Haydell Indus. Llc. v. Petrucci.
| Decision Date | 10 March 2010 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 09-1518. |
| Citation | 702 F.Supp.2d 688 |
| Parties | HAYDELL INDUSTRIES, LLC, et al v. PETRUCCI. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Louisiana |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Gregory R. Mier, Onebane Law Firm, Lafayette, LA, for Plaintiffs.
Shawn Alexander Carter, William Winfield Stagg, Durio McGoffin et al., Lafayette, LA, Bradley L. Drell, Amanda Wood Barnett, Gold Weems et al., Alexandria, LA, for Defendants.
This matter was referred to United States Magistrate Judge Patrick J. Hanna for Report and Recommendation. After an independent review of the record, including the objections filed herein 1 , this Court concludes that the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge is correct and adopts the findings and conclusions therein as its own.
ORDERED that subject matter jurisdiction exists in this matter, pending reexamination of plaintiffs' amended claim of copyright infringement.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that defendants Grady Olson, Cindy Olson, James P. Gherardini, Kristopher R. Bonnegent and N2 Spray Solutions, LLC's Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) [Rec. Doc. 10] and defendants Oriano Petrucci and Eurosider America, Inc.'s Alternative Motions to Dismiss and For Summary Judgment [Rec. Doc. 33] be GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO REFILE SAME, AS FOLLOWS:
Before the court is defendants Grady Olson, Cindy Olson, James P. Gherardini, Kristopher R. Bonnegent, and N2 Spray Solutions, LLC's Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6)(the “Olson” defendants)(rec. doc. 10), and defendants Oriano Petrucci and Eurosider America, Inc.'s Alternative Motions to Dismiss and For Summary Judgment (rec. doc. 33). 1 The motions are opposed. Because the motions to dismiss are similar, they will be reported upon together. Oral argument was held on the motions on January 27, 2010.
Defendants removed this matter from state court alleging federal question jurisdiction due to plaintiffs' allegations of copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 501 et seq., against the Olson defendants, Cindy Olson, Grady Olson, Gherardini, Bonnegent and N2 Spray Solutions. Plaintiff alleges these defendants operate a website at “n2spraysolutions.com” that contains “copies of copyrighted information obtained from the website of Haydell Industries and Advanced Equipment....” 2 Plaintiffs did not make any claims of copyright infringement against defendants Pertrucci, Eurosider, or Pawlick.
After review of the complaint, the undersigned ordered the parties to clarify the representation status of defendant Pawlick, and to brief the issue of subject matter jurisdiction. The court was particularly concerned with whether it had jurisdiction over the claims against Pertrucci, Eurosider and Pawlick, as no federal claims were urged against these parties, and there was no diversity jurisdiction. Defendants responded to the Order, stating Pawlik was unrepresented by counsel, and arguing subject matter jurisdiction existed over these claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1338(b) and 28 U.S.C. 1367(a). 3 Plaintiffs did not brief the issue of subject matter jurisdiction, however, plaintiffs agreed with the position of the defendants at oral argument. Pawlik has not filed any appearance in the litigation, and is not a party in the motions to dismiss. Therefore, this report and recommendation does not address any of the claims made against Pawlik. The subject matter jurisdiction of the court is addressed in this report and recommendation, as well as the defendants' motions to dismiss and for summary judgment.
According to the allegations in plaintiffs' complaint, plaintiff Haydell Industries was an exclusive distributor for products of non-party Eurosider di Milli Ottavio & CSAS (Eurosider Italy). Haydell entered into a non-exclusive Representative Agreement (RA), with defendant Oriano Petrucci on August 31, 2006. According to Haydell, Petrucci was to use his best efforts to market and promote the use of Eurosider Italy products for Haydell. As part of the RA, Petrucci agreed not to compete with Haydell during or after termination of the RA, and agreed not to disclose Haydell's confidential information except in the course of business for the benefit of Haydell. Haydell also entered into a Consultancy Agreement (CA) with the predecessor company of defendant Eurosider America, Bita Spraybooths, Inc., on August 1, 2007. Petrucci was the President of Bita. In the CA, Bita and Petrucci were to give Haydell advice deemed important for achieving its business objectives, and agreed to assist Haydell with any issue related to import, marketing, and sale of Eurosider Italy products.
In order to help Haydell fulfill its distributorship obligations, several employees were hired by plaintiff Advanced Equipment Services, Inc. Among these employees was defendant Gary Pawlik, who was hired as Vice-President of Operations and Asset manager, for either Haydell or Advanced Equipment. Defendants Bonnegent, Gherardini, and Cindy Olson were all former employees of plaintiffs. According to plaintiffs, Bonnegent, Gherardini and Cindy Olson all signed non-compete agreements with plaintiffs, wherein they agreed they would not compete with plaintiffs for two years after the termination of their employment. Defendant Grady Olson had a business relationship with plaintiffs, where he was provided equipment to demonstrate same and generate business for plaintiffs.
Plaintiffs allege that when Pawlik ended his employment with plaintiffs in June 2008, he printed several copies of a list of Eurosider Italy products distributed exclusively by Haydell, and gave the lists to third parties including plaintiffs' competitors. Cindy Olson ended her employment and Grady Olson ended his business relationship with plaintiffs on or about August 2008; Bonnegent and Gherardini ended their employment with plaintiffs on or about March 2009.
Plaintiffs allege that at some point during the RA and CA, defendants Petrucci and Eurosider America, and at some point during and after the employment and business relationships, defendants Cindy Olson, Gherardini, Bonnegnet, Pawlik, and Grady Olson, “began to intentionally interfere with the exclusive distributorship agreement between Haydell and Eurosider Italy, by, among other things, providing misleading, false and defamatory information to the principals of Eurosider Italy, the sub-distributors of Haydell Industries, potential sub-distributors of Haydell Industries, potential customers of Haydell Industries, and possibly others.” 4
As a result of these actions, plaintiffs allege several causes of action, titled as follows, against the listed defendants:
Against Grady Olson, Cindy Olson, Gherardini, Bonnegent, and Pawlik, alleged against Grady Olson, Cindy Olson, Gherardini, and Pawlik;
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