Waguespack v. Medtronic, Inc.

185 F. Supp. 3d 916, 2016 WL 2621969
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Louisiana
DecidedMay 6, 2016
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 16-241-JJB-RLB, CIVIL ACTION NO. 16-242-JJB-EWD, CIVIL ACTION NO. 16-243-JJB-RLB
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 185 F. Supp. 3d 916 (Waguespack v. Medtronic, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Waguespack v. Medtronic, Inc., 185 F. Supp. 3d 916, 2016 WL 2621969 (M.D. La. 2016).

Opinion

RULING

JAMES J. BRADY, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA

These matters are before the Court on two motions. The first is a Motion for [921]*921Preliminary Injunction (Doe. 4) brought by the Plaintiffs.1 The Defendants2 have filed an Opposition (Doc. 22). The second motion is a Motion to Transfer (Doc. 17) brought by Defendants, to which Plaintiffs filed an. Opposition (Doc. 31). Pursuant to this Court’s Order, the parties filed Supplemental Memoranda (Docs. 32 & 37). The .Court previously issued a Temporary Restraining Order (Doc. 18), and held a hearing on the matter on May 4, 2016. After the presentation of arguments, the Court took the matter under advisement. Jurisdiction exists pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332. For the reason's stated herein, Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction (16-cv-241: Doc. 4; 16-cv-242: Doc. 5; 16-cv-243: Doc, 5) is GRANTED, and Defendants’ Motion to Transfer (16-cv-241: Doc. 17; 16-CV-242: Doc. 10; 16-cv-243: Doc. 19) is DENIED.

I. Background

Plaintiffs Robby J. Waguespack (‘Wag-uespack”), Stephen Powell (“Powell”), and Lloyd Lile Lindsey, III (“Lindsey”) (collectively, “Plaintiffs” or “Louisiana Representatives”) were sales employees for MSDU. MSDU — a Medtronic subsidiary— is a medical device company based out of Memphis, Tennessee, that operates Med-tronic’s spine business in Louisiana. While working for MSDU, Waguespack was a District Sales Manager with responsibility for all of Louisiana (except the Shreveport area), the southern one-third of Mississippi, and Beaumont, Texas. Powell and Lindsey were Sales Representatives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

As a condition of employment, Medtronic required Plaintiffs to sign Employment Agreements. The Employment Agreements contains a variety of restrictive covenants, including provisions that purport to prohibit Plaintiffs from competing with “MEDTRONIC” or soliciting its customers for a period of one year after the termination of their employment. The Employment Agreements also contain choice of law, choice of forum, and related clauses that essentially require the Employment Agreements to be interpreted under Minnesota law and that any litigation related to the agreement be prosecuted in a state court in Minnesota.3

[922]*922On March 28, 2016, Plaintiffs resigned from their positions with Medtronic, and accepted employment with K2M, Inc. (“K2M”), a competing medical device company that sells spinal products and surgical implants in Louisiana. After Plaintiffs left Medtronic, they filed suit in the 19th Judicial District Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge seeking a declaratory judgment that the choice of forum, choice of law, non-competition, and non-solicitation provisions in their Employment Agreements (the “Employment Agreements”) are null, void, and unenforceable,4

A week after being served with this suit, the defendants filed a second lawsuit (“the Minnesota Action”) in Minnesota state court naming Waguespack, K2M, Lindsey, and Powell as defendants. In the Minnesota Action, Medtronic asserted claims for declaratory relief and breach of contract. The Minnesota Action has been removed to federal court,5 and Medtronic has moved to remand that case to Minnesota state court.

II. First-piled Rule

Because the first-filed rule gives the court discretion to dismiss a case in its entirety, and thus be dispositive of the remaining issues presented in these motions, it is logical to address the this issue first.6 This Court adequately summarized the law relating to the first-filed rule in a recent case:

The Fifth Circuit has “long advocated that district courts exercise their discretion to avoid duplication of proceedings where related claims are being litigated in different districts.” Marks v. Mackey, No. 6:14-CV-00441, 2014 WL 3530137, at *2 (W.D.La. July 15, 2014) (quoting Schauss v. Metals Depository Corp., 757 F.2d 649, 654 (5th Cir.1985)). Accordingly, “the court with prior jurisdiction over the common subject matter should resolve all issues presented in related actions.” W. Gulf Mar. Ass’n v. ILA Deep Sea Local M, S. Atl. & Gulf Coast Dist. of ILA; AFL-CIO, 751 F.2d 721, 730 (5th Cir.1985) (internal quotation omitted). As a matter of federal comity, the first-filed rale provides that “where two actions involving overlapping issues and parties are pending in two federal courts, there is a strong presumption across the federal circuits that favors the forum of the first-filed suit[J” Manuel v. Convergys Corp., 430 F.3d 1132, 1135 (11th Cir.2005); Codie Co. v. Wha[923]*923taburger of Alice, Inc., 174 F.3d 599, 603 (5th Cir.1999) (“Under the first-to-file rule, when related cases are pending before two federal courts, the court in which the case was last filed may refuse to hear it if the issues raised by the cases substantially overlap.”). A decision to apply the first-filed rule rests on two questions: “(1) whether the two pending actions are so duplicative that they involve substantially overlapping issues such that one court should decide both, and if so, (2) which of the two courts should take the case.” Mackey, 2014 WL 3530137 at *3.

InforMD, L.L.C. v. DocRx, Inc. et al., Civil Action No. 13-533-JJB-SCR, Doc. 73 at *3 (M.D. La. Aug. 31, 2015). In the instant case, the parties do not dispute that the action filed in this Court substantially overlaps with the Minnesota Action. It is also undisputed that Plaintiffs filed the declaratory judgment suit in Louisiana before the defendants filed their complaint in the Minnesota case.7 The Court agrees that the substantivé issues and parties are nearly identical and that this Court was seized of the action over a week before the Minnesota Action commenced. The parties dispute, however, which court should “take the case.”

In answering which Court should take the case, “[t]he Fifth Circuit adheres to the general rule that the court in which the action is first filed is the appropriate court to determine whether subsequently filed cases involving substantially similar issues should proceed.” Save Power Ltd. v. Syntek Fin. Corp., 121 F.3d 947, 950 (5th Cir.1997). The first-filed rule does not apply, however, when it appears the earlier filed anticipatory suit was merely a forum-shopping maneuver. Fl. Marine Transporters v. Lawson & Lawson Towing Co., No. 00-2602, 2001 WL 1018364, at *3 (E.D.La. Aug. 31, 2001). However, the cases cited by Defendants in support of this exception are factually distinguishable — the party seeking a declaratory judgment in those cases were provided notice of litigation from the opposing party.8 Here, Plaintiffs were not provided no[924]

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
185 F. Supp. 3d 916, 2016 WL 2621969, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/waguespack-v-medtronic-inc-lamd-2016.