Stephens v. Daimlerchrysler Corp.
Opinion of the Court
ORDER
William Stephens, a Texas resident proceeding pro se, appeals the district court judgment denying his motion to amend his complaint in this action brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. § 1961, et seq., and other law. This case has been referred to a panel of the court pursuant to Rule 34(j)(l), Rules of the Sixth Circuit. Upon examination, this panel unanimously agrees that oral argument is not needed. Fed. RApp. P. 34(a).
Seeking one billion dollars in damages, Stephens sued DaimlerChrysler Corporation (DaimlerChrysler), and Daimler-Chrysler employees Charles S. Cheney, Robert Eaton, and Jüergen Schrempp in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Stephens alleged that he sent a design for an electric vehicle to then-Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca in 1995, and that the defendants used the design without Stephens’s consent. Stephens raised claims of fraud, breach of contract, and RICO violations. DaimlerChrysler, Cheney, and Eaton moved to dismiss or for summary judgment. Schrempp moved to dismiss for insufficiency of service of process and lack of personal jurisdiction. Stephens filed a
In his appeal, Stephens essentially argues that: (1) the district court had personal jurisdiction over Schrempp; (2) Stephens disproved the defendants’ assertions that they did not correspond with him; (3) DaimlerChrysler used his design; and (4) he should have been permitted to amend his complaint and conduct discovery.
Initially, we note that the only issue on appeal is the propriety of the district court’s order that denied Stephens’s motion to amend his complaint. Stephens did not timely appeal either the district court’s decision to dismiss Schrempp as a defendant or the court’s decision to grant summary judgment to DaimlerChrysler, Cheney, and Eaton. The underlying judgment is not reviewable because the notice of appeal was filed more than thirty days after entry of the judgment. See Fed. R.App. P. 4(a); Browder v. Dir., Dep’t of Corr. of Ill., 434 U.S. 257, 264, 98 S.Ct. 556, 54 L.Ed.2d 521 (1978).
This court reviews a district court’s denial of a motion to amend a complaint for an abuse of discretion. Begala v. PNC Bank, Ohio, Nat’l Ass’n, 214 F.3d 776, 783 (6th Cir. 2000), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1145, 121 S.Ct. 1082, 148 L.Ed.2d 958 (2001). A motion to amend a complaint should be denied if the amendment would be futile. Marx v. Centran Corp., 747 F.2d 1536, 1550 (6th Cir. 1984).
Upon review, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion when the court denied Stephens’s motion to amend his complaint. See Begala, 214 F.3d at 783. In his original complaint, Stephens alleged that he wrote to Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca in 1995 about his design for an electric automobile that would use an air-driven paddle wheel to generate energy and flywheels to store energy. Stephens alleged that he returned a signed agreement, but Daimler-Chrysler has no record of receiving it. Stephens contacted DaimlerChrysler again in 1998 because he believed he saw a Chrysler vehicle using his propulsion concept featured in a television commercial. Cheney sent Stephens a suggestion agreement, which Stephens signed and returned with notes and drawings of his design. DaimlerChrysler did not pursue Stephens’s suggestions. In their motion for summary judgment, DaimlerChrysler, Cheney, and Eaton submitted declarations from DaimlerChrysler employees. They stated that Stephens’s design concepts were well-known in the automobile industry before 1995, that DaimlerChrysler constructed a prototype vehicle using flywheel energy storage in 1993, and that the company did not use any part of Stephens’s design.
Stephens’s amended complaint was futile because it contained nothing to support his claim. See Marx, 747 F.2d at 1550. Stephens took issue with DaimlerChrysler’s version of events but submitted no admissible evidence. Instead, he engaged in circular reasoning to argue that Daimler-Chrysler must have seen his 1995 design because the company was able to produce
Because permitting Stephens to amend his complaint would have been futile, the district court did not abuse its discretion when the court denied Stephens’s motion. See Marx, 747 F.2d at 1550. For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the district court’s order. Rule 34(j)(2)(C), Rules of the Sixth Circuit.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- William STEPHENS v. DAIMLERCHRYSLER CORPORATION Charles R. Cheney Robert Eaton
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published