Rodolakis v. Safety Ins. Co.
Rodolakis v. Safety Ins. Co.
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION
ZOBEL, S.D.J.
Defendants Safety Insurance Company ("Safety") and Law Offices of Thomas S.
*276Francis ("Francis") move to dismiss this putative class action case brought by plaintiff Alex Rodolakis. For the reasons detailed herein, the motions are allowed.
I. Factual Background
The complaint alleges that plaintiff was involved in an automobile accident in October 2013, and that he was, at the time, insured by defendant Safety. The operator who, plaintiff asserts, was entirely responsible for the accident, was insured by a company other than Safety. Letters attached to the complaint and defendants' motions to dismiss show that Safety paid plaintiff $2,240.82 for repairs to his vehicle and that plaintiff also received payment in the amount of $2,495.39 from the other driver's insurance company.
Plaintiff claims violations by one or both defendants of the state and federal Fair Debt Collection Practices ("FDCPA") statutes, Ch. 93A, and violations of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. See
Defendants have moved to dismiss the complaint on several grounds, including that the amount claimed was not a "debt."
II. Legal Principles
"To survive a motion to dismiss, 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,
III. Application
A. Federal and Massachusetts FDCPA Claims (Counts II and IV)
Plaintiff's claim under the federal FDCPA must be dismissed because the complaint fails to plead that defendants sought to recover a "debt" from plaintiff. The FDCPA's stated purpose is "to eliminate abusive debt collection practices by debt collectors."
The FDCPA claim against Safety also fails because the complaint does not allege that Safety is a "debt collector" under the law. See 15 U.S.C.A. § 1692a(6)(F) (excluding from the definition of "debt collector" "any person collecting ... any debt ... which was originated by such person"). Accordingly, Count IV is dismissed.
Plaintiff's stand-alone claim under the Massachusetts FDCPA is dismissed for the same reason. See
B. Chapter 93A Claim (Count I)
Without the FDCPA counts, there is little to prop up plaintiff's Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act claim. "Chapter 93A requires a showing of conduct that (1) falls within the penumbra of some common-law, statutory, or other established concept of unfairness; (2) is immoral, unethical, oppressive, or unscrupulous; and (3) causes substantial injury to consumers or other businesspersons." Jasty v. Wright Med. Tech., Inc.,
As applied to defendant Francis, the consumer protection claim also fails for the independent reason that the complaint *278does not allege Francis engaged in trade or commerce vis-a-vis plaintiff. See O'Connor, 992 F.Supp.2d at 39 ("When a non-client asserts a chapter 93A claim against an attorney, the attorney must have been acting in a business context vis-a-vis plaintiffs.").
C. Claim for Violation of the Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing (Count III)
Finally, the complaint also fails to state a claim that Safety violated the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing implicit in its insurance agreement with plaintiff. Because plaintiff does not attach the contract to his complaint, reference any of its provisions, or set forth any allegations about the parties' reasonable understandings of their performance obligations, he necessarily fails to plead that Safety "[did] anything that [had] the effect of destroying or injuring [his] right ... to receive the fruits of the contract." See Anthony's Pier Four, Inc. v. HBC Assocs.,
IV. Conclusion
Defendants' Motions to Dismiss (Docket ## 9, 11) are allowed.
Judgment may be entered accordingly.
Consideration of these letters is appropriate in the context of this motion to dismiss because the documents are "central to plaintiff['s] claim," are "sufficiently referred to in the complaint," and their "authenticity is not challenged." See O'Connor v. Nantucket Bank,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Alex RODOLAKIS, on behalf of himself and others v. SAFETY INSURANCE COMPANY and Law Offices of Thomas S. Francis
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published