JOHN F. KEENAN, District Judge.
Before the Court is Plaintiff Confido Advisors, LLC's ("Plaintiff" or "Confido") motion for leave to amend their complaint. For the reasons stated below, this motion is denied.
The Court assumes familiarity with the facts and defined terms in its previous Opinion and Order (the "September 6 Order").
Plaintiff and then-Plaintiff John Rodriguez brought this action on March 21, 2017 before the Supreme Court of New York, New York County. On July 24, 2017, Defendant removed this action to this Court. The initial complaint alleged causes of action for (1) breach of contract, (2) misrepresentation,
On September 15, 2017, Defendant moved to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 12(b)(6). On September 6, 2018, the Court granted Defendant's motion in part, but denied it in part.
On October 10, 2018, Confido brought the instant action hoping to reinstate one of its breach of contract claims and its claim for fraudulent concealment.
Leave to amend should be freely granted when justice so requires. Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). "Nonetheless, the Court may deny leave if the amendment (1) has been delayed unduly, (2) is sought for dilatory purposes or is made in bad faith, (3) [would prejudice the opposing party], or (4) would be futile."
Accordingly, in evaluating Plaintiffs' motion to amend, the Court will consider whether the proposed Amended Verified Complaint (the "Amended Complaint") cures the deficiencies the Court identified in its September 6 Order. In so doing, "the Court treats all factual allegations in the [Amended Complaint] as true and draws all reasonable inferences" in Plaintiff's favor.
Plaintiff brought this action to reinstate its claims for breach of contract based on Defendant's failure to include Suhyup and SNU on the Tail Period Prospects List and fraudulent concealment. The Court will consider each in turn.
To establish a breach of contract under New York law, a plaintiff must show "(1) the existence of an agreement, (2) adequate performance of the contract by the [claimant], (3) breach of contract by the [defendant], and (4) damages."
In the Amended Complaint, Plaintiff attempts to reinstate its claim for breach of contract based on Defendant's failure to include Suhyup and SNU on the Tail Period Prospects List. (Pl.'s Mem. of L. in Supp. at 4, ECF No. 26 (filed Oct. 10, 2018) [hereinafter "Mem."].) The Court originally dismissed this claim because (1) the original complaint failed to identify any contractual provision that Defendant breached by failing to put Suhyup and SNU on the Tail Period Prospects List and (2) Plaintiff could not use the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing—which Plaintiff alleged Defendant violated—to add wholly new terms to the contract.
Plaintiff now argues that Defendant's failure (1) to include Suhyup and SNY on the Tail Period Prospects List and (2) to inform Confido of their eventual investment were in violation of paragraphs 2.02 and 4.04 of the original Consulting Agreement and paragraph 13 of the Third Amendment to the Consulting Agreement. (Mem. at 4.) Plaintiff further argues that Defendant's violation of its specific duties of disclosure under these provisions violated the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing by frustrating "Plaintiff's commercial purpose in entering into the contract and defeat[ing] [its] ability to account for and police [its] rights." (
The Court has closely reviewed the Amended Compliant and finds that it remains void of any allegations explaining how Defendant's failure to include these two prospective investors on the Tail Period Prospects List violates paragraph 2.02. Further, paragraph 13 of the Third Amendment to the Consulting Agreement only obligates Confido—not Defendant—to take action and, thus, also fails to explain how it could possibly relate to Defendant's alleged violation. (ECF No. 25-6 ¶ 13.)
Paragraph 4.04 of the original Consulting Agreement provides that Defendant "shall send Confido a statement within ten (10) days after the end of the quarter showing the total capital commitment for each Qualifying Investor, together with the amount of capital drawn down during the immediately preceding quarter." (Am. Verified Compl. ¶ 45, ECF No. 25-8 (filed Oct. 10, 2018) [hereinafter "Am. Compl."].) Since Suhyup was on the Approved Prospects List, it was a Qualifying Investor as defined in Section 1.01(kk). (
As the Amended Complaint lacks sufficient factual allegations as to SNU's investment to even show the breach element, Plaintiff has also failed to adequately plead a breach of contract claim as to that investment.
Finally, Plaintiff's argument that Defendant's failure to include these investments on the Tail Period Prospects List violated the covenant of good faith and fair dealing fails for the same reasons the Court identified in the September 6 Order.
"A claim for fraudulent concealment must allege (1) nondisclosure of (2) material facts, in the face of (3) a duty to disclose, (4) scienter, (5) reliance, and (6) damages."
In the September 6 Order, the Court held that Plaintiff had not adequately established a duty to speak since (1) Plaintiff had failed to identify the "incomplete statements" that Defendant made with the specificity Rule 9(b) requires and (2) the Court found Plaintiff's "superior knowledge" theory to be implausible.
To comply with Rule 9(b), a complaint must: "(1) specify the statements that the plaintiff contends were fraudulent, (2) identify the speaker, (3) state where and when the statements were made, and (4) explain why the statements were fraudulent."
Here, Plaintiff argues that Defendant made "incomplete statements" in which they "falsely stated that [prospective investors Suhyup and SNU] had expressed no interest to invest, concealing the fact and content of communications which they knew were occurring and which evidenced the contrary." (Mem. at 7 (citing Am. Compl. ¶¶ 38-47).) The Amended Complaint specifies that Defendant's employee Susan Wallace stated in a December 10, 2015 email to Plaintiff that Suhyup had not indicated an interest in investing. (Am. Compl. ¶ 37.) This was allegedly fraudulent because Suhyup had shown interest in investing "as early as March of 2015" and, indeed, eventually invested. (
Defendant argues that the Amended Complaint still fails to adequately establish a duty to speak since the statements about Suhyup were not "partial or ambiguous" such that their "full meaning will only be made clear after complete disclosure," but rather were simply "false when made." (Def.'s Opp. to Pl.'s Mot. at 11, ECF No. 28 (filed Oct. 24, 2018) (quoting
In the September 6 Order, the Court found that the original complaint failed to pled that Defendant had a duty to speak under a "superior knowledge" theory as it was "implausible" that knowledge of Suhyup and SNU's investments was not readily available to Plaintiff given that it had introduced these investors to Defendant.
Plaintiff argues—without citation or specific details—that the "facts as re-pleaded make it obvious that Defendant had superior knowledge of these material facts and knew the representations to be false when Confido accepted them." (Mem. at 7.) The Court is unconvinced. The Amended Complaint still contains allegations that Plaintiff introduced SNU and Suhyup to Defendant. (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 30, 35, 46.) It also alleges that Plaintiff regularly contacted Suhyup and SNU about their investment interests during this period. (
For the above-stated reasons, Plaintiff's motion for leave to amend is DENIED as futile. Plaintiff's breach of contract claim based on Defendant's failure to include Suhyup and SNU on the Tail Period Prospects List and its fraudulent concealment claim are, therefore, dismissed with prejudice.
The Clerk of Court is directed to terminate the motion docketed at ECF No. 24.