited liability company, [] the identity of each member of each of these entities must be traced until we reach a corporation or natural person”). As explained below, however, it is not clear that $75,000 is at stake for the only claim that survives this ruling. BACKGROUND

I. Factual Background

The following facts are alleged in the Amended Complaint [15], which the court accepts as true at this stage. In re Harley-Davidson Aftermarket Parts Mktg., Sales Pracs. & Antitrust Litig., 151 F.4th 922, 926 (7th Cir. 2025). On December 9, 2024, Plaintiff Allison purchased a premium package of his son’s school portraits from Shutterfly for $71.87. (Am. Compl. [15] ¶ 12.) Allison does not attach any written purchase agreement with Shutterfly, but Shutterfly has attached the terms of service—to which Allison was required to agree in order to purchase the photos—to its motion to dismiss.2 Allison does not dispute that he agreed to the terms of service, but instead argues that its enforceability against him is a factual question that is inappropriate at this stage. The terms of service provide: TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY APPLICABLE LAW, NEITHER WE NOR ANY OF OUR DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, SHAREHOLDERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AGENTS, REPRESENTATIVES, OR AFFILIATES (THE “SHUTTERFLY PARTIES”) SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS, PROFITS, USE OR DATA), WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, NEGLIGENCE AND STRICT LIABILITY) OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, EVEN IF THE SHUTTERFLY PARTIES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING IN ANY WAY TO OUR PROVISION OF (OR FAILURE TO PROVIDE) PRODUCTS OR SERVICES, OR FROM UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR SUBMISSIONS OR DATA, EVEN IF A REMEDY SET FORTH HEREIN IS FOUND TO HAVE FAILED ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE. . . . YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH PRODUCTS IS TO OBTAIN A REFUND, AND YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH SERVICES IS TO STOP USING THE SERVICES. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE MAXIMUM LIABILITY OF THE SHUTTERFLY PARTIES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING IN ANY WAY TO OUR PROVISION OF (OR FAILURE TO PROVIDE) PRODUCTS OR SERVICES SHALL BE THE ACTUAL PRICE PAID THEREFORE BY YOU.

(Ex. A to Kerber Decl. [40-1] at 11 (emphasis added).)

2 When a contract is referred to in the complaint and central to the claim, the court can consider it under the incorporation by reference doctrine. In re Harley-Davidson, 151 F.4th at 926. When Allison received his order, he discovered that his son’s face was distorted in the photo. (Am. Compl. [15] ¶ 13.) Shutterfly reprinted and mailed the photographs, but according to Allison’s tracking information, the package was delivered to an address in Philadelphia, rather than to Allison’s address in Illinois, so he did not receive it. (Id. ¶ 14.) Allison alleges that Shutterfly promised to print the order a third time, but that order too never arrived, despite his correspondence about the issue in January 2025 with a supervisor at Shutterfly identified as “Lisa W.” (Id. ¶¶ 16–17.) The complaint includes no further details about these conversations, but Allison alleges that Shutterfly “fabricated screenshots” when he confronted them, and that Shutterfly denied any error. (Id. ¶ 38.) Allison asserts that he is a public figure who holds trademarks and copyrights under the name “Travo,” the name he uses to identify his work as a “recording artist” and “entrepreneur.” (Id. ¶¶ 19, 46.) His brand includes his name, logo, image, and associated works. (Id. ¶ 47.) He alleges that he planned to use his son’s school portrait as part of his “brand engagement strategy during the 2024 holiday season,” and that it was to be “shared with community members, fans, and family.” (Id. ¶ 49.) The misdelivery of the portrait “interfered with Plaintiff’s ability to commercially represent and distribute the images.” (Id. ¶ 48.) Plaintiff also alleges that Defendant’s conduct “created a false association between Plaintiff and Defendant’s inadequate services” (he does not say how), thus harming his “professional reputation and community trust.” (Id. ¶¶ 51, 54.) He has alleged no other details concerning his brand or engagement strategy, or how a school portrait of his minor son was an expected part of that strategy. As a result of these events, Allison claims to have suffered financial loss, reputational harm, and emotional distress. (Id. ¶ 25.) The contract claim is straightforward: Allison contends that Shutterfly breached his purchase agreement by delivering the first order in defective condition, misdelivering the second order, and failing to fulfill his third order. (Id. ¶¶ 20–25.) He also alleges that the misdelivery of the portrait constitutes gross negligence in that Shutterfly failed to follow industry standards by printing and shipping portraits “without quality control,” “failing to secure or track packages,” and delivering portraits to the wrong address. (Id. ¶¶ 26– 30.) The delivery of his son’s “private photographic images” to another address, he alleges, also constitutes invasion of privacy and violations of both the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act and the California Customer Records Act. (Id. ¶¶ 31–36.) Further, Allison alleges that Shutterfly “knowingly made false statements” by misrepresenting the status and location of his order through “fabricated screenshots” and denying the error. (Id. ¶¶ 37–41.) Shutterfly’s alleged failure to deliver the portrait and false statements about the delivery, according to Allison, also constitute unfair and deceptive trade practices under the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. (Id.

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Travis L. Allison v. Shutterfly Lifetouch LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/travis-l-allison-v-shutterfly-lifetouch-llc-ilnd-2025.