Collyard v. Washington Capitals
| Decision Date | 11 October 1979 |
| Docket Number | Civ. 5-78-56.,No. Civ. 5-79-30,Civ. 5-79-30 |
| Citation | 477 F. Supp. 1247 |
| Parties | Robert COLLYARD, Plaintiff, v. The WASHINGTON CAPITALS, the National Hockey League, Griffin Bell, Attorney General of the United States of America, Cyrus Vance, as Secretary of the State of the United States of America, and F. Ray Marshall, as Secretary of Labor of the United States of America, Defendants. Warren WILLIAMS, Plaintiff, v. The BOSTON BRUINS, the Cleveland Barons, the Colorado Rockies, the Detroit Redwings, the National Hockey League, the New York Rangers, the St. Louis Blues, and the Washington Capitals, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
Falsani & Balmer by James W. Balmer, Duluth, Minn., for plaintiffs Collyard and Williams.
Maslon, Kaplan, Edelman, Borman, Brand & McNulty, by Irving R. Brand and William Z. Pentelovitch, Minneapolis, Minn., for hockey defendants.
Robert W. Rasch, St. Louis, Mo., for St. Louis Blues.
Thorwald H. Anderson, Jr., U. S. Atty. by Mary L. Egan, Asst. U. S. Atty., Minneapolis, Minn., for federal defendants.
Plaintiff, Robert Collyard, commenced an action in United States District Court against Defendants, The Washington Capitals; The National Hockey League; Griffin Bell, as Attorney General of the United States of America; Cyrus Vance, as Secretary of the State of the United States of America; and F. Ray Marshall, as Secretary of Labor of the United States of America.
Plaintiff, Warren Williams, commenced an action in United States District Court against defendants, The Boston Bruins, The Cleveland Barons, The Colorado Rockies, The Detroit Redwings, The National Hockey League, The New York Rangers, The St. Louis Blues, and The Washington Capitals.
Plaintiffs have moved for this Court to issue an Order allowing amendments to both parties' complaints. Collyard's amendment would add the Minnesota Northstars as Defendants and clarify its jurisdictional bases. Williams' amendment would add the Chicago Blackhawks, the Minnesota Northstars and the federal Defendants named in Collyard's initial complaint. Williams' amended complaint would also add one additional legal theory of liability against the named hockey teams for violation of the United States Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1101 (1976).
Meanwhile, all named Defendants have opposed Plaintiffs' motion to amend and have moved for this Court to dismiss Plaintiffs' claims with prejudice for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted; for lack of subject matter jurisdiction; and, for lack of jurisdiction over the defendants' persons.
This Court denies Plaintiffs' motions to amend and grants Defendants' motions to dismiss. Plaintiffs' complaints are in all things dismissed.
Robert Collyard and Warren Williams have either directly or indirectly contacted various hockey teams for the purpose of securing employment as paid professional hockey players in the National Hockey League (NHL). As of the time of the hearing on this matter, Plaintiffs' request for tryouts with the hockey teams named as Defendants have either been expressly denied or left without response. Therefore, Plaintiffs have been denied employment opportunities with the named Defendants.
Plaintiffs first contend that this denial of employment constitutes a violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act, Minn.Stat. § 363. The crux of Plaintiffs' argument rests upon their allegation that they have been denied employment on account of their national origin. They contend that the Defendant hockey teams are composed predominantly of Canadian-born hockey players. Plaintiffs further urge that the Defendant hockey teams have employed these Canadian-born players notwithstanding the fact that there are many qualified Americans who could play hockey as well as—if not better than—some inferior Canadians. Plaintiffs therefore allege, in conclusion, that they have been discriminated against by reason of their national origin.
Secondly, Plaintiffs urge that Defendant hockey teams are in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act by reason of employing inferior aliens where superior Americans seek identical employment. Messrs. Williams and Collyard reason that the Act creates a private cause of action upon which they may ground a legal theory of liability against these employers.
Finally, Mr. Collyard alleges that the Attorney General of the United States, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Labor of the United States have permitted the entry into the United States of these paid professional alien hockey players in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act. As a result of such violation, plaintiffs allege that they have been injured monetarily.
Generally, a party is allowed to amend its complaint with few restrictions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a). However, the Court will not freely allow an amendment under Rule 15(a) if the amended pleading could be defeated by a motion for summary judgment or a motion to dismiss. Eria v. Texas Eastern Transmission Corp., 377 F.Supp. 344, 345 (E.D.New York 1974); Bernstein v. National Liberty Int'l Corp., 407 F.Supp. 709, 714-15 (E.D.Pa. 1976). Likewise, if the amended pleading could in no way cure its present deficiencies, then leave to amend will not be granted. See, Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182, 83 S.Ct. 227, 9 L.Ed.2d 222 (1962); see also, Norbeck v. Davenport Community School Dist., 545 F.2d 63, 70 (8th Cir. 1976).1 To avoid a futile act, Plaintiffs' proposed amendments must be measured in terms of their ability to withstand the motions to dismiss filed by all named Defendants. Plaintiffs fail to clear this hurdle; Collyard's amended pleading adding a claim against the Minnesota Northstars based upon the Immigration and Nationality Act fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. Williams' amended complaint adding the Minnesota Northstars and also adding a claim based upon the Immigration and Nationality Act as against all named Defendant hockey teams fails to state a claim for relief. Likewise, Williams' amended pleading adding a claim identical to Collyard's claim against the federal Defendants fails to state a claim for relief. Williams' amended claim against the Chicago Blackhawks also fails to withstand defendants' motion to dismiss; this Court does not have personal jurisdiction over this nonresident.
All named Defendant hockey teams were served with process outside the state of Minnesota. Rule 4(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure permits service outside the state under the circumstances and in the manner prescribed by Minn.Stat. § 543.19. That section provides:
The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled that § 543.19 extends the jurisdiction of the Minnesota courts over nonresidents to the fullest limits constitutionally permitted. Marquette Nat'l. Bank v. Norris, 270 N.W.2d 290, 294-95 (Minn.1978).2 The federal courts exercising its jurisdiction pursuant to this section have followed the mandate of the Minnesota Supreme Court. See, Toro Co. v. Ballas Liquidating Co., 572 F.2d 1267, 1269 (8th Cir. 1978); B&J Mfg. Co. v. Solar Industries, Inc., 483 F.2d 594, 598 (8th Cir. 1973).
Notwithstanding this fact, it is clear that in order for this Court to entertain jurisdiction over the Defendant hockey teams pursuant to § 543.19, Plaintiffs must "prove not only that personal jurisdiction is authorized by the terms of § 543.19 in the particular instance but also that minimum contacts exist rendering the exercise of such jurisdiction consistent with due process." All Lease Co. v. Betts, 294 Minn. 473, 474, 199 N.W.2d 821, 822 (1972). See also, McQuay, Inc. v. Samuel Schlosberg, Inc., 321 F.Supp. 902, 904 (D.Minn.1971); Washington Scientific Industries, Inc. v. Polan Industries, Inc., 302 F.Supp. 1354, 1357-59 (D.Minn.1969). Plaintiffs have failed to meet this burden.
Minn.Stat. § 543.19(3) requires that the party using this section must demonstrate that the actions of the defendants giving rise to the Plaintiffs' claim arise from an act enumerated in the statute. Chief Judge Devitt, in Tunnell v. Doelger & Kirsten, Inc., 405 F.Supp. 1338 (D.Minn.1976) has articulated the prerequisite in this manner:
Plaintiff's argument ignores the expressed statutory requirement of a nexus between the cause of action asserted and the acts of a nonresident which can confer jurisdiction under the Statute. Subdivision 1 of the Statute refers to "a cause of action arising from any acts...
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