DHI Group, Inc. et al v. Kent, Jr. et al

Filing 98

ORDER ADOPTING 93 Memorandum and Recommendations, GRANTING IN PART, DENYIING IN PART 33 MOTION TO DISMISS FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM . (Signed by Judge Gray H Miller) Parties notified.(rkonieczny, 4)

United States District Court
Southern District of Texas

ENTERED
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
HOUSTON DIVISION
DHI GROUP , INC. f/k/a DICE HOLDINGS, INC.
and RIGZONE.COM , INC.,
Plaintiffs,
v.
DAVID W. KENT , JR. SINGLE INTEGRATED
OPERATIONS PORTAL, INC. d/b/a OILPRO
and OILPRO .COM , et al.,
Defendants.

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March 22, 2017
David J. Bradley, Clerk

CIVIL ACTION H-16-1670

O RDER
Pending before the court is a Memorandum and Recommendation (“M&R”) in which the
Magistrate Judge recommends that defendant Bryan Robins’s motion to dismiss (Dkt. 33) be granted
in part and denied in part. Dkt. 93. No party filed objections to the M&R. After reviewing the
M&R, the motion, related documents, and the applicable law, the court is of the opinion that there
is no clear error ad that the M&R should be adopted. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 72, Advisory Committee
Notes (“When no timely objection is filed, the court need only satisfy itself that there is no clear error
on the face of the record in order to accept the recommendation.”). Accordingly, the M&R (Dkt. 93)
is ADOPTED IN FULL. Consistent with the Magistrate Judge’s recommendation: (1) Robins’s
motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ claims that Robins aided and abetted in violation of the CFAA,
SCA, TUTSA, THACA, and TTLA1 is GRANTED; (2) Robins’s motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’

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The “CFAA” is the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act; the “SCA” is the Stored Wire and
Electronic Communications and Transactional Records Access Act, the “TUTSA” is the Texas
Uniform Trade Secrets Act, “THACA” is the Texas Harmful Access by Computer Act, and “TTLA”
is the Texas Theft Liability Act.

claims that Robins aided and abetted in the defendants’ violations of state common law torts of
misappropriation of confidential information, conversion, trespass to chattels, unfair competition,
and tortious interference with business relations is GRANTED; (3) Robins’s motion to dismiss the
plaintiffs’ statutory claims that Robins conspired in the violation of the CFAA, TUTSA, THACA,
and TTLA is DENIED; (4) Robins’s motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ statutory claim that Robins
conspired in violation of the SCA is GRANTED; (5) Robins’s motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’
common law conspiracy claims of conversion and trespass to chattels is GRANTED; (6) Robins’s
motion to dismiss the common law civil conspiracy claims for violations of the CFAA and SCA is
GRANTED; (7) Robins’s motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ fraud claim is DENIED; (8) Robins’s
motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ claim that Robins conspired to commit tortious interference with
present and prospective business relationships is GRANTED; and (9) Robins’s request for attorneys’
fees under the TTLA is DENIED AS PREMATURE. The following claims against Robins are
DISMISSED: aiding and abetting in violation of the CFAA, SCA, TUTSA, THACA, and TTLA;
aiding and abetting in the defendants’ violations of state common law torts of misappropriation of
confidential information, conversion, trespass to chattels, unfair competition, and tortious
interference with business relations; conspiring to violate the SCA (statutory claim); conspiring to
violate the CFAA and SCA (common law claims); conspiring to convert assets (conversion);
conspiring to appropriate information (trespass to chattels); and conspiring to commit tortious
interference with present and prospective business relationships.
Signed at Houston, Texas on March 22, 2017.

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Gray H. Miller
United States District Judge
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