Simmons v. Ambit Energy Holdings, LLC et al
Filing
71
OPINION AND ORDER re: 55 MOTION to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction MOTION TO DISMISS FOR LACK OF PERSONAL JURISDICTION, LACK OF SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION, AND FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM filed by defendants. For the reasons set f orth within, the Court concludes that it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over this case. Accordingly, Defendants' motion to dismiss is GRANTED (without prejudice to Plaintiffs' refiling their suit in an appropriate state court), and the Court need not reach Defendants' alternative arguments for dismissal. The Clerk of Court is directed to terminate Docket No. 55 and to close the case. (Signed by Judge Jesse M. Furman on 9/30/2014) (ab)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
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:
TAURSHIA SIMMONS et al.,
:
:
Plaintiffs,
:
:
-v:
:
AMBIT ENERGY HOLDINGS, LLC et al.,
:
:
Defendants.
:
:
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09/30/2014
13-CV-6240 (JMF)
OPINION AND ORDER
JESSE M. FURMAN, United States District Judge:
Plaintiffs Taurshia Simmons and Navid Kalatizadeh bring this putative class action
against Defendants Jere W. Thompson and Chris Chambless (together, the “Individual
Defendants”), as well as Ambit Energy Holdings, LLC; Ambit Texas, LLC; Ambit Marketing,
LLC; and Ambit New York LLC (collectively, “Ambit” or the “Company” and, together with
Individual Defendants, “Defendants”) to recover damages for alleged violations of New York
consumer protection laws and for unjust enrichment. (Second Am. Compl. (Docket No. 38)
(“SAC”) ¶¶ 93-130). Although Plaintiffs invoke the Court’s jurisdiction pursuant to the Class
Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”), Pub. L. No. 109-2, 119 Stat. 4 (2005), codified in part at 28
U.S.C. § 1332(d), Defendants move to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, arguing
that a mandatory exception to CAFA jurisdiction, known as the “local controversy exception,”
see 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(4)(A), applies. The question is a close one, but for the reasons stated
below the Court agrees that the local controversy exception mandates dismissal. Accordingly,
Defendants’ motion is granted, and the Second Amended Complaint is dismissed in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
In 2006, the Individual Defendants founded Ambit, a Texas-based independent energy
supplier that serves more than one million electric and natural gas customers across twelve
different states. (SAC ¶¶ 2, 17-21, 63). Generally known as “Ambit” or “Ambit Energy,” the
Company operates through Ambit Energy Holdings, LLC, a Texas limited liability company
(“LLC”) headquartered in downtown Dallas, and various related entities. (SAC ¶¶ 21-22). To
the extent relevant here, all but one of those entities is either an LLC or a limited partnership
organized under the laws of Texas. (SAC ¶¶ 23-29). The sole, but important, exception is
Defendant Ambit New York LLC (“Ambit New York”), which — although also headquartered
in Dallas, “wholly owned” by Ambit Energy Holdings, LLC, and “wholly controlled and
directed” by the Individual Defendants — is a New York LLC. (SAC ¶¶ 28-29).
Plaintiffs, citizens and residents of New York, formerly contracted with Ambit New York
to purchase electricity for residential use in New York. (SAC ¶¶ 15-16, 28, 38). 1 Plaintiffs were
allegedly enrolled in Ambit’s New York Guaranteed Savings Plan, under which “Ambit
promises that its customers’ 12-month energy costs will be at least 1% less than what the
customers’ existing utility (the ‘incumbent provider’) would have charged, or Ambit will make
up the difference.” (SAC ¶¶ 3, 65). Plaintiffs allege, however, that Ambit “overstates the
amount customers’ incumbent providers would have charged during the year,” thus profiting
from the shortfall and leaving customers “in the dark as to the true savings Ambit owes them.”
(SAC ¶¶ 66-67; see also id. ¶¶ 4, 70-71). Further, Plaintiffs complain that Ambit does not
1
Strictly speaking, Plaintiff Simmons originally contracted with Ambit Energy L.P., a
Texas limited partnership. (SAC ¶ 38). “At some point in 2010,” however, Ambit New York
“was substituted as the contracting party in place of Ambit Energy L.P. in Ambit’s Terms of
Service.” (SAC ¶ 28 (emphasis omitted)).
2
disclose that customers have to wait a year or more before receiving refund checks, without
interest, thus depriving customers of “the use of [their] refund money.” (SAC ¶¶ 5, 68-69).
Beginning in 2011, Ambit implemented a new policy — which Plaintiffs call the
“automatic default policy” — that “eliminated the supposed benefits” of the New York
Guaranteed Savings Plan. (SAC ¶¶ 6-7, 72-73). Under the automatic default policy, Ambit
created “a more expensive plan called the New York Select Variable Plan and began
automatically shifting customers signed up for the Guaranteed Savings Plan into the New York
Select Variable Plan.” (SAC ¶ 6). More specifically, on or about January 31, 2012, Ambit
amended the Ambit New York customer service agreement (the “Terms of Service”) to require
customers to renew their enrollment in the New York Guaranteed Savings Plan every year or
otherwise be automatically enrolled in the New York Select Variable Plan. (SAC ¶¶ 8-9, 72-74).
(Plaintiffs allege that, in fact, Ambit began implementing the automatic default policy even
before it had amended its terms of service. (SAC ¶ 75).) Plaintiffs claim that when the New
York Select Variable Plan was added to the Terms of Service, the reference constituted a single
line and did not “identify a single variable charge.” (SAC ¶ 79).
On September 5, 2013, Plaintiffs filed this case (Docket No. 1), and, on December 26,
2013, they filed the operative Second Amended Complaint (Docket No. 38). The Second
Amended Complaint alleges that Plaintiffs and a class of similarly situated individuals — all of
whom purchased energy services from Ambit after September 5, 2007, and were either enrolled
in the New York Guaranteed Savings Plan or automatically enrolled in the New York Select
Variable Plan (SAC ¶ 84) — suffered damages as a result of Ambit’s policies. More
specifically, the Second Amended Complaint states five claims — three under the Energy
Services Company Consumers Bill of Rights, N.Y. G.B.L. § 349-d, a relatively recent New York
3
consumer-protection law targeting abuses in the energy services market; one under New York’s
general consumer fraud statute, N.Y. G.B.L. § 349; and one under New York common law. In
particular, Plaintiffs allege: (1) violations of Section 349-d(6)’s requirement that all material
changes in contracts for residential energy services be expressly consented to by consumers
(Count One); (2) violations of Section 349-d(7)’s requirement that all variable charges in
contracts and marketing for residential energy be clearly and conspicuously delineated (Count
Two); (3) violations of Section 349-d(3)’s prohibition of deceptive acts in the marketing of
residential energy services (Count Three); (4) violations of Section 349’s general prohibition of
deceptive business conduct (Count Four); and (5) unjust enrichment (Count Five). They seek
injunctive relief and damages. (SAC ¶¶ 100-01, 108-09, 116-17, 124-25, 130).
DISCUSSION
It is axiomatic that “federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction and, as such, lack the
power to disregard such limits as have been imposed by the Constitution or Congress.” Purdue
Pharma L.P. v. Kentucky, 704 F.3d 208, 213 (2d Cir. 2013) (internal quotation marks omitted).
Here, as noted, Plaintiffs contend that jurisdiction is proper pursuant to CAFA, 28 U.S.C.
§ 1332(d), “which confer[s] federal jurisdiction over any class action involving: (1) 100 or more
class members, (2) an aggregate amount in controversy of at least $5,000,000, exclusive of
interest and costs, and (3) minimal diversity, i.e., where at least one plaintiff and one defendant
are citizens of different states.” Cutrone v. Mortgage Elec. Registration Sys., Inc., 749 F.3d 137,
142 (2d Cir. 2014) (internal quotation marks omitted). Although it is undisputed that those
standards are met in this case (see SAC ¶¶ 42-43; see also Defs.’ Mem. Law Support Mots. To
Dismiss (Docket No. 56) (“Defs.’ Mem.”) 6), Defendants nevertheless move to dismiss the
4
Second Amended Complaint, pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,
for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. (Defs.’ Mem. 6-20).
Defendants do so based on a statutory exception to CAFA jurisdiction, known as the
local controversy exception, “for those cases consisting of primarily local, intrastate matters.”
Coffey v. Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold, 581 F.3d 1240, 1243 (10th Cir. 2009). That
exception provides that a district court “shall decline to exercise jurisdiction” under CAFA
(i) over a class action in which —
(I) greater than two-thirds of the members of all proposed plaintiff classes
in the aggregate are citizens of the State in which the action was originally
filed;
(II) at least 1 defendant is a defendant —
(aa) from whom significant relief is sought by members of the
plaintiff class;
(bb) whose alleged conduct forms a significant basis for the claims
asserted by the proposed plaintiff class; and
(cc) who is a citizen of the State in which the action was originally
filed; and
(III) principal injuries resulting from the alleged conduct or any related
conduct of each defendant were incurred in the State in which the action
was originally filed; and
(ii) during the 3-year period preceding the filing of that class action, no other class
action has been filed asserting the same or similar factual allegations against any
of the defendants on behalf of the same or other persons . . . .
28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(4)(A). 2 The overwhelming weight of authority holds that Defendants, as
the parties who seek to invoke the exception, bear the burden of proving by a preponderance that
2
As another court in this District has observed, “[d]isputes over CAFA in the federal
courts have most often arisen in situations in which a plaintiff files a class action lawsuit in a
state court, a defendant removes the case to federal court under CAFA, and the plaintiff moves to
remand the case to state court.” Hart v. Rick’s N.Y. Cabaret Int’l, Inc., 967 F. Supp. 2d 955, 960
(S.D.N.Y. 2014) (citing Blockbuster, Inc. v. Galeno, 472 F.3d 53 (2d Cir. 2006)). Although
5
the exception applies. See, e.g., Kaufman v. Allstate N.J. Ins. Co., 561 F.3d 144, 153 (3d Cir.
2009) (noting that the courts of appeals to consider the question “have uniformly concluded that
once CAFA jurisdiction has been established, the burden shifts to the party objecting to federal
jurisdiction to show that the local controversy exception should apply”); see also, e.g., Hart, 967
F. Supp. 2d at 960; Mattera v. Clear Channel Commc’ns, 239 F.R.D. 70, 79 (S.D.N.Y. 2006).
The Court concludes that Defendants have carried their burden here. As an initial matter,
there is no dispute that two of the four requirements for the exception are met. Defendants have
shown that at least two-thirds of the class members are — or at least very likely are — citizens of
New York. (Defs.’ Mem. 8-9; see also Pls.’ Mem. Law Opp’n Defs.’ Mots. To. Dismiss (Docket
No. 63) (“Pls.’ Mem.”) 8). See, e.g., Fields v. Sony Corp. of Am., No. 13-CV-6520 (GBD), 2014
WL 3877431, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 4, 2014) (stating that the party seeking to invoke the local
controversy exception may “make reasonable assumptions about the makeup of the putative class
to demonstrate that two-thirds or more of the class is domiciled in New York” (internal quotation
marks omitted)); Mattera, 239 F.R.D. at 80 (applying the exception upon a finding that it was
“reasonably likely that more than two-thirds of the putative class members of the proposed class
— all of whom work in New York — are citizens of New York”). And Defendants represent
that no other class action has been filed asserting the same or similar factual allegations against
any Defendant on behalf of the same or other persons. (Def.’s Mem. 15 n.11; see also Pls.’
Mem. 8). Thus, as the parties agree, whether the “local controversy exception” applies turns
“[t]his case is atypical in that plaintiffs, not defendants, seek to assert federal jurisdiction,” id.,
that has no bearing on the construction or application of CAFA to the dispute.
6
solely on whether the remaining two requirements — namely, the “principal injuries” and
“significant defendant” requirements — are met. 3
The Court turns first to the “principal injuries” provision. Significantly, as the Third
Circuit has held, that provision “invokes ‘the alleged conduct or any related conduct’ in the
disjunctive. As such, it is satisfied either (1) when principal injuries resulting from the alleged
conduct of each defendant were incurred in the state in which the action was originally filed, ‘or’
(2) when principal injuries resulting from any related conduct of each defendant were incurred in
that state.” Kaufman, 561 F.3d at 158 (emphasis added); accord Johnson v. MFA Petroleum Co.,
No. 11-0981-CV-W-DGK, 2013 WL 3448075, at *7 (W.D. Mo. July 9, 2013). Here, Plaintiffs’
Second Amended Complaint seeks relief, under New York law, for Ambit New York customers
who were enrolled in and allegedly deceived by the purported savings of the New York
Guaranteed Savings Plans and the New York Select Variable Plan. (SAC ¶¶ 5-6). By definition,
every one of those customers received service in New York (and nearly every one presumably
also lives in New York). It follows that the “principal injuries resulting from the alleged conduct
. . . were incurred in” New York. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(4)(A)(i)(III); cf. Kaufman, 561 F.3d at
158 (finding the requirement met where the plaintiffs were “all citizens of New Jersey, the
insurance policies were issued in New Jersey, and the putative class would be comprised of
members with insurance policies issued in New Jersey”); Johnson, 2013 WL 3448075, at *7
3
In their memoranda of law, both sides rely heavily on a Senate Committee Report with
respect to CAFA. (Pls.’ Mem. 8 n. 11, 9 n.12, 10, 14; Defs.’ Mem. 7). Putting aside the fact that
the Report does not cut clearly in either side’s favor, the Second Circuit has noted “the Senate
report was issued ten days after the enactment of the CAFA statute, which suggests that its
probative value for divining legislative intent is minimal.” Blockbuster, 472 F.3d at 58
(emphasis added); see also College of Dental Surgeons of P.R. v. Triple S Mgmt., Inc., Civil No.
09-1209 (JAF), 2011 WL 414991, at *4 (D.P.R. Feb. 8, 2011). Accordingly, the Court declines
to rely on the Report in the analysis that follows.
7
(finding the requirement met because “[t]he alleged wrongful conduct . . . occurred only in
Missouri under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, involved only Missouri citizens, and
any damages resulting from this conduct occurred only in Missouri”).
In arguing otherwise, Plaintiffs rely on cases holding that the local controversy exception
“‘does not apply to cases in which defendants engaged in conduct that could be alleged to have
injured persons throughout the country or broadly throughout several states.’” (Pls.’ Mem. 10
(quoting Mattera, 239 F.R.D. at 80); see id. at 10-13 & nn.13, 18 (discussing and citing other
cases); see also Letter from Steven L. Wittels, Sept. 30, 2014 (Docket No. 70) (citing similar
“supplemental” authority)). As the Third Circuit has explained, however, those holdings are
hard to square with the plain language of CAFA, which uses the “disjunctive ‘or’” rather than the
“conjunctive ‘and.’” Kaufman, 561 F.3d at 158; see also Johnson, 2013 WL 3448075, at *7
(declining to rely on the same authority in light of Kaufman). In any event, even if the Court
were inclined to follow those cases here, it would not change the result, as Plaintiffs’ Second
Amended Complaint does not allege facts from which the Court could conclude that Defendants
have caused injury to anyone outside of New York. The Second Amended Complaint does
allege that Defendants have engaged in similar (if not identical) conduct in Illinois. (SAC ¶¶ 3940; see Pls.’ Mem. 10-11). But any harm caused by Defendants in Illinois is a product of
separate agreements specific to Illinois. (SAC ¶¶ 39-40). Moreover, the Second Amended
Complaint includes no allegations whatsoever of how (or even whether) Defendants’ conduct
violates Illinois — let alone New York — law. That is, conclusory assertions of “harm[]” to
8
consumers “throughout the country” aside (see SAC ¶ 41), the Second Amended Complaint does
not allege cognizable (i.e., legal) injury to anyone outside of New York. 4
Whether the final requirement — the “significant defendant” requirement — is met here
is a closer question. To satisfy that requirement, Defendants must show that at least one of them
is (1) a citizen of New York, (2) “from whom significant relief is sought by members of the
plaintiff class,” and (3) “whose alleged conduct forms a significant basis for the claims asserted.”
28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(4)(A)(i)(II). Although CAFA itself “does not define or supply standards for
determining whether the relief sought is ‘significant,’ or for determining which bases for the
plaintiffs’ claims are ‘significant,’” most courts have “required that the local defendant’s conduct
must be significant in relation to the conduct alleged against other defendants in the complaint,
and that ‘the relief sought against that defendant is a significant portion of the entire relief sought
by the class.’” Ava Acupuncture P.C. v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 592 F. Supp. 2d 522,
528 (S.D.N.Y. 2008) (quoting Evans v. Walter Indus., Inc., 449 F.3d 1159, 1167 (11th Cir.
2006)); see also, e.g., Kaufman, 561 F.3d at 155-57 (discussing the “significant basis” prong).
But while the test involves comparison of the local defendant to the other defendants, it does not
require a showing of predominance — that is, that the relief sought from the local defendant is
more significant than the relief sought from the other defendants or that the local defendant’s
conduct forms a more significant basis for the claims asserted than the conduct of the other
defendants. It requires only that the relief sought and the local defendant’s conduct forming a
4
For the same reasons, even if the Court could consider them in the “principal injury”
inquiry, Plaintiffs’ passing references in their memorandum of law to Defendants’ conduct in
Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. do not affect the Court’s
analysis or conclusion. (Pls.’ Mem. 11-12).
9
basis for the claims are “significant,” which is “defined as ‘important, notable.’” Kaufman, 561
F.3d at 157 (quoting Oxford English Dictionary (2d ed. 1989)).
The Court concludes that Ambit New York fits the bill. First, there is no dispute that
Ambit New York is a citizen of New York within the meaning of CAFA. (SAC ¶ 28; see Defs.’
Mem. 9-10; see also Pls.’ Mem. 8). Second, Plaintiffs plainly seek “significant relief” from
Ambit New York, whether Plaintiffs seek such relief only with respect to Counts One and Two
(as they argue) or with respect to all five Counts (as Defendants contend). (Compare Pls.’ Mem.
18, 21, with Defs.’ Mem. 12). In Counts One and Two, Plaintiffs seek not only injunctive relief,
but also treble damages — defined as three times actual damages or $500, whichever is greater
— not to exceed $10,000, see N.Y. G.B.L. § 349-d(10), on behalf of a class comprised of
“hundreds of thousands of individuals.” (SAC ¶¶ 86, 99-101, 108-09). Thus, Plaintiffs seek
both injunctive relief and damages totaling up to $100 million, if not more. Moreover, Plaintiffs
seek that relief “equally” from Ambit New York and the other Defendants. Coleman v. Estes
Express Lines, Inc., 631 F.3d 1010, 1020 (9th Cir. 2011). And “[t]here is nothing in the
complaint to suggest either that the injunctive relief sought is itself insignificant, or that [Ambit
New York] would be incapable of complying with an injunction,” and “nothing . . . to suggest
that [Ambit New York] is a nominal defendant.” Id. However the word “significant” is defined
and even if viewed in relation to the additional relief that Plaintiffs seek from the other
Defendants under Counts Three through Five, that relief plainly qualifies for purposes of the
CAFA exception. Cf. Kaufman, 561 F.3d at 155 (noting that the “significant basis” provision
“does not require that the local defendant’s alleged conduct form a basis of each claim asserted;
it requires the alleged conduct to form a significant basis of all the claims asserted”).
10
Plaintiffs’ speculation that Ambit New York may have “no assets to satisfy any
judgment” is ultimately irrelevant to the jurisdictional analysis. (Pls.’ Mem. 21; see also id. at 2,
13, 18 n.24, 19). Although a couple courts have considered a local defendant’s ability to satisfy
a potential judgment (or lack thereof) in the significance analysis, see, e.g., Casey v. Int’l Paper
Co., No. 07-CV-421 (RV) (MD), 2008 WL 8854569, at *5 (N.D. Fla. Jan. 7. 2008); Robinson v.
Cheetah Transport., No. 06-0005 (KLH), 2006 WL 468820, at *3 (W.D. La. Feb. 27, 2006), the
majority of courts to consider the issue explicitly has — correctly — rejected that approach as
inconsistent with the plain language of the local controversy exception. See, e.g., Coleman, 631
F.3d at 1015-16; Coffey, 581 F.3d at 1245; see also Kaufman, 561 F.3d at 157 (directing the
district court on remand to “focus” on allegations in the complaint, not extrinsic evidence). As
the Tenth Circuit explained in Coffey, the leading case on point, “[t]he statutory language is
unambiguous, and a ‘defendant from whom significant relief is sought’ does not mean a
‘defendant from whom significant relief may be obtained.’ There is nothing in the language of
the statute that indicates Congress intended district courts to wade into the factual swamp of
assessing the financial viability of a defendant . . . .” 581 F.3d at 1245. 5
Finally, Ambit New York’s “alleged conduct forms a significant basis for the claims
asserted.” 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(4)(A)(i)(II). It may well be, as Plaintiffs argue, that the other
Defendants formulated and implemented the programs and plans at issue. (Pls.’ Mem. 14-16). It
may also be that the other Defendants effectively controlled Ambit New York and, thus, can
ultimately be held vicariously liable for its actions. (Pls.’ Mem. 22-24). But, as alleged in the
5
More broadly, the majority of circuit courts (and every such court to analyze the issue
explicitly) has held that the significance inquiry is limited to the four corners of the complaint.
See Johnson, 2013 WL 3448075, at *4 & n.2 (citing cases). In this case, the Second Amended
Complaint is silent with respect to Ambit New York’s ability to satisfy any judgment.
11
Second Amended Complaint, Ambit New York was or is the counter-party to the contracts that
form the basis of the claims in this case (namely, the Terms of Service) — and thus, the party
through whom potential class members engaged with Defendants. (SAC ¶ 28). 6 Put simply,
therefore, without Ambit New York, there would be no basis for many, if not all, of the claims in
this case. It follows that Ambit New York’s alleged conduct forms “a significant basis” —
however the term “significant” is understood — “for the claims asserted.” 28 U.S.C.
§ 1332(d)(4)(A)(i)(II) (emphasis added). And any contention that because the other Defendants
control “all important actions” of Ambit New York, the conduct of Ambit New York “does not
‘form a significant basis for the claims’ asserted . . . ignores the fact that the conduct of [Ambit
New York], even if controlled by [the other Defendants], nonetheless remains the conduct of
[Ambit New York], for which [it] may be held liable.” Coleman, 631 F.3d at 1020.
In sum, although the question is a close one, the Court concludes that dismissal is
mandated by the local controversy exception, which is “designed to draw a delicate balance
between making a federal forum available to genuinely national litigation and allowing the state
courts to retain cases when the controversy is strongly linked to that state.” Hart v. FedEx
6
As noted above, see supra note 1, although the Second Amended Complaint alleges (on
information and belief) that Ambit New York “was not a party to the Terms of Service
applicable to” Simmons and class members who “switched to Ambit” before Ambit New York
“was substituted into the Terms of Service” (SAC ¶ 38), elsewhere it acknowledges that, “[a]t
some point in 2010,” Ambit New York “was substituted as the contracting party in . . . Ambit’s
Terms of Service.” (SAC ¶ 28). As that substitution predated the effective date of the New York
law upon which Plaintiffs rely (SAC ¶ 94), Plaintiffs cannot dispute that Ambit New York was
(or is) the relevant counterparty for the Terms of Service. Perhaps recognizing that point,
Plaintiffs argue in their memorandum of law that the Terms of Service are void under New York
law. (Pls.’ Mem. 2, 17 n.23, 18, 24 n.41, 35). But that contention is not made in the Second
Amended Complaint itself, and ultimately implicates the merits of the case, which are beyond
the purview of the current inquiry. See, e.g.., Coleman, 631 F.3d at 1017 (“We see nothing in
CAFA that indicates a congressional intention to turn a jurisdictional determination concerning
the local defendant’s ‘alleged conduct’ into a mini-trial on the merits of the plaintiff’s claims.”).
12
Ground Package Sys. Inc., 457 F.3d 675, 682 (7th Cir. 2006); see also Brook v. UnitedHealth
Grp. Inc., No. 06-CV-12954 (GBD), 2007 WL 2827808, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 27, 2007) (“The
exceptions are intended to keep purely local matters and issues of particular state concern in the
state courts.” (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)). At bottom, despite Plaintiffs’
efforts to cast this case in national terms, and despite the alleged involvement of Defendants
from outside New York, this suit involves New York citizens suing a New York company for
injuries caused in New York by alleged wrongdoing under New York law in New York. In
enacting the local controversy exception, Congress made clear that such a suit should not be
litigated in federal court. It is not for this Court to second guess Congress’s judgment. 7
CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated above, the Court concludes that it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction
over this case. Accordingly, Defendants’ motion to dismiss is GRANTED (without prejudice to
7
In conjunction with their opposition to Defendants’ motion (and in response to an
invitation by the Court to do so (Docket No. 37)), Plaintiffs filed an attorney declaration seeking
jurisdictional discovery in the event “[the Court] harbors any doubts” about jurisdiction under
CAFA. (Decl. Steven L. Wittels Supp. Req. Jurisdictional Disc. Opp. Defs.’ Mot. To Dismiss
Pls.’ Second Am. Compl. ¶ 2 (Docket No. 64)). In particular, Plaintiffs request “leave to conduct
limited discovery to test Defendants’ jurisdictional claims as to (1) Ambit New York’s conduct,
(2) Ambit New York’s financial information, and (3) the geographic scope and particulars of
Defendants’ Guaranteed Savings Plan practices.” (Id. ¶ 4). The Court declines to grant
Plaintiffs’ request, however, both because extrinsic evidence is irrelevant to the bulk of the
necessary inquiry, see, e.g., Johnson, 2013 WL 3448075, at *4 (“In determining whether the
requirements that significant relief is sought and the alleged conduct forms a significant basis for
the claims have been met under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(4)(A)(i)(II)’s sections (aa) and (bb), the
majority of circuits find that the district court should consider only the allegations in the
plaintiff's complaint or petition for damages.” (citing cases)), and because Plaintiffs fail to point
to any specific facts or evidence essential to their opposition, cf. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(d) (providing,
with respect to summary judgment motions, that if the non-moving party “shows by affidavit or
declaration that, for specified reasons, it cannot present facts essential to justify its opposition,”
the court may, among other things, “ allow time . . . to take discovery”).
13
Plaintiffs’ refiling their suit in an appropriate state court), and the Court need not reach
Defendants’ alternative arguments for dismissal.
The Clerk of Court is directed to terminate Docket No. 55 and to close the case.
SO ORDERED.
Date: September 30, 2014
New York, New York
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