Mac Isaac v. Twitter, Inc.
| Decision Date | 30 August 2021 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 21-cv-20684-BLOOM/Otazo-Reyes |
| Citation | 557 F.Supp.3d 1251 |
| Parties | John Paul MAC ISAAC, Plaintiff, v. TWITTER, INC., Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida |
Brian R. Della Rocca, Pro Hac Vice, Compass Law Partners, Rockville, MD, Wesley Reid Harvin, II, Harvin, Harvin, LLP, Stuart, FL, for Plaintiff.
Alexander J. Kasner, Pro Hac Vice, Cooley LLP, Palo Alto, CA, Araizu Sheila Oretsky, Jennifer Olmedo-Rodriguez, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC, Miami, FL, Kathleen R. Hartnett, Pro Hac Vice, Kyle C. Wong, Pro Hac Vice, Cooley LLP, San Francisco, CA, for Defendant.
ORDER ON MOTION TO DISMISS
THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon Defendant Twitter, Inc.’s ("Defendant") Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Amended Complaint, ECF No. [52] ("Motion"), filed on June 7, 2021. The Court has carefully reviewed the Motion, all opposing and supporting materials, the record in this case, the applicable law, and is otherwise fully advised. The Court also held a hearing and considered further argument of counsel. For the reasons set forth below, the Motion is granted.
On February 18, 2021, Plaintiff John Paul Mac Isaac ("Plaintiff") initiated this action against Defendant Twitter, Inc. ("Defendant"), asserting a single count for defamation per se. ECF No. [1]. According to the Amended Complaint for Defamation, ECF No. [44] ("Amended Complaint"), Plaintiff formerly owned a Mac computer repair shop in Delaware ("Mac Shop"). Id. ¶¶ 18-19. On April 12, 2019, Plaintiff was asked to recover information from damaged Mac computers owned by Hunter Biden ("Biden"). Id. ¶ 25; see also ECF No. [44-17] ("Repair Authorization").1 The following day, at Plaintiff's request, Biden returned to the Mac Shop with an external hard drive to which Plaintiff could transfer the recovered data. ECF No. [44] ¶ 26. Upon completing the job, Plaintiff contacted Biden to pick up the hard drive and sent him an electronic invoice. Id. ¶¶ 27-29; see also ECF No. [44-18]. Biden, however, never returned to the Mac Shop or paid his invoice. ECF No. [44] ¶ 30.
Starting in late July 2019 to October 14, 2020, Plaintiff had multiple interactions with the Federal Bureau of Investigations ("FBI"), U.S. Congressional staff members, and Robert Costello ("Costello")—attorney for Rudolph Giuliani ("Giuliani"). ECF No. [44] ¶ 32. On December 9, 2019, in response to a grand jury subpoena, Plaintiff turned over Biden's laptop and hard drive to the FBI. Id. ¶ 33; see also ECF No. [44-19]. Thereafter, in August 2020, Plaintiff connected with Costello, to whom he provided a copy of the recovered data. ECF No. [44] ¶ 34. Plaintiff asked Costello not to identify Plaintiff when discussing the recovered data with Giuliani, as Plaintiff desired to remain anonymous. ECF No. [44] ¶ 35. After August 26, but prior to October 14, 2020, Giuliani provided information from the recovered data to the New York Post newspaper ("NY Post"). Id. ¶ 37. Plaintiff also spoke with the NY Post to verify how Plaintiff came into possession of the recovered data, and explicitly told the NY Post that he did not want to be identified. Id. ¶ 41.
On October 14, 2020, at approximately 5:00 a.m., the NY Post published an article entitled, "Smoking-gun email reveals how Hunter Biden introduced Ukrainian businessman to VP dad" ("Article"). Id. ¶ 39; see also ECF Nos. [44-17] & [44-21]. The Article explained that the NY Post obtained materials extracted from a laptop computer owned by Biden, which was dropped off at a repair shop in Biden's home state of Delaware in April 2019. ECF No. [41-21]. While Plaintiff was not "explicitly identified" in the Article, the Article referenced the "store[ ] owner" of the Delaware repair shop. Id. ; see also ECF No. [44] ¶ 43. Included in the Article was a photo of the Repair Authorization, which identified the name of the Mac Shop. ECF No. [44] ¶ 44; ECF No. [44-17]. After realizing its disclosure, the NY Post updated the Article to redact the Mac Shop's name from the Repair Authorization. ECF No. [44] ¶ 39; ECF No. [44-21]. Thus, "as a result of the NY Post's mistaken disclosure, Plaintiff's identity was revealed by media outlets, including writers from the Daily Beast purportedly investigating the NY Post [Article]." ECF No. [44] ¶ 45; see also ECF No. [44-23].
On October 14, 2020, following the NY Post's dissemination of the Article on its Twitter account, Defendant determined that the Article "[v]iolated [its] rules against ‘distribution of hacked material’ "2 and took several actions in response. ECF No. [44] ¶¶ 48-52. Specifically, Defendant locked the NY Post's Twitter account, and issued the following explanation to the NY Post regarding its decision:
ECF No. [44-26] at 2 ("Private Explanation"); see also ECF No. [44] ¶¶ 47-49. Defendant also prevented its users from accessing, posting, or sharing the Article on its platform:
ECF No. [44-26] at 2 ("User Explanation"); see also ECF No. [44] ¶¶ 50-51. Lastly, Defendant issued the following public statement regarding its decision to prevent the dissemination of the Article on its platform:
ECF No. [44-26] at 3 ("Public Explanation"); see also ECF No. [44] ¶¶ 52-53.3
According to Plaintiff, Defendant's Explanations notified its users that the materials contained in the NY Post Article violated its Hacked Materials Policy, thereby spreading the false belief that Plaintiff is a hacker. ECF No. [44] ¶¶ 50, 58-59, 61, 64. As a result of Defendant's conduct, Plaintiff received threats to his person and property, and was forced to close his business. Id. ¶¶ 65-66. Based on the foregoing allegations, Plaintiff asserts a single claim against Defendant for defamation per se.
On December 28, 2020, Plaintiff filed a substantively identical lawsuit against Defendant in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Isaac v. Twitter, Inc. , No. 20-cv-25264-BB (S.D. Fla. 2020) ("2020 Lawsuit"). This Court sua sponte dismissed the 2020 Lawsuit without prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction due to Plaintiff's failure to allege complete diversity between the parties. Isaac , No. 20-cv-25264-BB (S.D. Fla. Dec. 29, 2020), ECF No. [5].
On February 18, 2021, Plaintiff filed the instant lawsuit against Defendant and its subsidiary, Madbits, LLC (collectively, "Defendants"). Isaac v. Twitter, Inc. et al. , No. 21-cv-20684-UU (S.D. Fla. 2021) ("2021 Lawsuit"). The 2021 Lawsuit was originally assigned to the Honorable Ursula Ungaro and subsequently transferred to the undersigned based on the related nature of the 2020 Lawsuit. Isaac , No. 21-cv-20684-BB (S.D. Fla. Mar. 3, 2021), ECF No. [16]. On April 20, 2021, Defendants filed a motion to dismiss, ECF No. [39], identifying multiple grounds for dismissal. Rather than respond to the motion to dismiss, Plaintiff filed the operative Amended Complaint, ECF No. [44], and voluntarily dismissed Madbits, LLC from this action. ECF No. [49].
On June 7, 2021, Defendant filed the instant Motion seeking to dismiss the Amended Complaint with prejudice because the Explanations do not meet any of the elements required of a defamation per se claim. See generally ECF No. [52]. Specifically, Defendant contends that: (1) the Explanations do not concern or identify Plaintiff or his business by name or implication; (2) the Explanations do not relate to criminal conduct, but rather to violations of Defendant's Hacked Materials Policy; (3) Plaintiff failed to plead special damages; (4) Plaintiff failed to plead that the Explanations were false, published, or made with the requisite degree of fault; and (5) Defendant is entitled to a mandatory award of attorneys’ fees and costs under Florida's Anti-SLAPP statute. Id. On June 21, 2021, Plaintiff filed a Response to the Motion, ECF No. [53] ("Response"), to which Defendant filed a Reply, ECF No. [57] ("Reply"). Thereafter, on July 21, 2021, the Court heard oral argument on the Motion. ECF No. [58].
The Motion is now ripe for consideration.
A pleading in a civil action must contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Although a complaint "does not need detailed factual allegations," it must provide "more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) ; see also Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (). Nor can a complaint rest on " ‘naked assertion[s]’ devoid of ‘further factual enhancement.’ " Iqbal , 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting Twombly , 550 U.S. at 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ).
When reviewing a motion under Rule 12(b)(6), a court, as a general rule, must accept the plaintiff's allegations as true and evaluate all plausible inferences derived from those facts in favor of the plaintiff. See Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Fla. v. S. Everglades Restoration Alliance , 304 F.3d 1076, 1084 (11th Cir. 2002) ; AXA Equitable Life Ins. Co. v. Infinity Fin. Grp., LLC , 608 F. Supp. 2d 1349, 1353 (S.D. Fla. 2009). However, this tenet does not apply to legal conclusions, and courts "are not bound to accept as true a legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation." Twombly , 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ; see also Iqbal , 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 ; Thaeter v. Palm Beach Cnty. Sheriff's Office , 449 F.3d 1342, 1352 (11th Cir. 2006). Moreover, "courts may infer from the factual allegations in the complaint ‘obvious alternative explanations,’ which suggest lawful conduct rather than the unlawful conduct the plaintiff would ask the court to infer." Am. Dental Ass'n v. Cigna Corp. , 605 F.3d 1283, 1290 (11th Cir. 2010) (quoting Iqbal , 556...
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