Gewirtz v. Opko Health, Inc.
Gewirtz v. Opko Health, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
Memorandum Opinion
Before the Court is the Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Complaint by Defendants Opko Health, Inc. and Adam Logal. For the reasons that follow, Defendants’ motion is granted in part, but Plaintiffs will be granted leave to file a Third Amended Complaint.
I. BACKGROUND
The Second Amended Complaint alleges the following facts, which are taken as true for the purposes of this motion.
Dr. Gewirtz received the options in consideration -for patents he sold to Acuity Pharmaceuticals in 2002, which was later acquired by Opko.
After Dr. Gewirtz’s death, his brother, Elliot Gewirtz, was appointed Executor of his estate, and he assigned the options to Plaintiffs and informed Opko that Dr. Gewirtz had passed away.
The Executor requested documentation confirming this, but Mr. Logal did not respond.
The Executor sent the Merrill Lynch letter to Mr. Logal, and again requested proof that the options had expired.
The Executor responded that under the plain terms of the 2006 certificate, it was subject to an Equity Compensation Plan, not the Equity Incentive Plan, and asked Opko to produce the Equity Compensation Plan.
Plaintiffs filed suit on August 6, 2015, and amended their complaint in response to Defendants’ first motion to dismiss. The Amended Complaint asserted a “claim for money damages” and two claims for breach of fiduciary duty, one against Mr. Logal and one against John Does 1-10, unnamed Opko officers and employees who allegedly failed to update Opko’s books and records after Dr. Gewirtz passed away. Opko and Mr. Logal moved to dismiss the claims against them with prejudice, arguing both that Plaintiffs lacked standing and that they failed to state a claim. The Court granted the motion, finding that Plaintiffs had failed to establish standing. Plaintiffs then filed a Second Amended Complaint asserting the same claims, which Defendants again moved to dismiss with prejudice, this time arguing only that Plaintiffs failed to state a claim for relief.
II. LEGAL STANDARD
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), dismissal of a complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted is appropriate where a plaintiffs “plain statement” lacks enough substance to show that he is entitled to relief.
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a)(2), leave to amend should be “freely give[n] when justice so requires.” “Dismissal without leave to amend is justified only on the grounds of bad faith, undue delay, prejudice, or futility.”
III. ANALYSIS
A. Plaintiffs’ Claim for Money Damages (Count I)
Defendants argue primarily that Plaintiffs fail to state a claim because “money damages” are a form of relief, not a cause of action. Defendants also argue that to the extent Plaintiffs seek to plead a claim for breach of contract, they cannot do so because the options expired in 2011, and Defendants therefore did not breach any agreement by refusing to honor them in 2014.
Regarding Defendants’ first argument, the Court is not persuaded that Plaintiffs’ failure to style their first cause of action as one for “breach of contract” warrants dismissal. While it is true that money damages are a form of relief and not a cause of action,
Defendants counter that the reference to the Equity Compensation Plan in the 2006 certificate is a typographical error, and that it is in fact subject to the Equity Incentive Plan.
Defendants may be correct that the options are subject to the Equity Incentive Plan, but the Court is reluctant to so hold on a motion to dismiss, where all inferences must be drawn in favor of Plaintiffs. In particular, because the terms of the 2004 option certificate are not before the Court, it is not clear what, if any, restrictions apply to it. Regarding the 2006 options, the Court cannot accept Defendants’ assertion that “Equity Compensation Plan” actually means “Equity Incentive Plan” before the parties have engaged ■ in formal discovery.
The Form S-8 also does not resolve the issue.
B. Plaintiffs’ Claim for Breach of Fiduciary Duty Against Mr. Logal (Count II)
■ Mr. Logal argues that Plaintiffs’ breach of fiduciary duty claim should be dismissed because Plaintiffs are only future stockholders, to whom no fiduciary duties are owed, and because Plaintiffs fail to allege that he breached any fiduciary duty. Plaintiffs respond that they were also Opko shareholders at all relevant times, and not merely option-holders, although this is not clear from the Second Amended Complaint.
The elements of breach of fiduciary duty are: “(i) that a fiduciary duty exists; and (ii) that a fiduciary breached that duty.”
C. The Court Will Grant Leave to Amend
The Court has explained why leave to amend would not be futile, but Defendants also argue that amendment would prejudice them and cause undue delay.
IV. CONCLUSION
For the reasons set forth above, Defendants’ motion is granted as to Plaintiffs breach of fiduciary duty claim, but denied as to Plaintiffs first claim for relief and to the extent that Defendants seek dismissal with prejudice. An order will be issued.
. Plaintiffs allege that the Court has subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332 because there is complete diversity among the parties and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.
. Doc. No. 17 (Second Amended Complaint) ¶¶ 9, 12, 14.
. Id. ¶¶ 6, 9, 10.
. Id. ¶¶9, 11.
. Id. ¶¶ 15, 16; Ex. F (July 8, 2015 email from Elliot Gewirtz to Jamie Gewirtz confirming that Dr. Gewirtz's estate assigned Opko options to Plaintiffs).
. Id. ¶ 17.
. Id. ¶ 18.
. Id. ¶¶ 4,-19.
. Id. ¶ 19.
. Id. ¶ 20.
. Id. V 21.
. Id.
. Id. ¶ 22; Ex. C (January 2, 2015 Letter from Merrill Lynch to Senator Schumer).
. Id.
. Id. ¶ 23.
. Id. ¶¶ 23-26; Ex. D (Acuity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 2003 Equity Incentive Plan); Ex. E (2006 Option Certificate).
. Id. ¶ 28. The relevant language appears in Section 8.2(a) of the Equity Incentive Plan, which provides: “Any Options or SARs that were exercisable immediately prior to death ... will continue to be exercisable ... by the Participant's executor or administrator or by the person or persons to whom the Option or SAR is transferred by will or the laws of descent and distribution (in the case of death), for the one-year period ending with the first anniversary of the Participant’s death ...." (emphasis added).
. Id. ¶ 30.
. Id.; Ex. G (Acuity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 2003 Equity Incentive Plan (Amended and Restated as of November 8, 2004)). Because both the original and amended Equity Incentive Plans contain similar language regarding the termination of options, and neither party argues that they are materially different, the Court refers to them in the singular as the “Equity Incentive Plan.”
. Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007).
. ALA, Inc. v. CCAIR, Inc., 29 F.3d 855, 859 (3d Cir. 1994); Fay v. Muhlenberg Coll., No. 07-4516, 2008 WL 205227, at *2 (E.D. Pa. Jan. 24, 2008).
. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 564, 127 S.Ct. 1955.
. Id. at 570.
. Id. at 562 (quoting Car Carriers, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co., 745 F.2d 1101, 1106 (7th Cir. 1984)) (internal quotation marks omitted).
. Alston v. Parker, 363 F.3d 229, 236 (3d Cir. 2004) (citation omitted).
. Cureton v. Nat’l Collegiate Athletic Ass’n, 252 F.3d 267, 273 (3d Cir. 2001) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).
. Id. (citation omitted).
. Shane v. Fauver, 213 F.3d 113, 115 (3d Cir. 2000) (citation omitted).
. See Addy v. Piedmonte, Civil Action No. 3571-VCP, 2009 WL 707641, at *23 (Del. Ch. Mar. 18, 2009) (“Plaintiff requests equitable and other relief, in some cases alternatively, in the form of money damages .... [R]equests for such relief are not claims in and of themselves, but types of remedies dependent on the viability and outcome of the underlying causes of action, such as those for breach of contract....”).
The parties agree that Delaware law applies because Opko is incorporated in Delaware and this dispute involves its internal affairs. See Doc. No. 18-1 (Defendants’ Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion to Dismiss) at 7 n.6; see also Banjo Buddies, Inc. v. Renosky, 399 F.3d 168, 179 n.10 (3d Cir. 2005) (explaining that “the 'internal affairs doctrine’ holds that courts look to the law of the state of incorporation to resolve issues involving the internal affairs of a corporation,” and that Pennsylvania courts follow that doctrine) (citations omitted).
.Cf. Transport Int’l Pool, Inc. v. Ross Stores, Inc., Civil Action No. 06-1812, 2009 WL 1033601, at *3 (E.D. Pa. Apr. 15, 2009) ("When a plaintiff pleads a contract according to its legal effect, the complaint does not need to resort to formulaic recitation of the elements of the alleged contract; rather, the complaint must allege facts sufficient to place the defendant on notice of the contract claim
. Doc. No. 22 (Defendants’ Reply in Support of Motion to Dismiss) at 1-2.
. Id. at 2 n.l.
. Doc. No. 22-1, Ex. A (Opko Health, Inc. 2007 Form S-8) at 2.
. Plaintiffs sought leave to file a sur-reply to make arguments concerning the Form S-8, but they were entitled to do so without leave of Court under the Court's Policies and Procedures, so the motion will be dismissed as moot.
. See Schmidt v. Skolas, 770 F.3d 241, 249 (3d Cir. 2014) ("SEC filings ... are matters of public record of which the court can take judicial notice.”) (citations omitted).
. See, e.g., Lupin Atlantis Holdings v. Ranbaxy Labs., Ltd., Civil Action No. 10-3897, 2011 WL 1540199, at *3 n.8 (E.D. Pa. Apr. 21, 2011) ("Our Court of Appeals has regularly held that a district court, in ruling on a motion to dismiss under to Rule 12(b)(6), can only consider materials outside the pleadings to establish the truth of their existence, not the truth of their contents.”); see also Oran v. Stafford, 226 F.3d 275, 289 (3d Cir. 2000) (explaining that courts may take judicial notice of SEC filings only to determine what those documents stated, not for their truth). Defendants point to In re NAHC, Inc. Securities Litigation, 306 F.3d 1314 (3d Cir. 2002), as contrary authority, but in that case, the District Court expressly did not consider the SEC documents at issue for the truth of the statements contained in them, but only for the fact that the statements were made, á ruling which the Third Circuit affirmed. See In re NAHC, Inc. Secs. Litig., Civil Action No. 00-4020, 2001 WL 1241007, at *5 (E.D. Pa. Oct.
. The Form S-8 may show that Opko believed the options were subject only to the Equity Incentive Plan and was not aware of any Equity Compensation Plan, but it is not clear that is sufficient to foreclose Plaintiffs’ breach of contract claim.
. Plaintiffs allege that their father owned Opko stock, which passed to his estate, but do not expressly state that they inherited the stock, or when they became Opko shareholders. See Doc. No. 17 ¶ 16. If Plaintiffs are, in fact, alleging that they inherited Opko stock, this would appear to grant them standing to bring a breach of fiduciary duty claim, but the question remains whether they can allege that Mr. Logal breached any fiduciary duty he owed to them in their capacity as current shareholders. E.g., Reis v. Hazelett Strip-Casting Corp., 28 A.3d 442, 478 (Del. Ch. 2011) ("[A] plaintiff who has been bequeathed shares in a corporation is an 'equitable owner’ to whom fiduciary duties are owed and who has standing to sue for breach of fiduciary duty directly or derivatively.") (citations omitted).
. Heller v. Kiernan, No. Civ.A. 1484-K, 2002 WL 385545, at *3 (Del. Ch. Feb. 27, 2002) (citation omitted); see also McGoldrick v. TruePosition, Inc., 623 F.Supp.2d 619, 626 (E.D. Pa. 2009) ("Under Delaware law, courts have clearly stated that a fiduciary duty does not arise until there is an existing property right and that stock options... do not give rise to such an interest.”); Reis, 28 A.3d at 478 (“Until the warrant or option is exercised, the underlying shares are not issued, and the warrant or option holder's rights are entirely contractual.”) (citations omitted).
. Corp. Prop. Assocs. 14 Inc. v. CHR Holding Corp., C.A. No. 3231-VCS, 2008 WL 963048, at *4 (Del. Ch. Apr. 10, 2008) (citation omitted).
. Doc. No. 18-1 at 9-10.
. E.g., Adams v. Gould Inc., 739 F.2d 858, 869 (3d Cir. 1984) (affirming district court's decision to grant leave to amend to assert new legal theories where Defendants asserted no particular prejudice aside from counsel fees).
. See Arthur v. Maersk, Inc., 434 F.3d 196 (3d Cir. 2006) (affirming district court's decision to allow plaintiff leave to amend).
. Plaintiffs may also address whether they are alleging a violation of the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing, which they raise for the first time in their reply brief but do not mention in the Second Amended Complaint. Doc. No. 19 (Plaintiffs' Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Defendants' Motion to Dismiss) at 8 n.6.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Jamie GEWIRTZ v. OPKO HEALTH, INC.
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- 1 case
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- Published