Polo v. Shwiff et al

Filing 34

ORDER GRANTING IN PART PLAINTIFFS MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS; STRIKING AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES; GRANTING LEAVE TO AMEND; AND ORDER TO DEFENDANTS TO SHOW CAUSE. Signed by Judge Jeffrey S. White on 4/29/13. (jjoS, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 4/29/2013)

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1 2 3 4 5 NOT FOR PUBLICATION 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 8 9 PATRICK POLO, 11 For the Northern District of California United States District Court 10 12 No. C 12-04461 JSW Plaintiff, v. ELIZABETH SHWIFF, et al., 13 Defendants. / ORDER GRANTING IN PART PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS; STRIKING AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES; GRANTING LEAVE TO AMEND; AND ORDER TO DEFENDANTS TO SHOW CAUSE 14 15 16 INTRODUCTION This matter comes before the Court upon consideration of the motion for judgment on 17 the pleadings filed by Plaintiff, Patrick Polo (“Mr. Polo”). The Court has considered the 18 parties’ papers, relevant legal authority, the record in this case, and it has had the benefit of oral 19 argument. The Court HEREBY GRANTS, IN PART, Mr. Polo’s motion, STRIKES the 20 affirmative defenses, and GRANTS Defendants leave to amend their answer. 21 BACKGROUND 22 On August 24, 2012, Mr. Polo filed a complaint against Shwiff, Levy & Polo, LLP 23 (“SLP”), Elizabeth Shwiff (“Ms. Shwiff”), and the Shwiff, Levy & Polo LLP Employee Benefit 24 Plan. In his Complaint, Mr. Polo asserts three causes of action. At issue in this motion are his 25 claim for breach of contract and each of the affirmative defenses asserted by Defendants in their 26 Answer. 27 28 Mr. Polo is a former partner in SLP and was a party to a partnership agreement, dated August 24, 2000, between Mr. Polo, Ms. Shwiff and Howard Shwiff. (Compl. ¶ 10, Ex. A 1 (“Partnership Agreement”).) On December 1, 2011, Mr. Polo notified SLP and Ms. Shwiff that 2 he intended to withdraw from SLP. Pursuant to the terms of the Partnership Agreement, “[o]n 3 dissolution of a Partnership interest,” including dissolution by withdrawal, “the remaining 4 Partners shall have an option to purchase from the withdrawing ... Partner ... his or her interest 5 in the assets and good will of the Partnership business ... by paying to that Partner ... the ‘fair 6 market value’ of the available interest, determined as provided in Paragraph 5.08.” (Compl. ¶ 7 37; Partnership Agreement ¶ 5.07.) Ms. Shwiff elected to purchase Mr. Polo’s partnership 8 interest. (Compl. ¶ 37.) 9 11 For the Northern District of California United States District Court 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 The “‘fair market value’ of a Partnership interest shall be an amount reasonably agreed to by the purchasing and selling parties.” (Partnership Agreement ¶ 5.08.) If such purchasing and selling parties cannot agree to such fair market value within thirty-five (35) days after the notice of ... withdrawal ... the “fair market value” of a Partnership interest shall be established as follows: The Partners other than a ... withdrawing Partner shall obtain from an independent qualified business appraiser, ... an appraisal as to the fair market value of such ... withdrawing Partner’s interest. ... Any Partner who receives a copy of such appraisal may object in writing to the Partners who obtained the appraisal regarding the valuation of the appraisal within ten (10) days after receiving such appraisal. ... If the Partner who has received the appraisal does object within such (10) day period, the objecting Partner shall .... obtain a second appraisal from an independent business appraiser regarding the fair market value of the ... withdrawing Partner’s interest. The objecting Partner shall submit such second appraisal to the Partners who obtained the first appraisal ... and the fair market value of the ... withdrawing Partner’s interest with respect to the objecting Partner shall be the average of the two appraisals. 19 20 (Id. ¶ 5.08 (emphasis added); see also ¶¶ 5.09 (setting forth items appraisers “shall” value to 21 determine fair market value of a partnership interest), 5.10 (setting forth timing and manner of 22 purchase price).) 23 24 25 26 Ms. Shwiff secured an appraisal by a company called WJG, which valued Mr. Polo’s partnership interest at $83,000. Mr. Polo obtained an appraisal by Centerpoint Business Valuation, LLC, which valued his interest at $183,700. The average of the two appraisals is $133,350. Accordingly, Mr. Polo demanded Ms. Shwiff pay to him $66,675 now with the remaining $66,675 to be paid over one-year’s time. Ms. Shwiff has failed to make any payments. 27 (Compl., ¶ 38.) 28 2 1 Ms. Shwiff and SLP admit that Mr. Polo and Mr. Shwiff entered into the Partnership 2 Agreement attached to the Complaint. (Answer ¶ 36.) SLP and Ms. Shwiff also admit that Ms. 3 Shwiff elected to purchase Mr. Polo’s interest at fair market value, that the Partnership 4 Agreement provides that fair market value is calculated by taking the average of two appraisals, 5 and that payment is to be made half up-front and the second half to be paid over a one year 6 period. (Id. ¶ 37.) 7 Answering the allegations contained in paragraph 38 of the Complaint, Defendants admit the allegations in this paragraph. However, Defendants deny the allegation that they “failed to may any payments,” as this suggests that Defendants had a legal obligation to make such payments which they did not in fact have under the circumstances. 8 9 (Id. ¶ 38.) Ms. Shwiff and SLP generally denied Polo’s allegation that he “performed all of his 11 For the Northern District of California United States District Court 10 obligations under the Partnership Agreement,” and that “Ms. Shwiff’s failure to pay the amount 12 demanded constitutes a breach of the Partnership Agreement.” (Id. ¶¶ 40-41.) 13 Ms. Shwiff, SLP and the SLP Plan (collectively “Defendants”) assert thirty-three 14 affirmative defenses. Mr. Polo also moves for judgment on the pleadings on each of these 15 affirmative defenses and, in the alternative, asks the Court to strike the affirmative defenses. 16 The Court shall address additional facts as necessary in its analysis. 17 18 ANALYSIS A. Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings. 19 1. 20 Motions for judgment on the pleadings, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c), 21 challenge the legal sufficiency of the claims asserted in the complaint. “For purposes of the 22 motion, the allegations of the non-moving party must be accepted as true, while the allegations 23 of the moving party which have been denied are assumed to be false.” Hal Roach Studios, Inc. 24 v. Richard Feiner and Co., Inc., 896 F.2d 1542, 1550 (9th Cir. 1990). “A motion seeking 25 judgment on the complaint may only be granted if all of the defenses raised in the answer are 26 legally insufficient. ... A plaintiff is not entitled to judgment on the pleadings if the answer 27 raises issues of fact or an affirmative defense which, if proved, would defeat plaintiff’s 28 recovery.” Qwest Communications Corp. v. City of Berkeley, 208 F.R.D. 288, 291 (N.D. Cal. Applicable Legal Standard. 3 1 2002) (citation omitted). Thus, “[j]udgment on the pleadings is proper when the moving party 2 clearly establishes on the face of the pleadings that no material issue of fact remains to be 3 resolved and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Hal Roach, 896 F.2d at 1550. As a general rule, a district court may not consider any material beyond the pleadings in 4 which the court may take judicial notice.” Heliotrope General, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co., 189 7 F.3d 971, 981 (9th Cir. 1999) (internal quotations and citation omitted). A court may also 8 consider documents attached to the complaint or “documents whose contents are alleged in a 9 complaint and whose authenticity no party questions, but which are not physically attached to 10 the [plaintiff’s] pleading.” In re Silicon Graphics, Inc. Sec. Litig., 183 F.3d 970, 986 (9th Cir. 11 For the Northern District of California ruling on a 12(c) motion, but a “court may consider facts that are contained in materials of 6 United States District Court 5 1999) (internal quotations and citation omitted).1 12 2. 13 Mr. Polo argues that Ms. Shwiff and SLP admit facts that establish the essential 14 elements of this claim and fail to show that an affirmative defense would preclude liability. In 15 order to establish this claim, Mr. Polo must allege: (1) a valid contract exists; (2) his 16 performance or excuse for nonperformance; (3) breach; and (4) damages caused by the breach. 17 See Oasis Realty, LLC v. Goldman, 51 Cal. 4thg 811, 821 (2011) (citing Reichert v. General 18 Ins. Co., 68 Cal. 2d 822, 830 (1968)). Neither Ms. Shwiff nor SLP have argued that the 19 Partnership Agreement is invalid. At the hearing on this motion, Ms. Shwiff and SLP 20 confirmed they have not paid Mr. Polo for his partnership interest. 21 The Court Grants the Motion on the Breach of Contract Claim. Ms. Shwiff and SLP raise two primary arguments in support of their opposition to Mr. 22 Polo’s motion for judgment on the pleadings. In their brief, they argue that compliance with 23 Paragraph 5.09 is a condition precedent with which Mr. Polo failed to comply when he obtained 24 his appraisal. (See Opp. Br. at 5:9-13; see also Answer, 27th Affirmative Defense (“Any claims 25 Mr. Polo submitted a declaration and a request for judicial notice, which attach documents filed in this case and in two state court proceedings. The Court has not considered the documents attached to the request for judicial notice, because those documents were not necessary to resolve this motion. The Court has considered the court records attached to the Declaration of Maureen Green because those are matters as to which the Court can take judicial notice, but it has considered those documents solely for purposes of determining whether leave to amend should be granted. 1 26 27 28 4 1 based on failure to perform under the terms of any alleged oral or written contract are barred 2 due to Plaintiff’s failure to fulfill contractual conditions precedent.”).) At the hearing, Ms. 3 Shwiff and SLP also argued that Mr. Polo did not obtain an appraisal from an “independent 4 business appraiser,” in compliance with Paragraph 5.08. 5 “In pleading conditions precedent, it suffices to allege generally that all conditions 6 precedent have occurred or been performed.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(c). Mr. Polo alleged he 7 obtained an appraisal, and he incorporated the Partnership Agreement by reference. Thus, he 8 sufficiently alleged he performed his obligations. When a party denies “that a condition 9 precedent has occurred or been performed, a party must do so with particularity.” (Id.) Ms. Shwiff and SLP did not identify with particularity which conditions precedent were at issue and, 11 For the Northern District of California United States District Court 10 thus, fail to meet the pleading standards of Rule 9(c). 12 The Court now turns to the alternative defenses on which Ms. Shwiff and SLP rely to 13 defeat the breach of contract claim: unclean hands, lack of standing, contractual bar, failure to 14 meet contractual obligations. (See Answer, Fifth, Seventh, Thirteenth and Eighteenth 15 Affirmative Defenses.) Contrary to Mr. Polo’s argument, under California law, unclean hands 16 is a defense “is available in legal as well as equitable actions.” Kendall Jackson Winery, Ltd. v. 17 Superior Court, 76 Cal. App. 4th 970, 978 (1999). Thus, this affirmative defense, if proved, 18 could bar Mr. Polo’s claim. However, for reasons discussed below, the Court finds that 19 Defendants have not adequately alleged an unclean hands defense. See, e.g., Perez v. Gordon & 20 Wong Law Group P.C., 2012 WL 1029425, at *10 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 26, 2012). Further, lack of 21 standing is not a true “affirmative defense,” because Mr. Polo bears the burden of proof on that 22 issue. He has alleged facts that show he has standing to pursue these claims, and Defendants 23 fail to rebut those facts in their Answer. With respect to the affirmative defenses of contractual 24 bar and failure to meet contractual obligations, for the reasons discussed below, Defendants fail 25 to adequately allege those defenses as well. 26 Accordingly, the Court GRANTS Mr. Polo’s motion for judgment on the pleadings on 27 the breach of contract claim. 28 // 5 1 B. Motion to Strike. 2 1. Applicable Legal Standard. 3 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(f) provides that a court “may strike from a pleading 4 an insufficient defense or any redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter.” Fed. 5 R. Civ. P. 12(f). “Immaterial matter is that which has no essential or important relationship to 6 the claim for relief or the defenses being pleaded.” Fantasy, Inc. v. Fogerty, 974 F.2d 1524, 7 1527 (9th Cir. 1993) (internal quotations and citations omitted), rev’d on other grounds by 8 Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc., 510 U.S. 517 (1994). “Impertinent matter consists of statements that 9 do not pertain, and are not necessary, to the issues in question.” Id. (internal quotations and citations omitted). In order to show that a defense is insufficient, “the moving party must 11 For the Northern District of California United States District Court 10 demonstrate that there are no questions of fact, that any questions of law are clear and not in 12 dispute, and that under no set of circumstances could the defense succeed.” Securities & 13 Exchange Comm’n v. Sands, 902 F. Supp. 1149, 1165 (C.D. Cal. 1995). 14 Motions to strike are regarded with disfavor because they are often used as delaying 15 tactics and because of the limited importance of pleadings in federal practice. California Dep’t 16 of Toxic Substance Control v. Alco Pacific, Inc., 217 F. Supp. 2d 1028, 1033 (C.D. Cal. 2002). 17 Ultimately, the decision about whether to strike allegations is a matter within the Court’s 18 discretion. Id. In addition, in the absence of prejudice to the opposing party, courts should 19 freely grant leave to amend. Barnes v. AT &T Pension Benefit Plan, 718 F. Supp. 2d 1167, 20 1170 (N.D. Cal. 2010) (citing Wyshak v. City Nat’l Bank, 607 F.2d 824, 826 (9th Cir. 1979)) 21 2. 22 Mr. Polo moved, in the alternative, to strike each of Defendants’ affirmative defenses. 23 Although Mr. Polo’s motion to strike is untimely, the Court “may act ... on its own.” See Fed. 24 R. Civ. P. 12(f)(1)(2). Mr. Polo argues that the Court should apply the pleading standards set 25 forth in Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009) and Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 26 544, 555 (2007) to determine whether a defendant has provided fair notice of an affirmative 27 defense. Mr. Polo argues that if the Court applies Twombly and Iqbal, it must conclude that 28 Defendants fail to adequately plead their affirmative defenses. The Court Strikes the Affirmative Defenses. 6 1 Neither the Supreme Court nor the Ninth Circuit have addressed this question, and 2 district courts are split on the issue. Compare, e.g., Roe v. City of San Diego, __F.R.D. __, 3 2013 WL 811796, at *2-*3 (S.D. Cal. Mar. 5, 2013) (declining to apply Twombly and Iqbal) 4 with, e.g., Barnes, 718 F. Supp. 2d at 1171-73 (applying Twombly and Iqbal). This Court 5 previously rejected the argument that the pleading standards set forth in Twombly and Iqbal 6 apply to affirmative defenses. However, the majority of courts within this District have applied 7 Twombly and Iqbal to affirmative defenses. See, e.g., Ansari v. Electronic Document 8 Processing, 2013 WL 664676, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 22, 2013); Powertech Technology, Inc., v. 9 Tessera, Inc., 2012 WL 1746858, at *3-*5 (N.D. Cal. May 16, 2012); Perez, 2012 WL 11 For the Northern District of California United States District Court 10 1029425, at *6-*8 (citing cases); Barnes, 718 F. Supp. 2d at 1171-1172. As many of those courts have noted, applying the standards enunciated in Twombly and 12 Iqbal will “serve to weed out the boilerplate listing of affirmative defenses which is 13 commonplace in most defendants’ pleadings where many of the claims are irrelevant to the 14 claims asserted.” Barnes, 718 F. Supp. 2d at 1172. Further, although a defendant may have 15 less time to answer a complaint than a plaintiff has draft one, the Ninth Circuit has “liberalized 16 the requirement that affirmative defenses be raised in an initial pleading.” Rivera v. Anaya, 726 17 F.2d 564, 566 (9th Cir. 1984). After careful consideration, the Court has been persuaded by the 18 reasoning of those courts that apply Twombly and Iqbal to affirmative defenses, and it shall 19 evaluate the sufficiency of Defendants’ affirmative defenses under that standard. 20 “Affirmative defenses plead matters extraneous to the plaintiff’s prima facie case, which 21 deny plaintiff’s right to recover, even if the allegations of the complaint are true.” FDIC v. 22 KMG Main Hurdman, 655 F. Supp. 259, 262 (E.D. Cal. 1987) (citing Gomez v Toledo, 446 U.S. 23 635, 640-41 (1980)). To the extent Defendants’ affirmative defenses are “true” affirmative 24 defenses, they are no more than bare legal conclusions, which do not “point to the existence of 25 some identifiable fact that if applicable to [Mr. Polo] would make the affirmative defense 26 plausible on its face.” Barnes, 718 F. Supp. 2d at 1172; see also Perez, 2012 WL 1029425, at 27 *8 (noting that an affirmative defenses need not include “extensive factual allegations” but 28 “bare statements reciting mere legal conclusions may not be sufficient”). By way of example 7 1 only, as noted above, Defendants have not included any factual conduct on Mr. Polo’s part that 2 would demonstrate the basis for an unclean hands defense. See Perez, 2012 WL 1029425, at 3 *8. The same is true for Defendants’ thirtieth affirmative defense of unconscionability. 4 Defendants’ thirty-second affirmative defense is not an affirmative defense at all. Rather, it is a 5 statement that they reserve the right to assert additional affirmative defenses as this case 6 progresses. 7 8 Accordingly, the Court STRIKES each of the affirmative defenses. C. The Court Shall Grant Defendants Leave to Amend. defenses, leave to amend should be freely given, unless it would be futile, is a result of bad faith 11 For the Northern District of California In general, if a court grants a motion for judgment on the pleadings or strikes affirmative 10 United States District Court 9 or undue delay, or if the opposing party would suffer prejudice. In re Dyanamic Random 12 Access Memory (DRAM) Antitrust Litig., 516 F. Supp. 2d 1072, 1084 (N.D. Cal. 2007) (motion 13 for judgment on the pleadings); Barnes, 718 F. Supp. 2d at 1170 (motion to strike). However, 14 once a court has entered a scheduling order, under Rule 16, the order can be modified only for 15 good cause. Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4). Under that rule, a court’s inquiry focuses on a party’s 16 diligence. See, e.g., Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992). 17 If the party seeking modification to a scheduling order was not diligent, “the inquiry should 18 end.” Id. 19 In this case, the Court held an initial case management conference, and it ordered the 20 parties to file any amended pleadings by February 22, 2013. Defendants did not file an 21 amended answer by that date. In response to the Court’s inquiry, the Defendants argue that 22 good cause for a modification exists, because until Mr. Polo filed this motion, they were not on 23 notice on what the alleged deficiencies were. However, in the parties’ joint case management 24 statement, Mr. Polo stated that he was “unaware of the specific nature of defendants’ legal 25 defenses to his claims....” (Docket No. 21 (Joint Case Management Statement at 4:4-6).) In 26 that document, Defendants also specifically stated their intention to amend their answer. (Id. at 27 4:20-21.) 28 8 1 The Court cannot say that Defendants acted diligently. Although in general, this should 2 end the inquiry, Defendants did state in the Joint Case Management Statement that they 3 believed Mr. Polo’s valuations were inaccurate, had no basis in fact and were over-estimates. 4 Defendants also stated that Mr. Polo allegedly looted customer bases. Based on those 5 statements, Mr. Polo had some notice of the facts on which Defendants will rely to challenge 6 his claims. The Court cannot say he would be unduly prejudiced by allowing Defendants leave 7 to amend where, as here, the deadline to complete fact discovery is December 20, 2013. 8 Therefore, given the strong policy of resolving disputes on their merits, the Court shall provide 9 Defendants with one final opportunity to file an amended answer. Defendants shall file an amended answer by no later than May 13, 2013. The Court 11 For the Northern District of California United States District Court 10 shall not extend that deadline. Defendants are admonished that they should be careful to 12 include affirmative defenses that clearly relate to the claims asserted by Mr. Polo and that 13 would comply with Defendants’ obligations under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11. 14 D. 15 Order to Defendants to Show Cause. Although the Court has granted Defendants leave to amend, Defendants have not 16 adequately explained their failure to comply with the Court’s scheduling order. Accordingly, 17 Defendants are HEREBY ORDERED TO SHOW CAUSE why the Court should not impose 18 sanctions by requiring Defendants to pay for the costs associated with litigating this motion. 19 See Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(f). 20 21 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: April 29, 2013 JEFFREY S. WHITE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 9

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