GREGORY K. FRIZZELL, District Judge.
This matter is before the court on the Motion to Dismiss of defendant Daphne Hereford [Doc. No. 12] and the Motion to Dismiss Foreclosure of Lien of defendants Hereford and Rin Tin Tin Incorporated ("Rin Tin Tin Inc.") [Doc. No. 13]. Defendant Hereford contends she should be dismissed from the case pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(2) for lack of personal jurisdiction. Defendants seek dismissal of Count III of the Petition under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim or alternatively under Rule 12(b)(1) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
Plaintiff filed suit against Hereford and Rin Tin Tin Inc. in Rogers County District Court on July 28, 2010. [Doc. No. 2-1, Petition]. Defendants removed the case to federal court on September 9, 2010. [Doc. No. 2, Notice of Removal]. The Petition alleges plaintiff resides in Claremore, Oklahoma; Hereford resides in Crockett, Texas; and Rin Tin Tin Inc. is a Texas corporation located in Crockett, Texas and engaged in the business of breeding German Shepherd dogs. [Id., ¶¶ 1-3]. The dogs that are the subject of the action are located at the home of the plaintiff in Claremore. [Id., ¶ 4].
In Count I of the Petition, plaintiff alleges she entered into breeding contracts with Rin Tin Tin Inc. for the training and breeding of two German Shepherd dogs—Koko, AKC Registration # DN22880202 and Rin-Tin-Tins Rin Tin Tin, AKC Registration # DN251241/01. [Id., ¶¶ 6-7]. The Petition alleges that under the contract, the parties agreed that plaintiff would house, feed, immunize, give medical assistance to and otherwise take care of and train the dogs at her home in Claremore; and that Rin Tin Tin Inc. would have all say in breeding the dogs and would be entitled to the puppies from such breeding. [Id., ¶ 8]. In Count I of the Petition, plaintiff alleges "a dispute has arisen between the parties over the ownership and possession of both dogs," [Id., ¶ 9], and she seeks a declaration of the rights and liabilities of the parties under the agreement. [Id., ¶ 11]. Count II, pled in the alternative to Count I, seeks reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses plaintiff has incurred for providing shelter, food and training for the dogs. [Id., ¶¶ 13-14]. Count III asserts a lien against both dogs pursuant to 4 O.S. § 193 for keeping, boarding and training the dogs and seeks foreclosure of the lien pursuant to 4 O.S. § 194. [Id., ¶¶ 16-17]. Count IV alleges plaintiff purchased all contents of the Rin Tin Tin Museum from Hereford and, at Hereford's request, left certain museum items at Hereford's home. [Id., ¶ 19]. Plaintiff requests an order requiring Hereford to surrender and deliver the museum items to her. [Id., ¶¶ 20-21].
According to Hereford's affidavit, she is President and Chairman of the Board of Rin Tin Tin Inc. [Doc. No. 12-1, Affid. of Daphne Hereford, ¶ 1]. She resides in Latexo, Texas, works in Crockett, Texas, and has not visited anyone in Oklahoma for personal or business reasons in over 20 years. [Id., ¶ 2]. She has never conducted any personal business in Oklahoma. [Id., ¶ 3]. The Rin Tin Tin museum was located in Latexo, Texas. [Id., ¶ 4]. The breeding contracts were written in Texas and signed by or on behalf of both parties—Hnath and Rin Tin Tin Inc., in Texas. [Id., ¶ 5].
[Doc. No. 12-2, Breeding Contract for Rin Tin Tins Rin Tin Tin]. Hereford and Hnath were listed as co-owners of the dogs on their AKC registration certificates. [Doc. No. 12-1, Hereford Affid., ¶ 7]. Hereford states that the reason Rin Tin Tin Inc. was not listed as the owner with the AKC was that, at the time of the registrations with the AKC, it was her understanding that AKC had a policy against recording dog ownership in the name of a corporation, and that the AKC was provided with Hnath's name has well as her own to facilitate her scheduling the dogs for exhibition and other events with the AKC. [Id., ¶ 7].
Hereford states that Hnath, a board member of Rin Tin Tin Inc., orally agreed to purchase items from the Rin Tin Tin museum for $9,000 and made three trips to Texas to collect the items. [Id. ¶ 4].
Although Rin Tin Tin Inc. "has had a few business activities and/or contacts in Oklahoma in recent years," and Hereford has "been involved in those activities for the corporation via the internet and telephone," Hereford states: "I do not consider any of those activities to be my personal activities. Rather those activities have been activities of the corporation." [Id., ¶ 8].
Hereford seeks dismissal from the lawsuit based on lack of personal jurisdiction. Plaintiff contends Hereford waived her right to object to personal jurisdiction under 12 O.S. § 2012(A)(1) by filing an "Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time to Respond to Petition" in state court. Additionally, plaintiff asserts that by virtue of being listed as in AKC registration papers as a co-owner of the dogs, Hereford has purposefully directed her activities at plaintiff in Oklahoma. Finally, she contends Hereford is subject to personal jurisdiction as an officer of Rin Tin Tin Inc.
Under Oklahoma civil procedure rules:
12 O.S. § 2012(A).
On August 19, 2010, Hereford and Rin Tin Tin Inc. filed an "Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time to Respond to Petition" in Rogers County District Court. [Doc. No. 20-1]. In that motion, defendants stated:
[Id.]. Plaintiff argues that, notwithstanding this language, defendants' motion for extension resulted in the waiver of any personal
In Young v. Walton, 807 P.2d 248 (Okla. 1991), plaintiff argued that when defendants responded to his petition by making a "special appearance," they waived the defenses of improper venue and failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted under 12 O.S. § 2012(A). The court stated:
Id. at 249-50.
Here, defendants' motion for extension explicitly disclaimed any waiver of "procedural rights, objections, or defenses." Thus, under Young, the motion did not result in the waiver of Hereford's right to assert a personal jurisdiction defense.
In considering a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(2), a court must determine whether the plaintiff has alleged sufficient facts to establish the court's personal jurisdiction over the defendant. If jurisdiction is contested, the plaintiff bears the burden of establishing jurisdiction. AST Sports Science, Inc. v. CLF Dist. Ltd., 514 F.3d 1054, 1056 (10th Cir.2008). Where, as here, the question of personal jurisdiction is disputed in the preliminary stages of litigation, "the plaintiff need only make a prima facie showing of jurisdiction to defeat the motion [to dismiss]." Id. The plaintiff may make this prima facie showing by demonstrating, via affidavit or other written materials, facts that if true would support jurisdiction over the defendant. OMI Holdings, Inc. v. Royal Ins. Co. of Canada, 149 F.3d 1086, 1091 (10th Cir. 1998). The court will accept as true the allegations in plaintiff's complaint, and all factual disputes will be resolved in the plaintiff's favor. Intercon Inc. v. Bell Atl. Internet Sol'ns, 205 F.3d 1244, 1247 (10th Cir.2000) (quoting Wenz v. Memery Crystal, 55 F.3d 1503, 1505 (10th Cir.1995)).
"To obtain personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant in a diversity action, a plaintiff must show that jurisdiction is legitimate under the laws of the forum state and that the exercise of jurisdiction does not offend the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment." Far West Capital, Inc. v. Towne, 46 F.3d 1071, 1074 (10th Cir.1995). "In Oklahoma, this two-part inquiry collapses into a single due process analysis," because Oklahoma permits the exercise of personal jurisdiction to the full extent permitted by the United States Constitution. Rambo v. American S. Ins. Co., 839 F.2d 1415, 1416 (10th Cir.1998) (citing Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 2004(F)). Accordingly, the only question remaining is whether the exercise of personal jurisdiction over the nonresident defendant comports with due process. See
Plaintiff asserts the court has specific personal jurisdiction over Hereford, and an inquiry regarding minimum contacts under the general personal jurisdiction analysis is unnecessary, on two grounds: (1) Hereford is listed on AKC registration papers as a co-owner of the dogs plaintiff has kept; and (2) Hereford is subject to personal jurisdiction as an officer of the corporation.
Plaintiff alleges that since Hereford is listed in AKC registration papers as a co-owner of Koko and Rin Tin Tins Rin Tin Tin, and both dogs are located in Oklahoma, Hereford is subject to jurisdiction in this state. In Premier Corp. v. Newsom, 620 F.2d 219 (10th Circuit 1980), defendants, who lived in South Carolina, entered into contracts with Premier for the purchase and management of cattle. Id. at 222. The management contract permitted Premier to maintain the cattle wherever it wanted, and some of the cattle were kept in Colorado by Premier. Commenting, "We do not regard the fact that the defendants either knew, or could have ascertained, that some of their cattle were being cared for in Colorado to be a particularly significant fact," the court found "the totality of the facts and circumstances fails to disclose sufficient minimum contacts on the part of the defendants with the State of Colorado to justify the district court in exercising personal jurisdiction over them." Id. The court stated:
Id. at 223 quoting Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 253, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283 (1958).
The fact situation here is similar. Even assuming Hereford (as opposed to Rin Tin Tin Inc. is an owner of the dogs, that fact is not dispositive of the personal jurisdiction question. The issue, instead, is whether "the totality of the facts and circumstances" discloses sufficient minimum contacts between Hereford and Oklahoma. The breeder contracts between Rin Tin Tin Inc. and Hnath imposed no requirement on where the dogs would reside. The contracts were made and executed in Texas and plaintiff took possession of the dogs in that state and transported them to Oklahoma, where she lives. Hereford has
Plaintiff also argues that Hereford's activities and contacts with Oklahoma on behalf of Rin Tin Tin Inc., establish minimum contacts with the state.
As a general rule, courts may not exercise jurisdiction over individual officers or employees of business entities merely on the basis of contacts sufficient to justify exercise of personal jurisdiction over the business entity. Calder v. Jones, 465 U.S. 783, 104 S.Ct. 1482, 79 L.Ed.2d 804 (1984). Under the fiduciary shield doctrine, exercise of personal jurisdiction over an individual may not be based solely on acts the individual performed in a purely representative capacity. See Home-Stake Production Company v. Talon Petroleum C.A., 907 F.2d 1012, 1017 (10th Cir.1990). The Tenth Circuit has articulated the relevant part of the fiduciary shield analysis as follows:
Id. at 1018, quoting Marine Midland Bank, N.A. v. Miller, 664 F.2d 899, 903 (2d Cir.1981). The Tenth Circuit in Home-Stake held that a bankruptcy trustee seeking to sue an individual who owned corporations "need only demonstrate that the corporation on whose behalf [defendant] was allegedly acting were in fact mere instrumentalities." 907 F.2d at 1018. Applying Oklahoma law, the court held a corporation may be deemed to be a mere instrumentality of an individual if (1) the corporation is undercapitalized, (2) without separate books, (3) its finances are not kept separate from individual finances, individual obligations are paid by the corporate or vice versa, (4) corporate formalities are not followed, or (5) the corporation is a mere sham. Id.
Here, however, plaintiff has neither alleged nor provided any evidence that Rin Tin Tin Inc. was a "mere instrumentality" of Hereford. Thus, there is no basis for the court to attribute the acts of Hereford on behalf of the corporation to Hereford herself.
The court concludes the totality of the facts and circumstances fails to disclose sufficient minimum contacts on the part of Hereford to justify the exercise of personal jurisdiction over her.
In Count III of the Petition, plaintiff asserts a lien under 4 O.S. § 193 for the care, feeding and training of the dogs, and seeks foreclosure of the lien. The statute provides:
193. Lien for keeping, boarding or training animal—scope
4 O.S. § 193. Enforcement of a lien arising out of Section 193 is governed by 4 O.S. § 194, which provides in pertinent part:
4 O.S. § 194.
Defendant Rin Tin Tin Inc. seeks dismissal of Count III of the Petition pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6)—failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted—and Rule 12(b)(1)—lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
Plaintiff once again asserts defendant, by filing an "Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time to Respond to Petition" in state court, waived its right to assert the defenses of failure to state a claim and lack of subject matter jurisdiction. For the reasons set forth above in Section II.A., the court rejects this assertion.
Defendants contend Count III should be dismissed pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) and Rule 12(b)(1) because it fails to allege the elements required to establish and enforce a lien under 4 O.S. §§ 193-194.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) provides that a complaint must contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." The United States Supreme Court clarified this standard in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, ruling that to withstand a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain enough allegations of fact "to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). "While a complaint attacked by a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss does not need detailed factual allegations, a plaintiff's obligation to provide the grounds of his entitle[ment] to relief requires
Under the Twombly standard, "the complaint must give the court reason to believe that this plaintiff has a reasonable likelihood of mustering factual support for these claims." Robbins v. Oklahoma, 519 F.3d 1242, 1247 (10th Cir.2008), quoting Ridge at Red Hawk, L.L.C. v. Schneider, 493 F.3d 1174, 1177 (10th Cir.2007) (emphasis in original). "The burden is on the plaintiff to frame a complaint with enough factual matter (taken as true) to suggest that he or she is entitled to relief." Robbins, 519 F.3d at 1247, citing Twombly, 127 S.Ct. at 1965 (internal quotations omitted). "Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level." Id.
In considering a motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1), the court must determine whether it has subject matter jurisdiction over the parties' claims. Rule 12(b)(1) motions are either facial or factual attacks on the sufficiency of the complaint:
Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers Int'l Union v. Cont'l Carbon Co., 428 F.3d 1285, 1292 (10th Cir. 2005) (citations omitted). Defendant assert its Rule 12(b)(1) attack is a facial rather than factual attack on Count III, and thus the court need not look beyond the allegations of the complaint.
Under 4 O.S. § 194, plaintiff's complaint must set forth her "account and a description of the property on which the lien is claimed." If publication notice is given, the notice must contain "the particulars of the account, the description of the property on which the lien is claimed, its whereabouts and the date set for the hearing of the cause." Id.
In Fields v. Sewell, 378 P.2d 846 (Okla. 1963), the Oklahoma Supreme Court upheld a trial court decision against defendant on his claim, pursuant to 4 O.S. §§ 191, 193, for a lien on a colt for pasturage of the colt and training of its mother. The court found there was substantial evidence that plaintiff had made no such agreement with defendant. Id. at 847. From this decision, it can be reasonably inferred that in order to enforce a lien under 4 O.S. § 193-194, plaintiff must establish an agreement between the parties for payment of the expenses sought.
Additionally, in Walters v. Weaver, 204 Okla. 72, 226 P.2d 931 (1950), the Oklahoma Supreme Court held that publication notice of a hearing for a lien for boarding and training of a horse was insufficient under 4 O.S. § 194 because it failed to:
Id. at 75, 226 P.2d 931. In affirming the trial court ruling, the court stated, "The requirements of the statute relative to the matters contained in the publication notice must be complied with fully before jurisdiction can be held to attach." Id.
The Petition in this case alleges plaintiff and Rin Tin Tin Inc., entered into written Breeding Contract "for the purpose of training and breeding" of Koko and Rin Tin Tins Rin Tin Tin. [Doc. No. 2-1, ¶¶ 6-7]. Further, the Petition alleges she and defendant "agreed that Plaintiff would house, feed, immunize, give medical assistance to and otherwise take care of and train the above dogs at Plaintiff's home in Claremore, Oklahoma" [Id., ¶ 8], and she "has provided and paid for food, shelter, medicine and training for both dogs in excess of $10,000.00." [Id., ¶ 13]. Count III asserts the lien foreclosure claim "for the care, feeding and training of both dogs." Accepting the allegations of the Petition as true, plaintiff has adequately pled an agreement between the parties, described the property at issue and given adequate information regarding the actual whereabouts of the property. However, nowhere in the Petition does plaintiff state the actual amount of reimbursement sought or provide any specifics concerning that amount. Thus, the Petition fails to "set forth the account," as required by 4 O.S. § 194.
This deficiency is fatal under Rule 12(b)(6) because plaintiff has failed to frame a claim with enough factual matter to suggest she is entitled to the relief sought—lien foreclosure under 4 O.S. § 194. See Robbins, 519 F.3d at 1247. Similarly, the failure to set forth an account is fatal on a jurisdictional basis. See Walters, 226 P.2d at 933.
Therefore, Count III is subject to dismissal under both Rule 12(b)(6) and Rule 12(b)(1).
For the reasons set forth above, defendant Daphne Hereford's Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction [Doc. No. 12] and defendants' Motion to Dismiss Count III Under Rule 12(b)(6) and Rule 12(b)(1) [Doc. No. 13] are granted.
12 O.S. § 2012(A).