Boudreaux v. OS Restaurant Services, LLC
Boudreaux v. OS Restaurant Services, LLC
Opinion of the Court
Before the Court is a motion
BACKGROUND
The above-captioned matter arises out of plaintiffs termination from an Outback Steakhouse restaurant on or about May 24, 2013.
In counts 1 and 2 of the complaint, plaintiff seeks a declaratory judgment that the noncompetition agreement is invalid and an injunction that prohibits defendants from enforcing the Employment Agreement against him.
Count 3 of the complaint seeks damages under a theory of intentional interference with contractual relations. Count 4 of the complaint seeks damages for defendants’ alleged violations of the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act (“LUTPA”). Defendant has moved to dismiss counts 3 and 4 pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
STANDARD OF LAW
A district court may dismiss a complaint, or any part of it, for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted if the plaintiff has not set forth a factual allegation in support of his claim that would entitle him to relief. Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007); Cuvillier v.
“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 Supreme Court recently expounded upon the Twombly standard, explaining that “[t]o 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, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is hable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. It follows that “where the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged — but it has not ‘show[n]’ — ‘that the pleader is entitled to relief.’ ” Id. at 1950 (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2)).
577 F.3d 600, 603 (5th Cir. 2009).
This Court will not look beyond the factual allegations in the pleadings to determine whether relief should be granted. See Spivey v. Robertson, 197 F.3d 772, 774 (5th Cir. 1999); Baker v. Putnal, 75 F.3d 190, 196 (5th Cir. 1996). In assessing the complaint, a court must accept all well-pleaded facts as true and liberally construe all factual allegations in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Spivey, 197 F.3d at 774; Lowrey v. Tex. A & M Univ. Sys., 117 F.3d 242, 247 (5th Cir. 1997). “Dismissal is appropriate when the complaint ‘on its face show[s] a bar to relief.’” Cutrer v. McMillan, 308 Fed.Appx. 819, 820 (5th Cir. 2009) (quoting Clark v. Amoco Prod. Co., 794 F.2d 967, 970 (5th Cir. 1986)).
DISCUSSION
A. Count 3: Intentional Interference with Contractual Relations
In count 3 of the complaint, plaintiff alleges that he is entitled to damages under a theory of intentional interference with contractual relations.
The Louisiana Supreme Court has stated:
For purposes of analysis, the action against a corporate officer for intentional and unjustified interference with contractual relations may be divided into separate elements: (1) the existence of a contract or a legally protected interest between the plaintiff and the corporation; (2) the corporate officer’s knowledge of the contract; (3) the officer’s intentional inducement or causation of the corporation to breach the contract or his intentional rendition of its performance impossible or more burdensome;*638 (4) absence of justification on the part of the officer; (5) causation of damages to the plaintiff by the breach of contract or difficulty of its performance brought about by the officer.
Id. “Louisiana courts and the Fifth Circuit have consistently refused to extend the action for tortious interference beyond the limited scope recognized in Spurney.” Harris Builders, L.L.C. v. URS Corp., 861 F.Supp.2d 746, 751 (E.D.La. 2012) (Barbier, J.) (footnotes omitted) (collecting cases); see also Petrohawk Properties, L.P. v. Chesapeake La., L.P., 689 F.3d 380, 396 (5th Cir. 2012) (refusing to certify a question to the Louisiana Supreme Court because Spumey is “a controlling opinion on the scope of the action for tortious interference with a contract”).
The complaint does not contain sufficient allegations to meet the elements of this tort as stated in Spumey, 538 So.2d at 234. An action under Spumey is directed “against a corporate officer,” id., but plaintiff has only sued the corporate entities themselves,
In sum, the Louisiana Supreme Court has recognized a cause of action for intentional interference with contractual relations only “against a corporate officer.” Spurney, 538 So.2d at 234. Plaintiff has not made any claim against any corporate officer or other individual, and he has only sued the Outback corporate entities.
B. Count 4: Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act (“LUTPA”)
In count 4 of the complaint, plaintiff alleges that he is entitled to damages for violations of LUTPA.
“The courts have repeatedly held that, under this statute, the plaintiff must show the alleged conduct offends established public policy and ... is immoral, unethical, oppressive, unscrupulous, or substantially injurious.” Cheramie Servs., Inc. v. Shell Deepwater Prod., Inc., 35 So.3d 1053, 1059 (La. 2010) (alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Chem. Distribs., 1 F.3d at 1485. “[0]nly egregious actions involving elements of fraud, misrepresentation, deception, or other unethical conduct will be sanctioned based on LUTPA.” Cheramie, 35 So.3d at 1060; see also Turner v. Purina Mills, Inc., 989 F.2d 1419, 1422 (5th Cir. 1993) (“Fraud, misrepresentation, deception, and similar conduct is prohibited; mere negligence is not.”). “[T]he range of prohibited practices under LUTPA is extremely narrow [and] LUTPA does not prohibit sound business practices, the exercise of permissible business judgment, or appropriate free enterprise transactions.” Cheramie, 35 So.3d .at 1060 (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Turner, 989 F.2d at 1422).
Defendants contend that count 4 should be dismissed pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) because, “[a]s alleged in the Complaint, Defendants only took one action to enforce these clauses — they sent Plaintiff a form letter [on July 13, 2013]
Plaintiffs reliance on “the record of this case”
The Court is not without sympathy for plaintiff, who alleges that he “has lost his livelihood and the financial means to support his family.”
The Court acknowledges that the plaintiff in Gearheard was allowed to proceed with a LUTPA claim. Gearheard, 2000 WL 533352, at *5, *8-9; see also Corley, 2011 WL 3665015, at *4-7;
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons,
IT IS ORDERED that the motion is GRANTED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that counts 1 and 2 are DISMISSED with consent of counsel.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that plaintiff may file an amended complaint to address the deficiencies as to counts 3 and 4 no later than Friday, October 10, 2014. If plaintiff chooses not to amend one or both counts, such count(s) will be dismissed at that time.
. R. Doc. No. 7.
. R. Doc. No. 10.
. R. Doc. No. 1, ¶¶ 6-34.
. R. Doc. No. 1, ¶¶ 10, 25. The Employment Agreement states, in pertinent part:
For a continuous period of two (2) years commencing on termination of the Employee’s [Boudreaux's] employment with the Employer [Outback], regardless of any termination pursuant to Section 8 [for cause] or any voluntary termination or resignation by the Employee, the Employee shall not [be employed by or hold an interest in] any steakhouse restaurant ... that is located or intended to be located anywhere within a radius of thirty (30) miles of any Outback Steakhouse® restaurant ... or any proposed Outback Steakhouse® restaurant....
R. Doc. No. 1-2, § 10(b) (emphasis omitted).
. Boudreaux v. OS Restaurant Servs., L.L.C., No. 13-5333, 2013 WL 5722714 (E.D.La. Oct. 21, 2013) (Africk, J.). ''
. See R. Doc. No. 1.
. R. Doc. No. 1, ¶¶ 35-47.
. R. Doc. No. 7-2.
. R. Doc. No. 7-2, at 2.
. R. Doc. No. 10, at 2.
. R. Doc. No. 1, ¶¶ 48-51.
. See R. Doc. No. 1, ¶ 2.
. Plaintiff relies on Gearheard v. De Puy Orthopaedics, Inc., No. 99-1091, 2000 WL 533352 (E.D.La. Mar. 17, 2000) (Clement, J.), which examined the question of “what remedies are available to an employee or independent contractor when his employer has attempted to bind him to an unenforceable covenant not to compete.” Id. at *1. Although Gearheard stated that the Fifth Circuit has "rejected the defendant's more general proposition that the doctrine [in Spumey ] only applies to a corporate officer,” 2000 WL 533352, at *6, the case cited for that proposition appears to be more narrowly drawn. See American Waste & Pollution Control Co. v. Browning-Ferris, Inc., 949 F.2d 1384, 1390 (5th Cir. 1991) (“The requisite duty in Spur-ney arose out of a corporate officer’s narrowly defined duty to those with whom his corporation contracts. The Louisiana courts have refused to find this duty, or obligation, in other circumstances, as discussed supra.").
.Defendants suggest that plaintiff "may have intended to plead a cause of action for a related claim, tortious interference with business relations.” R. Doc. No. 7-1, at 7. Plaintiff does not comment on defendant’s suggestion, and the Court will not speculate as to what plaintiff may have intended to plead because, as ordered below, plaintiff has the opportunity to amend his complaint.
. R. Doc. No. 1, ¶¶ 52-55.
. R. Doc. No. 1-5.
. R. Doc. No. 7-1, at 9; see also R. Doc. No. 1, ¶ 17.
.R. Doc. No. 10, at 13.
.R. Doc. No. 10, at 13.
. R. Doc. No. 1, ¶ 17. The complaint also contains extensive allegations regarding the history of plaintiff’s employment with defendants. See R. Doc. No. 1, ¶¶ 6-16.
. R. Doc. No. 1,¶53.
. R. Doc. No. 1, ¶ 45.
.Plaintiff appears to make an argument that defendants could not have had a reasonable belief that the Employment Agreement’s non-competition clause was enforceable when it sent the July 13, 2013 letter, R. Doc. No. 10, at 12-13, but such an argument is not supported by allegations in the complaint.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Steven BOUDREAUX v. OS RESTAURANT SERVICES, L.L.C.
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published