Garcia v. AA Roofing Co., 14–CV–1095.

Decision Date10 September 2015
Docket NumberNo. 14–CV–1095.,14–CV–1095.
Parties William GARCIA, Appellant, v. AA ROOFING COMPANY, LLC, et al., Appellees.
CourtD.C. Court of Appeals

Carlos M. Recio, Washington, DC, was on the brief for appellant.

Shawn C. Whittaker, Rockville, MD, was on the brief for appellee.

Before FISHER and THOMPSON, Associate Judges, and RUIZ, Senior Judge.

THOMPSON, Associate Judge.

In an amended complaint alleging breach of contract, violation of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act, fraud, and common law conspiracy to defraud, appellant William Garcia, a resident of Fairfax County, Virginia, sued appellees Holger Kuessner, AA Roofing Company, LLC ("AA Roofing"), and Wayne Hammond (AA Roofing's owner and principal manager), to recover damages arising out of what the amended complaint alleges was "shoddy" work done on the roof of appellant's McLean, Virginia residence in March 2011. The Superior Court dismissed the action without prejudice on the grounds of forum non conveniens. Appellant challenges that ruling, contending that the court misconstrued the facts or failed to consider them in the light most favorable to him; erroneously failed to give any deference to his choice of forum; erroneously failed to give any weight to the "defendants' significant relationships to the District of Columbia" and the "significant relationship between the plaintiff's causes of action and the District of Columbia"; and improperly shifted the burden of proof. We agree and therefore reverse and remand.

I.

When reviewing a dismissal on the basis of forum non conveniens, we accept as true the factual allegations of the complaint. Nixon Peabody LLP v. Beaupre, 791 A.2d 34, 36 (D.C.2002). Accordingly, for purposes of our analysis, we assume the truth of the following background facts drawn from the amended complaint and attached exhibits.

During June 2010, while on a boat ride, appellant was introduced to appellee Kuessner, a District of Columbia resident and the owner of HK Property Development, LLC, a home improvement company that does business and is licensed in the District. Appellant and Kuessner talked about certain home repair work that needed to be done at appellant's Fairfax County, Virginia residence, and the two men arranged to meet at appellant's home to discuss the work. During the ensuing meeting, Kuessner learned that appellant also needed to repair damage to the roof of his residence. Although appellant had already identified a contractor to perform this work, Kuessner responded to this information by "aggressively ma[king] efforts to divert the roofing work" to AA Roofing Company.1 Kuessner "represented that he knew AA Roofing [Company] personally, knew that the company did very good work and that ... [appellant] would receive an excellent, high quality job at a good price." Kuessner also offered to have AA Roofing Company perform a free estimate.

On July 8, 2010, Kuessner, working from his office in the District of Columbia, emailed appellee Wayne Hammond, a Maryland resident who did business as AA Roofing Company, to ask Hammond to "check this one [i.e., appellant's residence] out for me" and "send me the estimate." AA Roofing Company held itself out as a "local roofing company in Washington, D.C.," "serving the Washington [D.C.] [a]rea." Kuessner's email to Hammond further stated, "This [project] is a big one[.]" In addition, the email mentioned two other properties, one in the District, and stated, "[I]t looks like we get the jobs."

In August 2010, Hammond provided Kuessner with AA Roofing Company's estimate for roof work on appellant's residence, and Kuessner forwarded the estimate to appellant. Thereafter, during phone calls between appellant and Kuessner, who participated from his office in the District of Columbia, Kuessner "again urged [appellant to] use the services of AA Roofing [Company.]" Appellant decided to hire AA Roofing Company, but he postponed the roof replacement until the following spring. Appellant eventually contacted AA Roofing Company directly, agreed to expand the scope of the project, and then entered into a contract with Hammond that was "based upon the original August 2010 estimate." AA Roofing Company replaced appellant's roof in March 2011.

Over two years later, in July 2013, appellant learned that his roof had been improperly installed. Appellant filed his lawsuit in this matter on March 7, 2014. He alleged that Kuessner convinced appellant to hire AA Roofing Company because Kuessner and Hammond had a "long-time joint venture" relationship in which Kuessner served as a "sales agent" soliciting business for AA Roofing Company, setting the stage for AA Roofing Company to "cut corners to save money" and for Kuessner and Hammond to then share the resulting profits.

In June 2014, appellees AA Roofing and Hammond moved to dismiss appellant's complaint on the basis of forum non conveniens. They argued that the trial court should refrain from hearing this dispute because the District "has nothing to do with this case[,]" Virginia substantive law applies, and Virginia is not only an adequate alternative forum, but "in the interest of justice, ... is the proper forum as it is the jurisdiction where any of [appellant's] alleged claims occurred." Judge Dixon granted the motion in a written order dated August 29, 2014.

II.

"The purpose of the doctrine of forum non conveniens ... is to avoid litigation in a seriously inconvenient forum, rather than to ensure litigation in the most convenient forum." Hechinger Co. v. Johnson, 761 A.2d 15, 20 (D.C.2000) (emphasis in original) (internal quotation marks omitted). In resolving a motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens, the trial court "is to be guided by enumerated ‘private interest factors' affecting the convenience of the litigants and ‘public interest factors' affecting the convenience of the forum[,]’' as articulated by the Supreme Court in Gulf Oil Corp. v. Gilbert, 330 U.S. 501, 67 S.Ct. 839, 91 L.Ed. 1055 (1947). Mills v. Aetna Fire Underwriters Ins. Co., 511 A.2d 8, 10 (D.C.1986). The private interest factors include "(1) plaintiff's choice of forum; (2) the convenience of parties and witnesses; (3) the ease of access to sources of proof; (4) the availability and cost of compulsory process; and (5) the enforceability of any judgment obtained." Nixon Peabody, 791 A.2d at 37 (quoting Future View, Inc. v. CritiCom, Inc., 755 A.2d 431, 433 (D.C.2000) ). "[U]nless the balance [of these private factors] is strongly in favor of the defendant, the plaintiff's choice of forum should rarely be disturbed." Gulf Oil, 330 U.S. at 508, 67 S.Ct. 839 (noting also that "the plaintiff may not, by choice of an inconvenient forum, vex, harass, or oppress the defendant by inflicting upon him expense or trouble not necessary to his own right to pursue his remedy" (internal quotation marks omitted)). The public interest factors include: "(1) the clearance of foreign controversies from congested dockets; (2) the adjudication of disputes in the forum most closely [l]inked thereto; and (3) the avoidance of saddling courts with the burden of construing a foreign jurisdiction's law." Nixon Peabody, 791 A.2d at 37 (quoting Future View, 755 A.2d at 433 ). The trial court is to "evaluate the contacts with the [relevant] jurisdictions in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party." Medlantic Long Term Care Corp. v. Smith, 791 A.2d 25, 32 (D.C.2002).

"[T]he burden normally [is] allocated to the defendant to demonstrate why dismissal is warranted for forum non conveniens [.]" Eric T. v. National Med. Enters., 700 A.2d 749, 754 (D.C.1997) (internal quotation marks omitted); Medlantic, 791 A.2d at 29 ("[I]n most cases, a defendant who invokes the doctrine of forum non conveniens bears the burden of demonstrating why dismissal is warranted."). However, "when neither party resides in the District and the plaintiff's claim has arisen in another jurisdiction, the burden shifts to the plaintiff to justify bringing suit in the District rather than in the forum more significantly connected to the case." Nixon Peabody, 791 A.2d at 38 (quoting Wyeth Labs., Inc. v. Jefferson, 725 A.2d 487, 491 (D.C.1999) ). Nonetheless, this court has found burden-shifting appropriate "only where there is virtually no link to this jurisdiction." Coulibaly v. Malaquias, 728 A.2d 595, 606 (D.C.1999) (internal quotation marks omitted).

In reviewing a ruling on a motion to dismiss on the grounds of forum non conveniens, this court "independently evaluates the pertinent factors[,]" not on a de novo basis, but by "apply[ing] close scrutiny to the specific factors identified and evaluated by the trial court." Nixon Peabody, 791 A.2d at 37 (internal quotation marks omitted). "The decision whether to dismiss an action for forum non conveniens is entrusted to the sound discretion of the trial court[.]" Medlantic, 791 A.2d at 28 ; "[w]here the [trial] court has considered all relevant public and private interest factors, and where its balancing of these factors is reasonable, its decision deserves substantial deference." Nixon Peabody, 791 A.2d at 37–38 (internal quotation marks omitted). Nevertheless, "[a]lthough this court reviews a decision to dismiss on grounds of forum non conveniens for abuse of discretion, trial court rulings in this area receive closer scrutiny than most other exercises of discretion[.]" Blake v. Professional Travel Corp., 768 A.2d 568, 572 (D.C.2001) ; see also Jacobson v. Pannu, 822 A.2d 1080, 1083 (D.C.2003) (noting that this court's review of a ruling on a forum non conveniens motion "does not allow the trial court the margin of error that the term ‘discretion’ ordinarily signifies"). "Once this court is satisfied that the trial court took the proper factors into consideration," reversal of its ruling on a forum non conveniens motion is appropriate only when there is a clear abuse of discretion. Nixon Peabody, 791 A.2d at 37.

III.

Although the trial court...

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    ...of [the] motion for Rule 11 sanctions." (citing Cooter & Gell, 496 U.S. at 395–96, 110 S.Ct. 2447 )).9 See also Garcia v. AA Roofing Co., 125 A.3d 1111, 1115 (D.C. 2015) (" ‘Once this court is satisfied that the trial court took the proper factors into consideration,’ reversal of its ruling......

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