SARAH S. VANCE, District Judge.
Before the Court is defendants' motion to dismiss plaintiff PBS LLC's Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act claim pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).
This case arises from a business dispute involving the purchase of two hotels. In the spring of 2019, plaintiff PBS, LLC, began negotiations with defendant Gonzales Lodging to purchase a hotel in Gonzales, Louisiana.
The parties subsequently negotiated addenda to each purchase agreement in an attempt to address PBS's concerns.
In late July, PBS informed both defendants that it was terminating the purchase agreements and requested a refund on the initial deposits.
PBS brought suit against both Hammond Lodging and Gonzales Lodging, alleging a breach of contract claim and a claim under the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. Plaintiff also seeks treble damages and attorneys' fees' under LUTPA.
When considering a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6), the Court must accept all well-pleaded facts as true and view the facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. See Baker v. Putnal, 75 F.3d 190, 196 (5th Cir. 1996). The Court must resolve doubts as to the sufficiency of the claim in the plaintiff's favor. Vulcan Materials Co. v. City of Tehuacana, 238 F.3d 382, 387 (5th Cir. 2001). But to survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a party must plead "sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to `state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.'" Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). The claim must be dismissed if there are insufficient factual allegations to raise the right to relief above the speculative level, Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, or if it is apparent from the face of the complaint that there is an insuperable bar to relief, Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 215 (2007). The Court is not bound to accept as true legal conclusions couched as factual allegations. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679.
On a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the Court must limit its review to the contents of the pleadings, including attachments thereto. Brand Coupon Network, L.L.C. v. Catalina Mktg. Corp., 748 F.3d 631, 635 (5th Cir. 2014). The Court may also consider documents attached to a motion to dismiss or an opposition to that motion when the documents are referred to in the pleadings and are central to a plaintiff's claims. Id.
Defendants move to dismiss only plaintiff's claim under the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. LUTPA prohibits "[u]nfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce." La. R. S. 51:1405(A). Louisiana courts employ a two-prong test to sustain a cause of action under LUTPA: "(1) the person must suffer an ascertainable loss; and (2) the loss must result from another's use of unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices." NOLA 180 v. Treasure Chest Casino, LLC, 91 So.3d 446, 450 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2012). To establish a LUTPA claim, a plaintiff must show that "the alleged conduct offends established public policy and is immoral, unethical, oppressive, unscrupulous, or substantially injurious." Cheramie Servs., Inc. v. Shell Deepwater Prod., 35 So.3d 1053, 1059 (La. 2010) (citing Moore v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 364 So.2d 630, 633 (La. App. 2 Cir. 1978)). LUTPA covers only a narrow range of prohibited practices, "including fraud, misrepresentations, and similar conduct, not mere negligence." Quality Envtl. Processes, Inc. v. I.P. Petroleum Co., Inc., 144 So.3d 1011, 1025 (La. 2014). Moreover, conduct violates LUTPA only if "it is undertaken with the specific intent to harm the competitor." United Grp. of Nat. Paper Distribs., Inc. v. Vinson, 666 So.2d 1338, 1346 (La. App. 2 Cir. 1996).
Defendants do not dispute that plaintiff pleaded an ascertainable loss. Rather, they argue that plaintiff has failed to adequately plead that defendants engaged in unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices. Plaintiff points to two acts by defendants that it believes establish its LUTPA claim: (1) sending signature pages to PBS's manager without sending the pages to its legal counsel or representatives, and (2) delaying in providing certain due diligence materials during the due diligence period. The Court considers each act in turn.
Plaintiff first alleges that on June 6, 2019, "with knowledge that PBS and its representatives had not agreed upon all terms of the proposed purchase agreements," defendants "delivered pages for two separate purchase agreements to the manager of PBS."
But plaintiff does not allege that any misrepresentations were made to the manager. For example, it does not allege that defendants represented to the manager that plaintiff's concerns had been resolved. Rather, it seems the manager simply signed the signature pages on the assumption the concerns had been resolved, without checking with PBS's legal representatives. And even if the delivery of the signature pages did constitute a misrepresentation, any prejudice would be remedied by the addenda the parties negotiated to address PBS's concerns.
Plaintiff also argues that it maintains a LUTPA claim because defendants "intentionally refused to provide adequate due diligence materials to PBS during the Due Diligence Period, to deny PBS any opportunity to fully vet the deals," and "intentionally delayed the due diligence materials to push negotiations past the due diligence deadline and force PBS into paying additional earnest money and consummate the purchase agreements."
Plaintiff's complaint does allege that defendants purposefully delayed providing plaintiff certain due diligence materials.
Indeed, the contracts themselves even anticipated a potential delay in the exchange of due diligence materials, and therefore included a provision stating that "[a]ny unreasonable delay intentionally caused by Seller shall extend the provisions applicable to the same in the contract for the same amount of days of said delay."
For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS defendants' motion to dismiss plaintiff's LUTPA claim.