Georgalis v. Facebook, Inc.
Georgalis v. Facebook, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
I. INTRODUCTION
Currently pending before the court are motions by both parties. The first is the motion of Defendant Facebook, Inc. ("Defendant" or "Facebook") to dismiss ( Mot. Dismiss, ECF No. 4 ) the complaint of Plaintiff Nicholas Georgalis ("Plaintiff" or "Georgalis") (Compl., ECF No. 1 ). Plaintiff opposed the motion and moved for final judgment (Opp'n Mot. Dismiss/Mot. Final Judgment, ECF No. 8 ). Defendant filed a reply in support of the motion to dismiss, (Reply Mot. Dismiss, ECF No. 9 ), and Plaintiff filed a sur-reply (Sur-reply Mot. Dismiss, ECF No. 10 ). Defendant opposed Plaintiff's Motion for Final Judgment (Opp'n Mot. Final Judgment, ECF No. 11 ).
In addition, Plaintiff filed a motion for leave to amend the complaint, and a motion for leave to further amend the complaint (Mots. Leave to Amend, ECF Nos. 12 and 13, respectively). Defendant filed a combined opposition to Plaintiff's motions for leave to amend (Opp'n Mots. Leave to Amend, ECF No. 14 ).
For the reasons that follow, Defendant's Motion to Dismiss is granted. Plaintiff's Motions for Leave to Amend and for Final Judgment are denied.
II. BACKGROUND
Plaintiff commenced this action on February 1, 2018, alleging that he is a Facebook user and Defendant is an Interactive Computer Service Provider ("ICSP") (Compl. at 3.) According to the Complaint, Defendant allegedly deleted comments posted by Plaintiff on Facebook and his "likes" of other's Facebook posts and, therefore, is liable for abrogating his rights to free speech and other "inalienable right[s]" in violation of the First and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution (id. at 1-2). Plaintiff also claims that 47 U.S.C.§ 230(c)(2)(A), which shields ICSPs from liability for restricting material that the ICSP considers to be, among other things, obscene, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable (whether or not such material is constitutionally *958protected), is unconstitutional (id. at 2). Plaintiff characterizes his suit as undertaken "in a court of law and not a court of equity" and proclaims himself a "sovereign precursor" and the "prosecutor/plaintiff" in this action (id. ). Plaintiff also describes this action as a criminal matter (see Opp'n Mot. Dismiss at 1-2, 8). Plaintiff claims that Defendant is a publicly held corporation doing business in every state in the United States and, therefore, is subject to the jurisdiction of this court (Compl. at 2). In his prayer for relief, Plaintiff seeks (among other remedies) $1 billion in punitive damages, a declaration that
Defendant's motion to dismiss is brought pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2) and 12(b)(6). Plaintiff's motions to amend the Complaint are brought pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15.
III. LAW AND ANALYSIS
A. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2)
Rule 12(b)(2) provides that a defendant may seek dismissal if the court lacks personal jurisdiction over that defendant. Plaintiff bears the burden of establishing the court's personal jurisdiction. Theunissen v. Matthews ,
Whether a federal court's jurisdiction arises under
In order to satisfy the due process component, Plaintiff must show that Defendant has sufficient minimum contacts with Ohio so that the court's exercise of jurisdiction comports with "traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice." Int'l Shoe Co. v. Washington ,
Sufficient "minimum contacts" that satisfy the due process requirement may be general or specific. General jurisdiction exists when a defendant's contacts with the forum state are "continuous and systematic" and render the defendant amenable to any lawsuit brought against it in the state. Bird ,
First, the defendant must purposefully avail himself of the privilege of acting in the forum state or causing a consequence in the forum state. Second, the cause of action must arise from the defendant's activities there. Finally, the acts of the defendant or consequences caused by the defendant must have a substantial enough connection with the forum state to make the exercise of jurisdiction over the defendant reasonable.
Means v. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ,
B. Analysis
Plaintiff alleges that "Defendant is a ubiquitous publicly held corporation who does business and claims to have billions of users and clients in every US state as well as nations throughout the developed world, and thus Defendant is subject to the jurisdiction of every nation and state, including the State of Ohio and the United States, where Defendant does business." (Compl. at 2.) Plaintiff also contends that Facebook users are "assets" of Facebook, and there are millions of such "assets" in Ohio (id. at 11).
In moving for dismissal pursuant to Rule 12(b)(2), Defendant argues the Complaint does not contain allegations that establish Facebook has sufficient minimum contacts with the State of Ohio such that Facebook should reasonably anticipate being haled into court in Ohio. Defendant maintains that Plaintiff has failed to adequately allege general jurisdiction because Facebook is incorporated in Delaware with its principal place of business in California, and Facebook's affiliation with Ohio are not so continuos and systematic as to render Defendant "at home" in the State of Ohio. (Mot. Dismiss at 3-4, citing among authority Daimler AG v. Bauman ,
In opposition, Plaintiff does not dispute Defendant's assertion that it is incorporated in Delaware and has its principal place of business in California. See also Ralls v. Facebook ,
Plaintiff's arguments are unavailing. A nonresident corporation's maintenance of a "website that is accessible to anyone over the Internet is insufficient to justify general jurisdiction." Bird ,
In Dennis v. Zuckerberg (cited by Defendant in support of its Rule 12(b)(2) motion), plaintiff alleged that: (1) Facebook purposely transacts business in every state in the United States and has a continuous and systematic presence in Ohio based upon the millions of Facebook users in Ohio and, (2) while conducting that business, Facebook violated the Trade Secrets Act in the State of Ohio as to an Ohio resident. Dennis v. Zuckerberg , 4:17CV0670,
In opposing Defendant's motion, Plaintiff cites no authority to the contrary. Plaintiff has not carried his burden to establish this court's general jurisdiction over Defendant.
Nor does Plaintiff allege specific suit-related conduct with reasonable particularity that supports an exercise of specific jurisdiction over Defendant. Plaintiff argues (but has not pleaded) that Defendant sells advertising services and those services direct certain (local) advertising to Ohio users, but that argument is insufficient to establish specific jurisdiction even if it were alleged in the Complaint. (See Opp'n Mot. Dismiss at 7-8.) Plaintiff's claim is that by deleting content from his Facebook account, Defendant stole his property and violated his constitutional rights. Those claims are unrelated to and do not arise from Defendant's claimed sale of targeted marketing to Ohio residents and, therefore, do not support the court's exercise of specific jurisdiction over Defendant. See Means ,
For all of these reasons, Plaintiff has failed to carry his burden to establish that this court has general or specific jurisdiction over Defendant, and the due process component of personal jurisdiction over Defendant in Ohio is not satisfied. The court, therefore, need not determine whether Defendant is subject to jurisdiction under Ohio's long-arm statute. Defendant's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2) is granted.
Because the court lacks personal jurisdiction over Defendant, the court need not address Defendant's Rule 12(b)(6) motion, or Plaintiff's request that the court declare that
C. Plaintiff's Motions for Final Judgment and to Amend the Complaint
Because the Court has determined that it lacks jurisdiction over Defendant, Plaintiff's motion for Final Judgement in his favor (ECF No. 10 ) is denied.
With respect to Plaintiff's motions to amend his complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15, even where Rule 15 requires leave of court in order to amend a pleading, leave is generally freely given when justice so requires. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a)(2). A motion for leave to amend, however, may be denied on futility grounds if the amended complaint could not withstand a motion to dismiss. Midkiff v. Adams Cty. Reg'l Water Dist. ,
Plaintiff did not attach proposed amended complaints to his motions. But based upon the content of the motions, Plaintiff's proposed amendments relate to the merits of his claims against Defendant-not to the issue of personal jurisdiction-and allowing *962Plaintiff to amend the complaint would be futile.
Accordingly, Plaintiff's motions to amend (ECF Nos. 12 and 13) are denied on the grounds of futility because the amended Complaint would not survive Defendant's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. Lewis v. Loftin , No. 16-2726-DKV,
IV. CONCLUSION
For all of the foregoing reasons, Defendant's Motion to Dismiss is granted. Plaintiff's Motions for Final Judgment and to Amend the Complaint are denied. This case is dismissed and closed.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Nicholas C. GEORGALIS v. FACEBOOK, INC.
- Cited By
- 9 cases
- Status
- Published