American Corporate Society v. Valley Forge Insurance , 424 F. App'x 86 ( 2011 )

ALD-158 NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
___________
No. 10-3560
___________
AMERICAN CORPORATE SOCIETY;
DR. MAX ANTOINE
v.
VALLEY FORGE INSURANCE COMPANY;
CNA-INSURANCE COMPANY;
JAMES WHITE, et al
Dr. Max Antoine,
Appellant
____________________________________
On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of New Jersey
(D.C. Civil No. 09-cv-05568)
District Judge: Honorable William J. Martini
____________________________________
Submitted for Possible Summary Action Pursuant to
Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6
April 7, 2011
Before: SCIRICA, HARDIMAN and VANASKIE, Circuit Judges
(Opinion filed: April 20, 2011)
_________
OPINION
_________
PER CURIAM
Appellant Max Antoine, proceeding pro se, appeals from the District Court‟s order
dismissing his complaint.1 For the reasons that follow, we will summarily affirm.
I
In April 2009, law enforcement officials conducted a raid on the Bloomfield, New
Jersey office of Antoine‟s company, ACS. Antoine was arrested during the raid. After
the raid, Antoine contacted ACS‟s property insurer, Valley Forge Insurance Company,
and submitted a claim for property damage, alleging that the office sustained damage
during and after the raid because authorities left it unsecured for three days afterwards.
Valley Forge investigated the matter, but ultimately denied ACS‟s claim because the
damage fell within the policy‟s “governmental action” exclusion -- i.e., ACS‟s policy did
not cover damage caused directly or indirectly “by order of governmental authority.”
Antoine and ACS then filed in New Jersey Superior Court a complaint against
Valley Forge, claims adjuster James White, and “CNA Insurance Company,” which
included 10 counts:
1
To the extent that Antoine also seeks to appeal the District Court‟s order on
behalf of his company, American Corporate Society (“ACS”), he cannot do so because a
corporation may appear and be represented in this Court only by a licensed attorney who
is also a member of this Court‟s bar. See Simbraw, Inc. v. United States, 367 F.2d 373,
373-75 (3d Cir. 1966). Accordingly, as to any claims against ACS, the appeal is
dismissed.
2
Count 22: breach of contract and insurance fraud;
Count 3: violation of good faith and fair finance dealing;
Count 4: violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and common
law fraud;
Count 5: a claim for recission of contract that was the product of fraud,
deception and malice;
Count 6: negligent hiring of adjuster James White;
Count 7: malicious prosecution;
Count 8: personal injuries resulting from the police raid;
Count 9: discrimination under the New Jersey Law Against
Discrimination, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the
Americans with Disabilities Act;
Count 10: conspiracy; and
Count 11: “Anti-Trust Law, Broad Defamation.”
The defendants removed the action to the District Court based on diversity of citizenship
and filed a motion to dismiss. The District Court granted the motion to dismiss, and
Antoine appealed.
II
We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We may affirm on any
grounds supported by the record, see Hughes v. Long, 242 F.3d 121, 122 n.1 (3d Cir.
2001), and we may summarily affirm if Antoine does not raise a substantial question on
2
Count 1 of the complaint did not assert a cause of action; rather, it recounted
relevant background facts.
3
appeal. See 3d Cir. L.A.R. 27.4; 3d Cir. I.O.P. 10.6. We review de novo a district
court‟s decision to dismiss a complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief may
be granted.3 See Dique v. N.J. State Police, 603 F.3d 181, 188 (3d Cir. 2010). “In
deciding a motion to dismiss, all well-pleaded allegations of the complaint must be taken
as true and interpreted in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, and all inferences must
be drawn in favor of them.” McTernan v. City of York, 577 F.3d 521, 526 (3d Cir. 2009)
(internal citation and quotation marks omitted). To withstand a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to
dismiss, “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to „state a
claim to relief that is plausible on its face.‟” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, __ U.S. __, 129 S. Ct.
1937, 1949 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)).
“Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory
statements, do not suffice.” Id. In addition to the complaint and any exhibits attached
thereto, we may also consider “an undisputedly authentic document . . . attache[d] as an
exhibit to [the] motion to dismiss if the plaintiff‟s claims are based on the document,”
such as ACS‟s insurance policy. See Pension Benefit Guar. Corp. v. White Consol.
Indus., 998 F.2d 1192, 1196 (3d Cir. 1993).
The District Court first reasoned that Antoine lacked standing to assert, on his own
3
The District Court also reasoned that dismissal as to CNA-Insurance was
appropriate because it is a trademark not capable of being sued. Likewise, White was
dismissed as a defendant because, in the District Court‟s view, Antoine did not establish
that the District Court could exercise personal jurisdiction over White. We do not
address these issues because, as explained below, we agree that Antoine failed to assert
any claim for which relief could be granted.
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behalf, Counts 2, 3, 5, 6, and 9, which all stemmed from his dissatisfaction with Valley
Forge‟s denial of ACS‟s insurance claim. We agree. Under New Jersey law, which the
District Court was required to apply, see Erie R.R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 78
(1938), an individual not a party to a contract may not seek enforcement of that contract
“unless it is clear that the parties to the contract intended to confer upon him the right to
enforce it.” First Nat‟l State Bank of N.J. v. Carlyle House, Inc., 246 A.2d 22, 34 (N.J.
Super. Ct. Ch. Div. 1968). As the District Court noted, the Valley Forge policy applies
solely to ACS, and nothing in the policy indicates that the parties intended for Antoine to
have a personal right of enforcement. Accordingly, the District Court properly dismissed
Counts 2, 3, 5, 6, and 9 as to Antoine.
Count 4 was also properly dismissed. Antoine alleged that Valley Forge‟s conduct
amounted to fraud under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, N.J. Stat. Ann. §§ 56:8-1,
et seq., and at common law. To establish a prima facie case under the Consumer Fraud
Act, a litigant must show: “1) unlawful conduct by the defendant; 2) an ascertainable
loss by plaintiff; and 3) a causal relationship between the unlawful conduct and the
ascertainable loss.” Bosland v. Warnock Dodge, Inc. 964 A.2d 741, 749 (N.J. 2009). We
perceive no error in the District Court‟s determination that dismissal was appropriate
because, at base, Antoine‟s allegation stemmed from his disagreement with the basis for
denying ACS‟s insurance claim, not allegedly unlawful conduct. Likewise, Antoine‟s
claim of common law fraud failed because he did not identify a material
misrepresentation by Valley Forge. See Gennari v. Weichert Co. Realtors, 691 A.2d 350,
5
367 (N.J. 1997). Valley Forge‟s mere denial of his claim is not evidence of fraudulent
misconduct, given the language of the policy exclusion.
The District Court also properly dismissed Antoine‟s malicious prosecution claim.
Antoine alleged that, after denying ACS‟s claim, Valley Forge initiated unwarranted
criminal charges against him. A litigant alleging malicious prosecution, in violation of
federal or New Jersey law, must demonstrate, inter alia, criminal proceedings brought by
the defendants against the plaintiff that ended in the plaintiff‟s favor. See Estate of Smith
v. Marasco, 318 F.3d 497, 521 (3d Cir. 2003) (federal claims); Lind v. Schmid, 337 A.2d
365, 368 (N.J. 1975). Antoine did not allege that any criminal complaint Valley Forge
may have filed resulted in criminal charges, or that such charges were resolved in his
favor.
As to Count 8, which includes Antoine‟s claim against Valley Forge for physical
and psychological injuries resulting from the police raid, we agree with the District Court
that the claim must fail. Antoine did not allege that Valley Forge had any role in the raid;
therefore Valley Forge could not be subjected to liability for personal injuries he incurred
during the raid.
We turn next to Antoine‟s Count 11, which alleges “Anti-Trust Law, Broad
Defamation.” As the District Court noted, despite the reference to “anti-trust law,”
nothing in Antoine‟s complaint suggests that Valley Forge violated the Sherman Antitrust
Act. Rather, Antoine claimed that Valley Forge defamed him by filing a criminal
6
complaint against him.4 To make out a prima facie case of defamation under New Jersey
law, Antoine had to demonstrate, inter alia, that any allegedly false statement by Valley
Forge caused him harm. However, his bare assertion that Valley Forge‟s alleged
statements “have proximately caused great public harms to the plaintiffs [sic] public
image, and business strata,” Complaint, 11, is insufficient under Iqbal to survive a motion
to dismiss.
Finally, we consider Count 10, in which Antoine alleges that Valley Forge entered
into a conspiracy against him. In New Jersey, a civil conspiracy is:
a combination of two or more persons acting in concert to
commit an unlawful act, or to commit a lawful act by
unlawful means, the principal element of which is an
agreement between the parties to inflict a wrong against or
injury upon another, and an overt act that results in damage.
Banco Popular N. Am. v. Gandi, 876 A.2d 253, 263 (N.J. 2005) (internal quotation marks
omitted). “The gist of the claim is not the unlawful agreement, but the underlying wrong
which, absent the conspiracy, would give a right of action.” Id. (internal quotation marks
omitted). We agree with the District Court that, because Antoine failed to state any other
claim for which relief could be granted, he could not prevail on a civil conspiracy claim,
and dismissal was appropriate.
Further, we agree with the District Court that it would have been futile for Antoine
to amend his complaint. See Grayson v. Mayview State Hosp., 293 F.3d 103, 108 (3d
4
We note that Valley Forge denied filing any complaint -- criminal or civil --
against Antoine or ACS.
7
Cir. 2002); Cockrell v. Sparks, 510 F.3d 1307, 1310 (11th Cir. 2007) (“Leave to amend a
complaint is futile when the complaint as amended would still be properly dismissed or
be immediately subject to summary judgment for the defendant.”). To the extent
Antoine‟s complaint included claims stemming from the police raid and the denial of
ACS‟s insurance claim, granting him leave to amend his complaint would have been
futile, as he could have presented no additional facts that would have established a basis
on which he could assert a claim for relief. As to his defamation claim, Antoine failed to
allege, in both his complaint and counseled response to the defendants‟ motion to
dismiss, any facts indicating that the defendants made a defamatory statement or that he
suffered any harm as a result.
Accordingly, we will summarily affirm.
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