Yesa LLC v. RMT Howard Beach Donuts, Inc.

222 F. Supp. 3d 181, 2016 WL 8711056
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedOctober 28, 2016
Docket15-cv-5936 (ADS)(SIL)
StatusPublished

This text of 222 F. Supp. 3d 181 (Yesa LLC v. RMT Howard Beach Donuts, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Yesa LLC v. RMT Howard Beach Donuts, Inc., 222 F. Supp. 3d 181, 2016 WL 8711056 (E.D.N.Y. 2016).

Opinion

Memorandum of Decision & Order

SPATT, District Judge:

On October 15, 2015, the Plaintiff Yesa LLC (‘Yesa”), purportedly as the successor-in-interest to Mantiff Management, Inc. (“Mantiff’), commenced this diversity fraud and breach of contract action by filing a summons and complaint (the “Main Complaint”) against the Defendants RMT Howard Beach Donuts, Inc. (“RMT”); ADR Consultants, Inc. (“ADR”); Amita D. Gandhi (“A. Gandhi”); and Dhiren Gandhi (“D. Gandhi,” collectively with RMT, ADR, and A. Gandhi, the “Defendants”).

On January 28, 2016, the Defendants filed a document entitled “Answer to Com[184]*184plaint by [Defendants], Affirmative Defenses, Counterclaim, and Third-Party Complaint” (the “Third Party Complaint”). As described more fully below, the Third-Party Complaint purports to assert claims against Yesa, Mantiff, and their common principal Falgun Dharia.

Presently before the Court is a motion by Yesa, Mantiff, and Dharia (collectively, the “Movants”), pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“Fed. R. Civ. P.”) 12(b)(6), to dismiss the Third-Party Complaint on the ground that it fails to state a claim for which relief may be granted.

For the reasons that follow, the motion to dismiss is granted in part and denied in part.

I. Background

Unless otherwise noted, the following facts are drawn from the Main Complaint and the Third-Party Complaint. They are construed in favor of the Defendants.

A. The Parties’ History as Dunkin Donuts Franchisees

In mid-1999, A. Gandhi and Dharia, who are cousins, owned, respectively, 90% and 10% of the stock of RMT, a domestic corporation with offices in Glen Oaks.

On May 26, 1999, RMT acquired a Dun-kin Donuts store location in Howard Beach (the “Howard Beach Store”) by way of an asset sale.

On the same date, RMT entered into a five-year franchise agreement to operate a Dunkin Donuts franchise from that location.

Allegedly, at or about this time, Dharia had similar interests in more than 40 Dun-kin Donuts franchises in New York and New Jersey.

However, in September 2000, Dunkin Donuts allegedly decided to terminate Dharia’s franchises due to alleged wage- and-hour and tax violations, which were deemed to be material breaches of the company’s standard franchise agreement.

Thus, on September 28, 2000, Dunkin Donuts allegedly filed an action in a New Jersey state court to terminate the company’s franchise relationship with Dharia.

On November 19, 2001, the lawsuit allegedly resulted in a confidential settlement agreement (the “2001 Settlement”). In relevant part, the 2001 Settlement allegedly required Dharia to divest himself of any remaining ownership interests he had in Dunkin Donuts franchises, and prohibited him from acquiring any future interests in the Dunkin Donuts franchise system.

B. The Consulting Agreement

Approximately two months later, on January 10, 2002, attorneys for Dharia prepared a contract that is at the heart of this ease. The Court will refer to this contract as the “Consulting Agreement.”

The parties to the Consulting Agreement were RMT, of which Dharia was a minority owner, and Mantiff, a New Jersey corporation of which Dharia was the managing member.

The Consulting Agreement called for Mantiff, through Dharia, to provide to RMT certain consulting services—presumably consulting related to the operation of the Dunkin Donuts franchise at the Howard Beach Store—in exchange for specified sums of money.

This compensation allegedly took the form of profit-sharing in that Mantiff, by and through Dharia, was to receive a monthly payment of $866 plus 60% of the net monthly profits generated by the Howard Beach Store. Of importance, this arrangement was substantially similar to the parties’ existing practice of allocating the profits of the Howard Beach Store on a [185]*18550/50 basis despite the fact that Dharia was a minority shareholder.

At the time of its drafting in January 2002, the Consulting Agreement was signed by Dharia, on behalf of Mantiff, and A. Gandhi, on behalf of RMT. However, by its terms, the agreement would not go into effect until such time as Dharia sold his ownership interest in the Howard Beach Store, as required by the 2001 Settlement.

Stated otherwise, the Consulting Agreement went into effect simultaneously with the anticipated transfer of Dharia’s ownership interest, ensuring that Dharia’s receipt of the financial benefits of a franchisee would continue uninterrupted.

Thus, according to the Third-Party Complaint, the Consulting Agreement was simply a tool by which Dharia fraudulently maintained the financial benefits of a Dun-kin Donuts franchise, despite being banned from actual involvement in the franchise system after the 2001 Settlement.

Further, the Third-Party Complaint alleges that A. Gandhi was not presented with copies of the Consulting Agreement before being asked to sign it; was not advised that the letter and spirit of the Consulting Agreement were inconsistent with the terms of the 2001 Settlement; was not represented by counsel during this process; and was denied a copy of the agreement even after she signed it.

In this regard, it is alleged that:

51.Dharia had [A. Gandhi] go to his attorney’s [Algios] office and execute the Consulting Agreement and related documents. [A. Gandhi] was not represented by counsel and she did not read the documents before signing them. She signed them because Dharia told her to sign them in connection with Dharia’s transferring his ten percent (10%) in RMT Howard Beach to [A. Gandhi].
52. Over the years, [A. Gandhi] made numerous demands for copies of the documents which she executed at Algios’ office, but Dharia refused to give her copies of the documentation.
53. After executing the documents at Algios’ office, [A. Gandhi] continued to pay Dharia 50% of the profits, because Dharia asserted he was still an owner and kept telling [A. Gandhi], falsely, that he had invested money in the store.

TPC ¶¶ 51-53.

On March 19, 2003, pursuant to the 2001 Settlement, Dharia resigned from RMT and transferred his 10% interest in the Howard Beach Store to A. Gandhi, making her the sole owner of that franchise “on paper.” Dunkin Donuts allegedly approved of this transaction without knowledge of the Consulting Agreement or Dharia’s continued involvement as a “consultant” for the franchise.

On August 26, 2004, the original five-year franchise agreement between RMT and Dunkin Donuts expired. Apparently still unaware of the Consulting Agreement, Dunkin Donuts agreed to renew its relationship with RMT, and, to that end, executed a new, fifteen-year franchise agreement that would extend until May 2019. The franchise agreement, as well as the underlying ground lease for the Howard Beach Store, was eventually further extended through 2029.

C. The Relevant Time Period: 2007 to 2013

The parties’ pleadings offer sharply contrasting versions of the events that transpired between 2007 and 2013.

1.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
222 F. Supp. 3d 181, 2016 WL 8711056, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/yesa-llc-v-rmt-howard-beach-donuts-inc-nyed-2016.