Drop a Piano Prods. v. Maraboyina

• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York
• Writing for the Court: JOHN P. CRONAN, United States District Judge
• Docket Number: 25-CV-8631 (JPC)
• Decision Date: 27 October 2025
• Citation: Drop a Piano Prods. v. Maraboyina, 25-CV-8631 (JPC) (S.D. N.Y. Oct 27, 2025)
• Parties: DROP A PIANO PRODUCTIONS LLC, ADAM REBACK, AND MONIQUE THACKER, Plaintiffs, v. SURAJ MARABOYINA, Defendant.
• topic: Business of Law,Commercial Litigation,Contracts

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DROP A PIANO PRODUCTIONS LLC, ADAM REBACK, AND MONIQUE THACKER, Plaintiffs, v. SURAJ MARABOYINA, Defendant.

No. 25-CV-8631 (JPC)

United States District Court, S.D. New York

October 27, 2025

Jamie Hoxie Solano DYNAMIS LLP Jamie Hoxie Solano Tyler Finn Attorneys for Defendant Suraj Maraboyina

DEFENDANT'S NOTICE OF MOTION TO DISMISS

JOHN P. CRONAN, United States District Judge

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that, upon the pleadings and the annexed Memorandum of Law, and all prior pleadings and proceedings herein, Defendant Suraj Maraboyina moves this Court, before the Hon. John P. Cronan, United States District Judge, at the United States Courthouse for the Southern District of New York, 500 Pearl St, New York, New York, at a date and time to be determined by this Court, for an Order pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), dismissing all claims against Suraj Maraboyina in their entirety, and awarding such other relief as the Court may deem just and proper.

Defendant's motion to dismiss, Dkt. 5, is denied without prejudice. Defendant is directed to follow Individual Civil Rule 6.A in seeking leave to re-file the motion to dismiss no later than November 1, 2025. Plaintiffs are reminded under Rule 6.A to file any responsive letter within three business days from the submission of Defendant's pre-motion letter. The Clerk of Court is respectfully directed to close Docket Number 5.

It is further ordered that Defendant serve this Order on Plaintiffs within two business days and file an affidavit of service no later than November 1, 2025. Counsel for Plaintiffs shall file a notice of appearance by November 1, 2025.

SO ORDERED.

MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 1

FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS 2

LEGAL STANDARD 3

ARGUMENT .....................................................................................4

I. THE COMPLAINT SHOULD BE DISMISSED AGAINST DROP A PIANO AND REBACK IN FAVOR OF THE MANDATORY ARBITRATION CLAUSE IN THE ARTIES' AGREEMENTS ....................................5

II. PLAINTIFFS FAIL TO STATE A CLAIM FOR COMMON LAW FRAUD ....................................8

A. Plaintiffs Make No Allegations of Scienter....................................8

B. Plaintiffs' Barebones Allegations Run Afoul of Rule 12 and Rule 9(b)....................................9

III. PLAINTIFFS FAIL TO STATE A CLAIM FOR BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY ....................................11

IV. PLAINTIFFS FAIL TO STATE A CLAIM UNDER SECTION 349 OF NEW YORK'S GENERAL BUSINESS LAW ....................................13

V. PLAINTIFFS FAIL TO STATE A CLAIM FOR UNJUST ENRICHMENT ....................................14

A. The Unjust Enrichment Claim Should Be Dismissed as Duplicative ....................................15

B. Plaintiffs Do Not Allege That Defendant Retained Any Benefit From Their Investment ....................................16 CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................................................16

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

CASES

123RF LLC v. HSBC Bank USA, N.A., 663 F.Supp.3d 391 (S.D.N.Y. 2023)............................ 14

Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009). ......................................................................................... 3

Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007) .......................................................................... 3

Big Vision Priv. Ltd. v. E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co., 1 F.Supp.3d 224 (S.D.N.Y. 2014) .... 12

Birmingham Assocs., Ltd. v, Abbott Labs., 547 F.Supp.2d 295 (S.D.N.Y. 2008) .........................6

Briarpatch Ltd., L.P. v. Phoenix Pictures, Inc., 373 F.3d 296 (2d Cir. 2004) ............................ 15

Brockington v. Dollar Gen. Corp., 695 F.Supp.3d 487 (S.D.N.Y. 2023);...................................15

Canario v. Gunn, 300 A.D.2d 332 (2d Dep't 2002).......................................................................13

Carroll v. LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & McCrae, 374 F.Supp.2d 375 (S.D.N.Y. 2005)...................6

Chambers v. Time Warner, Inc., 282 F.3d 147 (2d Cir. 2002) .....................................................5

Clark v. Daby, 751 N.Y.S.2d 622 (3d Dep't 2002).................................................................15, 16

Corsello v. Verizon N.Y., Inc., 18 N.Y.3d 777 (2012)....................................................................15

Cortec Indus., Inc. v. Sum Holding L.P., 949 F.2d 42 (2d Cir. 1991)..........................................10

Cullum v. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Corp., 2024 WL 552494 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 12, 2024)..........7

DiFolco v. MSNBC Cable L.L.C., 622 F.3d 104 (2d Cir. 2010)....................................................5

Duchimaza v. Niagara Bottling, LLC, 619 F.Supp.3d 395 (S.D.N.Y. 2022)....................................15

Ezeiruaku v. Am. Express Co., 2020 WL 6135794 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 19, 2020)....................................12

Hesse v. Godiva Chocolatier, Inc., 463 F.Supp.3d 453 (S.D.N.Y. 2020)....................................8

Holick v. Cellular Sales of New York, LLC, 802 F.3d 391 (2d Cir. 2015)....................................5

Holifield v. XRI Inv. Holdings LLC, 304 A.3d 896 (Del. 2023).....................................................13

In re American Express Financial Advisors Securities Litigation, 672 F.3d 113 (2d Cir. 2011). .. 7

In re Mid-Island Hosp., Inc., 276 F.3d 123 (2d Cir. 2002) ....................................12

In re Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. Common Unitholders Litig., 2021 WL 1227415 (S.D.N.Y. ar. 31, 2021)........................13

Inspired Cap., LLC v. Conde Nast, 803 Fed.Appx. 436 (2d Cir. 2020) ........................9

Kominis v. Starbucks Corp., 692 F.Supp.3d 236 (S.D.N.Y. 2023).....................................4,8,15

Lee v. Mondelez Int'l, Inc., 637 F.Supp.3d 116 (S.D.N.Y. 2022)........................9

Marmelstein v. Kehillat New Hempstead, 11 N.Y.3d 15 (2008)........................12

Meridian Autonomous Inc. v. Coast Autonomous LLC, 2018 WL 4759754 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 30, 2018) ........................8

Miller v. HSBC Bank U.S.A., N.A., 2015 WL 585589 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 11, 2015);........................14

New York Univ. v. Continental Ins. Co., 87 N.Y.2d 308 (1995)........................13

Nicosia v. Amazon.com, Inc., 834 F.3d 220 (2d Cir. 2016)........................4, 5

Oswego Laborers' Loc. 214 Pension Fund v. Marine Midland Bank, N.A., 85 N.Y.2d 20 (1995).........................13

Ross v. Am. Exp. Co., 547 F.3d 137 (2d Cir. 2008) ........................6

Loreley Fin. (Jersey) No. 3 Ltd. v. Wells Fargo Sec., LLC, 797 F.3d 160 (2d Cir. 2015)........................4

Seidler v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., 2024 WL 344551 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 12, 2024) ........................14

Simon J. Burchett Photography, Inc. v. Maersk Line Ltd., 2021 WL 1040472 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 18, 2021) ......................4

Special Situations Fund III QP, L.P. v. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu CPA, Ltd., 33 F.Supp.3d 401 (S.D.N.Y. 2014)........................8

Spinelli v. Nat'l Football League, 903 F.3d 185 (2d Cir. 2018) ........................11

Stadnick v. Vivint Solar, Inc., 861 F.3d 31 (2d Cir. 2017) ........................5

Stevelman v. Alias Rsch. Inc., 174 F.3d 79 (2d Cir. 1999)........................................................ 9, 10

Tarazi v. Truehope Inc., 2017 WL 5957665 (S.D.N.Y. July 28, 2017),.....................................4, 7

TCA Television Corp. v. McCollum, 151 F.Supp.3d 419 (S.D.N.Y. 2015) ........................4

Travelex Currency Servs., Inc. v. Puente Enters., Inc., 2019 WL 1259102 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 19, 2019) ........................10

Valentini v. Citigroup, Inc., 837 F.Supp.2d 304 (S.D.N.Y. 2011)........................13

Wheeler v. Topps Co., Inc., 652 F.Supp.3d 426 (S.D.N.Y. 2023) ........................15

STATUTES

9 U.S.C. § 2............................................5

RULES

Fed. R. Civ. P. 9.....................................4

Fed. R. Civ. P. 81...................................3 Defendant Suraj Maraboyina respectfully submits this Memorandum of Law in support of his motion to dismiss the Complaint, Dkt. 1-5.

INTRODUCTION

This case should be dismissed. Plaintiffs complain about an investment they made in a film project called Night Comes. The allegations purport to sound in fraud, but the barebones Complaint contains next to no facts about what Plaintiffs say Defendant did. The shortage of facts in the Complaint is no accident. Plaintiffs' allegations are intentionally vague to avoid revealing the truth: Defendant is complying with the terms of written agreements that at least two of the Plaintiffs signed that govern the investments at issue. Those Production Financing Agreements contain terms that are fundamentally different from those alleged in the Complaint, disclaim any fiduciary relationship between the parties, and mandate arbitration California of any disputes arising out of or related to that agreement. The claims of Plaintiffs Drop a Piano and Adam Reback should be dismissed in favor of arbitration on that basis alone.

But all of Plaintiffs' claims are deficiently pleaded and should be dismissed. First, Plaintiffs' fraud claim should be dismissed for failure to allege that Defendant acted with any fraudulent intent. Second, Plaintiffs' breach...