Intern. Ass'n of Machinists v. Werner-Masuda

• Decision Date: 16 September 2005
• Docket Number: No. CIV.A. DKC 2004-2552.,CIV.A. DKC 2004-2552.
• Citation: 390 F.Supp.2d 479
• Parties: INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS AND AEROSPACE WORKERS v. Bonnie WERNER-MASUDA, et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

390 F.Supp.2d 479

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS AND AEROSPACE WORKERS v. Bonnie WERNER-MASUDA, et al.

No. CIV.A. DKC 2004-2552.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

September 16, 2005.

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Alice Margaret O. Brien, Jeffrey R. Freund, Warren Gary Kohlman, Bredhoff and Kaiser PLLC, Washington, DC, for International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

George Joseph Lane, Law Office of George J. Lane, Gambrills, MD, for Bonnie Werner-Masuda and Union of Independent Flight Attendants.

Lee Seham, Seham Seham Meltz and Petersen LLP, Stanley J. Silverstone, Scham Scham Meltz and Petersen LLP, James Klimaski, Klimaski and Associates PC, Washington, DC, for McCormick Advisory Group.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

CHASANOW, District Judge.

Presently pending and ready for resolution in this action are a motion to dismiss by Defendants Bonnie Werner-Masuda and the Union of Independent Flight Attendants ("UIFA") for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim (paper 33),¹ and a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, lack of personal jurisdiction, and failure to state a claim by Defendant McCormick Advisory Group ("MAG") (paper 42). Also pending are several motions by Plaintiff International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers ("IAM"): two motions to seal certain exhibits (papers 52, 83), a motion to amend its complaint (paper 59), a motion to strike (paper 79), and a motion to file a surreply (paper 82). Magistrate Judge Charles B. Day recently resolved a motion for sanctions (paper 86), which is now the subject of objections (papers 94 and 100), spawning yet another motion, Plaintiff IAM's motion for leave to file a response (paper 96). The issues have been fully briefed and the court now rules, no hearing being deemed necessary. Local Rule 105.6. For the following reasons Defendant MAG's motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction will be denied,² but the motion to dismiss the federal claims for failure to state a claim will be granted. Because the court will dismiss the only two federal claims in this action and will decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction pursuant to § 1367(c)(3), the case will be dismissed and many of the remaining motions will be denied as moot. The court will grant the motions to seal, and resolve the sanctions issues. The other motions will be denied without prejudice as moot.

I. Background

A. Factual Background

The following facts have been alleged by Plaintiff IAM. IAM is an international labor organization that represents approximately 700,000 employees in various industries. It currently is the union representative of approximately 10,300 Continental and ExpressJet Airlines flight attendants. It maintains its headquarters, or "Grand Lodge," in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. From April 2003 to May 2004, Defendant Werner-Masuda was the Secretary-Treasurer of Local Lodge 2339N, a subordinate body of the larger union.³ As Secretary-Treasurer, Defendant Werner-Masuda had authorized access to a secure, proprietary website ("VLodge"), from which she could access IAM's confidential membership list. Plaintiff alleges that VLodge, and the membership list stored therein, is housed on IAM's server at the Grand Lodge in Maryland. As a requisite to obtaining an IAM user identification number and password, Defendant Werner-Masuda signed a Registration Agreement stipulating "not to use the information provided through VLodge for any purpose that would be contrary to the policies and procedures established by the [IAM] Constitution." See (paper 1) ("Complaint"), ¶ 18; Ex. A ("Registration Agreement").

Plaintiff alleges that from March through May 2004, while Werner-Masuda was a member of IAM and Secretary-Treasurer of Lodge 2339N, she accessed the confidential membership information on VLodge, on behalf of herself and Defendant UIFA. At the time, UIFA was a recently formed entity, created for the purpose of challenging IAM's union representation of Continental and ExpressJet flight attendants. Plaintiff alleges that Werner-Masuda used her status as an IAM officer, which allowed her access to VLodge, to retrieve the name and address information stored therein to contact IAM members in order to organize UIFA, and, subsequently, to challenge IAM's representation.

To support its claim, Plaintiff alleges that Werner-Masuda's identification number had been used to click on the VLodge member search tool approximately 10,000 times between March and May 2004 in order to search the names and addresses of every member in four different IAM local lodges. According to Plaintiff, the members of these four locals comprise the exact same members that Defendant UIFA is attempting to organize into a rival union. Moreover, Plaintiff alleges that a UIFA mailing that went out near the end of June 2004 was sent only to IAM members in these four locals.

According to Plaintiff, Defendant McCormick Advisory Group ("MAG") "is

staffing UIFA's efforts to replace the IAM as the representative of the Continental/ExpressJet flight attendants." See Complaint, ¶ 7. Plaintiff alleges that MAG has used the list to contact members of IAM, including residents of Maryland, through its on-going mass mailing campaign.

B. Procedural History

On August 5, 2004, Plaintiff filed a complaint for preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, as well as damages, asserting eight (8) counts against Werner-Masuda, UIFA, and/or MAG. Counts I, II, V, and VI of Plaintiff's complaint allege violations by Werner-Masuda and UIFA (by and through the actions of Werner-Masuda) of the Federal Stored Communications Act (count I), the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (count II), as well as the common law torts of trespass to chattel (count V) and fraud (count VI). Count III is a claim for breach of contract against Werner-Masuda. Counts IV, VII, and VIII allege claims against all defendants for violation of the Maryland Uniform Trade Secrets Act (count IV), conversion (count VII), and unjust enrichment (count VIII). Before a hearing was held on Plaintiff's request for preliminary relief, Defendants Werner-Masuda, on her own behalf and in her capacity as interim President of UIFA, and MAG filed separate motions to dismiss. Werner-Masuda contends that Plaintiff's complaint fails to state claims for relief under the two federal statutes, and that the court should decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state law claims. (Paper 33). MAG moves to dismiss on the basis that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over this action, lacks personal jurisdiction over it, and, alternatively, that the complaint fails to state a claim for relief. (Paper 42).

Subsequent to the filing of these motions, the court held a hearing on Plaintiff's motion for preliminary injunction on September 17, 2004. That motion was denied. See (paper 52). Shortly thereafter, Plaintiff filed a motion for leave to amend its complaint in order to set forth additional background information pertaining to MAG's contacts with Maryland and to add two additional counts. Plaintiff also named an additional defendant in its amended complaint, Vicky Warlick. See (paper 59).

After the two motions to dismiss and Plaintiff's motion to amend had been fully briefed, Defendant MAG and Plaintiff were granted additional time to supplement their papers in support of, and in opposition to, MAG's motion to dismiss. See (paper 65). However, MAG's supplemental filing prompted several more motions by Plaintiff, including a motion to strike (paper 79), a motion for leave to file a surreply (paper 82), and a motion to seal an exhibit used in support of its surreply (paper 83). Plaintiff also moved for sanctions against Defendant UIFA for alleged discovery violations. (Paper 86). After that motion was resolved by Magistrate Judge Day, UIFA filed a motion for relief from the order and objections to the monetary award. (Papers 94 and 100). Plaintiff seeks leave to file a response to the objections (paper 96), and those issues are also before the court. All motions are fully briefed and ready for resolution.

II. Plaintiff's Motions to Seal

Plaintiff has filed two unopposed motions to seal certain exhibits in connection with this matter. In order to place the exhibits under seal, this court must determine "that the denial [of access] serves an important governmental interest and that there is no less restrictive way to serve that governmental interest." Rushford v. New Yorker Magazine, 846 F.2d 249, 253 (4th Cir.1988); see also Padco Advisors, Inc. v. Omdahl, 179 F.Supp.2d 600, 614 (D.Md.2002). To make that determination, the court "must follow [certain] procedural requirements." Rushford, 846 F.2d at 253. "Under Knight, a court must first give the public notice of a request to seal and a reasonable opportunity to challenge it." Stone v. Univ. of Md. Med. Sys. Corp., 855 F.2d 178, 181 (4th Cir.1988) (citing In re Knight Publishing Co., 743 F.2d 231, 235 (4th Cir.1984)). Additionally, the court must "consider less drastic alternatives to sealing and, if it decides to seal documents, must `state the reasons for its decision to seal ..., and the reasons for rejecting alternatives to sealing in order to provide an adequate record for review.'" Stone, 855 F.2d at 181 (quoting Knight, 743 F.2d at 235).

Plaintiff's two motions to seal have been docketed and made available to the public since September 2004 (paper 52) and February 2005 (paper 83), thereby providing sufficient notice under the requirements of Knight and Stone. See Padco Advisors, Inc., 179 F.Supp.2d at 614. No objections to sealing these exhibits have been received. Moreover, the exhibits Plaintiff seeks to seal contain the precise confidential membership information that rests at the heart of this case and that it asserts constitutes a "trade secret" under Maryland's Uniform Trade Secret Act....