Ndukwe v. Walker
| Decision Date | 16 March 2021 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 1:20-cv-790 |
| Parties | CHINEDUM NDUKWE, et al, Plaintiffs, v. JAMES L. WALKER, JR., et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio |
Litkovitz, M.J.
Plaintiffs Chinedum Ndukwe, an Ohio resident, and Kingsley Consulting, LLC, a company doing business in Ohio, originally filed this action in the Hamilton County, Ohio Court of Common Pleas on September 19, 2019.1 (Doc. 2). Plaintiffs filed a "First Amended Complaint for Extortion, Coercion, Civil Conspiracy, Defamation/Libel and False Light Invasion of Privacy" in the Common Pleas Court on September 22, 2020. (Doc. 11). They named as defendants James L. Walker, Jr., an attorney licensed in the State of Georgia; J. Walker & Associates, L.L.C. (Walker & Assocs.), alleged upon information and belief to be a business in the State of Georgia; Theodore P. Cummings, an attorney residing in Ohio at all relevant times who, upon information and belief, is currently licensed in the State of Ohio; Cummings Law LLP, formerly an Ohio law firm which the Ohio Secretary of State cancelled as an Ohio Limited Liability Partnership effective on or about August 12, 2019; and Jane Doe and John Doe, who upon information and belief were residents of Ohio at all relevant times. (Doc. 11, ¶¶ 3-10).
The following motions are pending in this case:
This is the second notice of removal defendants have filed in the state court case.2 After the prior removal and remand, plaintiffs filed their first amended complaint in state court pursuant to Ohio Civ. R. 15(A). (Doc. 11; see Doc. 12 at PAGEID 1139). Defendants again removed the matter to this federal court and filed their responses to the amended complaint: the Walker defendants filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint for lack of jurisdiction (Doc. 18); defendants Cummings and Cummings Law filed an answer to the amended complaint (Doc. 19); and the Doe defendants filed an answer (Doc. 20).
Plaintiffs make the following allegations in the amended complaint: Upon information and belief, the Doe defendants hired and authorized Attorneys Walker and Cummings to act as their "attorneys, co-counsel and agents." (Doc. 11, ¶ 11). In September 2019, the attorneys sent a letter on behalf of the Doe defendants to "plaintiffs" (9/3/19 letter). (Id., ¶ 12). The letter made false and baseless allegations and threats against plaintiffs about conduct that allegedly occurred in Cincinnati, Ohio and made a demand for $10 million. (Id.). The Doe defendants have also made false allegations and threats against plaintiff Ndukwe regarding conduct that allegedly occurred in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Id., ¶ 13).
Ndukwe immediately retained attorney R. Scott Croswell to represent him and his company. (Id., ¶ 24). Although the 9/3/19 letter asked plaintiff Ndukwe to have his counsel contact defendant Walker or defendant Cummings, Walker called plaintiff five days after sending the 9/3/19 letter and asked plaintiff how he intended to respond. (Id., ¶¶ 25-26). Attorney Walker said, "[I]t was very simple, that his client could have one or two stories." (Id., ¶ 26). Walker also told plaintiff that, "[H]e'd done this a number of times before on Plaintiff Ndukwe's side of the table," and "Walker advised his players to always pay." (Id.). Walker's words "caused great alarm" to Ndukwe. (Id.).
The next day, September 9, 2019, Croswell emailed defendant Cummings and informed Cummings that he had been retained to represent Ndukwe, who had forwarded the 9/3/19 letter to Croswell, and Croswell was available to discuss the matter at counsel's convenience. (Id., ¶ 27). The morning of September 10, 2019, Croswell sent a letter of representation to Cummings by email and ordinary U.S. mail, which confirmed his email from the prior day. (Id., ¶ 28). Despite Croswell's notice to Cummings that he represented Ndukwe, defendant Walker textedNdukwe's cell phone on or about September 11, 2019, and Walker informed him that "our legal team is filing suit tomorrow Sir, unless we hear for [sic] your attorneys!" (Id., ¶ 29).
On September 13, 2019, defendant Walker emailed Croswell and attached a draft of a civil complaint against Ndukwe on behalf of the Doe defendants. (Id., ¶ 30). The draft complaint alleged inappropriate conduct by Ndukwe and demanded $10 million as damages. (Id.). In the email, Walker "made threats and/or threats by innuendo that they had already had contact with local police authorities in Ohio and would be speaking with the NFL [National Football League3]." (Id.). That same day, Walker & Assocs. arranged a phone call with attorneys Walker, Cummings, and Croswell. (Id., ¶¶ 31-34). Walker and Cummings represented that they had been engaged by the Doe defendants and were authorized to act on behalf of the Doe defendants. (Id., ¶¶ 56-58). During the phone call, attorneys Walker and Cummings attempted to coerce or extort plaintiffs to pay $10 million or a substantial seven-figure sum to the Doe defendants. (Id., ¶ 58). Walker and Cummings spoke to Croswell in an "aggressive and demanding tone" and told him, "[W]e've lined up all the ducks." (Id., ¶¶ 35, 37). They threatened that if plaintiffs did not pay $10 million or a "substantial" seven-figure amount, defendants would: "(1) pursue criminal charges; (2) notify the NFL of the allegations; (3) prepare and/or make statements to the media and/or pursue the 'media piece'; (4) 'one by one [] notify anybody he's doing business with'; (5) pursue shutting down all of Plaintiffs' business projects . . .; (6) threatened Plaintiffs were certain to lose 10 to 20 million dollars 'if this gets out'; and ([7]) file the Draft Complaint." (Id., ¶ 36).
Walker also told Croswell that defendants Jane Doe and Cummings were "potentially scheduled to meet with the police during the following week of September 16, 2019"; however,Walker and Cummings indicated that they and their client retained some control over whether the police would proceed against plaintiffs, and the police "would not be a problem" if plaintiffs paid the $10 million or the substantial seven-figure sum defendants were demanding. (Id., ¶¶ 38-47). They said or implied that defendant Jane Doe was prepared to tell the police one of two different stories depending on whether plaintiffs paid: if plaintiffs did not pay, she would say that Ndukwe had committed a crime; if plaintiffs did pay, she would claim that nothing inappropriate happened, Ndukwe had apologized, and she did not want to pursue a criminal action. (Id., ¶¶ 44-45). Walker and Cummings described plaintiffs' assets in detail during the call, all of which they claimed plaintiffs stood to lose if plaintiffs did not pay the sum they demanded. (Id., ¶ 48). Walker claimed that plaintiffs would lose $10 to $20 million if the matter became public, and he threatened to generate publicity. (Id., ¶¶ 49-55).
Defendant Jane Doe made multiple false and untrue statements of fact which she knew would be published during an interview with WLWT Channel 5, including false allegations that Ndukwe committed sexual assault and battery when she was a summer intern at Kingsley. (Id., ¶ 59). The false statements were defamatory and injurious to plaintiffs' reputation, and they were published and re-published to third parties by other media outlets. (Id., ¶ 60). Walker and Cummings and their agents made similar false allegations to the media and other third-party individuals about plaintiffs. (Id., ¶¶ 61-64). They also falsely alleged that Ndukwe gave Jane Doe $1,000.00 in cash to attempt to buy her silence. (Id., ¶ 61). Defendants' conduct was reckless or was committed with actual malice or the intent to injure plaintiffs, and defendants knew their false statements would be published and re-published by media outlets. (Id., ¶¶ 65, 66).
After plaintiffs refused to pay the sum defendants demanded, defendant Jane Doe pursued criminal allegations against Ndukwe. (Id., ¶ 68). Upon information and belief, she made numerous inconsistent and contradictory allegations to the police. (Id., ¶ 69). In addition, independent fact witnesses contradicted her allegations. (Id., ¶ 70). Ndukwe cooperated with the criminal investigation. (Id., ¶ 72). The Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office released a statement on October 17, 2019, stating it had determined after a full investigation that it would bring no charges against Ndukwe, but it was forwarding a complaint to the Supreme Courts of Ohio and Georgia concerning Walker and Cummings'...
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