Stocks v. Cordish Cos., Civil No. 14–cv–01999 (APM)

• Citation: 118 F.Supp.3d 81
• Decision Date: 24 July 2015
• Docket Number: Civil No. 14–cv–01999 (APM)
• Parties: Leander Stocks, Plaintiff, v. Cordish Companies, Inc., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

118 F.Supp.3d 81

Leander Stocks, Plaintiff,
v.
Cordish Companies, Inc., Defendant.

Civil No. 14–cv–01999 (APM)

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Signed July 24, 2015

118 F.Supp.3d 82

Deborah Denise Wright, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff.

Margaret Fonshell Ward, Ward & Herzog, LLC, Baltimore, MD, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Amit P. Mehta, United States District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Leander Stocks alleges he was injured by a runaway roulette wheel ball at

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Maryland Live! Casino, a company he contends is owned and operated by Defendant Cordish Companies, Inc. Stocks asserts that he suffered physical injuries and emotional distress from the events that occurred during his visit to the casino on December 15, 2013.

Now before the court is Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Amended Complaint under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) and 12(b)(2). Defendant argues that Plaintiff's Amended Complaint fails to state a claim because Defendant does not own or operate Maryland Live! Casino and thus cannot be held liable for the acts alleged. Further, Defendant argues that the court lacks personal jurisdiction over it because it does not conduct any business in the District of Columbia.

After considering the parties' arguments and supporting evidence, the court denies Defendant's motion to dismiss. Defendant has submitted sworn affidavits to support its Rule 12(b)(6) argument, thus requiring the court to evaluate the motion not under Rule 12(b)(6), but under Rule 56's summary judgment standard. Because there are material discrepancies between Defendant's assertion here that it does not own Maryland Live! Casino and statements to the contrary on its website, including one that expressly states it "owns and operates" the casino, the court concludes that it would be premature to grant summary judgment before discovery.

The court also denies Defendant's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(2) because Defendant's television advertising within the District of Columbia, designed to attract casino patrons from this jurisdiction, is sufficient to bring Defendant within the court's long-arm jurisdiction.¹

II. BACKGROUND

At roughly midnight on December 15, 2013, Plaintiff Leander Stocks was a patron at Maryland Live! Casino ("Maryland Live!") in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Am. Compl. Count 1 ¶ 1, ECF No. 4.² While playing roulette, a casino "employee operating the [roulette wheel] negligently caused the wheel's hard ball to become airborne and strike the Plaintiff just above the left eye at high velocity." Id. ¶ 2. Another employee escorted Plaintiff to a private room to assess his injuries, id. ¶ 3, and once there administered, without Plaintiff's consent, "unidentified liquid drops directly into the Plaintiff's left eye," id. ¶ 5. After receiving the eye drops, Plaintiff became disoriented, fell forward, hit his head against a door, and lost consciousness. Id. ¶ 7. Plaintiff was treated at a local hospital emergency room for a contusion from the initial impact of the roulette wheel ball and a concussion related to his fall. Id. ¶ 8. Since the incident, Plaintiff has suffered from blurred vision, an occasional loss of coordination, and regular post-traumatic stress headaches. Id. ¶ 9.

Though his complaint is less than clear, Plaintiff appears to advance two claims.

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First, he alleges that his injuries were caused by "negligent and willful misconduct by the Defendant's employees" and "Defendant's negligent operation of its roulette wheel." Id. ¶ 10. Second, he alleges that the unconsented act of putting liquid in his eye amounted to battery. Id. Count 2 ¶ 2. Plaintiff seeks to hold Defendant Cordish Companies, Inc. ("Cordish") liable for his injuries because Cordish "owns and operates Maryland Live! Casino" and conducts business in the District of Columbia. Id. Parties ¶ 2. According to the Amended Complaint, Defendant "purposefully directs activities towards" residents of the District of Columbia through advertisements placed on District of Columbia "television stations with the aim of attracting" its residents to Maryland Live!. Id. Jurisdiction and Venue ¶ 3.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Dismissal Because Cordish Claims Not to Own Maryland Live!

The court turns first to Defendant's contention, ostensibly brought under Rule 12(b)(6), that the complaint must be dismissed because it does not own or operate Maryland Live! and, therefore, cannot be held liable for the alleged tortious acts of the casino's employees.

1. Standard of Review

Before addressing the merits of that argument, the court must decide the applicable standard of review. When considering a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), courts are permitted only to consider matters within the complaint. Those include "the facts alleged in the complaint, documents attached as exhibits or incorporated by reference in the complaint, or documents upon which the plaintiff's complaint necessarily relies even if the document is" produced by the defendant on the motion to dismiss. Hinton v. Corrections Corp. of America, 624 F.Supp.2d 45, 46 (D.D.C.2009) (citations omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted). On the other hand, if the parties present matters "outside" the complaint, the "motion must be treated as one for summary judgment under Rule 56." Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(d).

Here, Defendant's "motion to dismiss" was accompanied by a sworn affidavit from its attorney, Chris Haboian, which makes several outside-the-complaint assertions, including that Cordish "does not own or operate the Maryland Live! Casino" and that no Cordish employees work at the casino or were involved in the incident. Mot to Dismiss, Haboian Aff. ¶¶ 3–4. Additionally, Defendant filed a "Supplemental Reply In Support of Motion to Dismiss," ECF No. 11, in which it submitted a second sworn affidavit from Haboian. Supp. Haboian Aff., Mar 16, 2015, ECF No. 11–1. Like the first affidavit, the second affidavit states additional facts about Cordish's alleged non-ownership of Maryland Live! See id. ¶¶ 5–7. Because these affidavits are matters outside the complaint, Rule 12(d) directs the court to treat Defendant's motion not as one to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), but as one for summary judgment under Rule 56.

When, as here, a motion to dismiss is converted to one for summary judgment, the court must determine whether there is a genuine issue of material fact. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). See also Mazaleski v. Treusdell, 562 F.2d 701, 708 (D.C.Cir.1977) (treating the district court's ruling as an award of summary judgment for appellees and finding "the applicable standard of review [is] whether there existed any genuine issue of material fact"). A genuine dispute over a material fact exists when "a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party."

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Anderson v. Liber ty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The court must review the evidence "in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party" and all inferences should be drawn in favor of the nonmoving party. Talavera v. Shah, 638 F.3d 303, 308 (D.C.Cir.2011) (citing Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505 ). The court should grant summary judgment in favor of the defendant if the plaintiff, "after adequate time for discovery," is unable to make a showing to establish an essential element of its case for which it will bear the burden of proof at trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

2. There is a Genuine Dispute of Fact as to Cordish's Ownership of Maryland Live!

On the limited record before it, the court finds that there exists a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether Cordish owns Maryland Live!. As discussed, with its motion, Cordish submitted an affidavit from...