Source: http://nc.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20180326_0000099.MNC.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 12:12:57+00:00

Document:
FindACase | Modern Automotive Network, LLC v. Eastern Alliance Insurance Co.
Modern Automotive Network, LLC v. Eastern Alliance Insurance Co.
EASTERN ALLIANCE INSURANCE GROUP, EASTERN ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY, EASTERN ADVANTAGE ASSURANCE COMPANY, and ALLIED EASTERN INDEMNITY COMPANY, Defendants.
This matter is before the Court on Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Complaint. (ECF No. 9.) Plaintiff, Modern Automotive Network, LLC, initiated this action on January 20, 2017, in the Superior Court of Forsyth County, North Carolina, alleging state-law claims of breach of contract, negligent claims handling, and two claims of unfair and deceptive trade practices. (ECF No. 4.) Defendants, Eastern Alliance Insurance Group (“EAIG”), Eastern Alliance Insurance Company (“EAIC”), Eastern Advantage Assurance Company (“EAAC”), and Allied Eastern Indemnity Company (“AEIC”), removed the action to this Court. (ECF No. 1.) The Court has jurisdiction to hear this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332. (Id. ¶ 3.) For the reasons stated below, the motion to dismiss presently before the Court will be granted in part and denied in part.
In September 2016, Plaintiff's counsel “wrote to [Defendants] . . . instruct[ing] [Defendants] that [a] payment [owed] of $200, 000 was disputed and that [Defendants were] not to make a claim on the Letter of Credit.” (Id. ¶ 77.) Defendants nevertheless “made a claim on the Letter of Credit on December 29, 2016 in the amount of $202, 374.80, plus a draw fee of $535.94.” (Id. ¶ 79.) Plaintiff brought suit in January 2017, (ECF No. 4), and following removal, Defendants have filed a motion to dismiss the Complaint, (ECF No. 9).
A motion made under Rule 12(b)(6) challenges the legal sufficiency of the facts in the complaint, specifically whether the Complaint satisfies the pleading standard under Rule 8(a)(2). Francis v. Giacomelli, 588 F.3d 186, 192 (4th Cir. 2009). Rule 8(a)(2) requires a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2). While a complaint need not contain detailed factual allegations, “a plaintiff's obligation to provide the ‘grounds' of his ‘entitlement to relief' requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007). Rather, the “[f]actual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Id. In other words, “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, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570). A claim is plausible when the complaint alleges sufficient facts to allow “the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Johnson v. Am. Towers, LLC, 781 F.3d 693, 709 (4th Cir. 2015) (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678).
When considering a motion to dismiss, “a [district] court evaluates the complaint in its entirety, as well as documents attached [to] or incorporated into the complaint.” E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. v. Kolon Indus., Inc., 637 F.3d 435, 448 (4th Cir. 2011). A district court evaluating a motion brought under Rule 12(b)(6) can also “consider a document submitted by the movant that was not attached to or expressly incorporated in a complaint, so long as the document was integral to the complaint and there is no dispute about the document's authenticity.” Goines v. Valley Cmty. Servs. Bd., 822 F.3d 159, 166 (4th Cir. 2016). Going “beyond these documents on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion . . . converts the motion into one for summary judgment, ” and “[s]uch conversion is not appropriate where the parties have not had an opportunity for reasonable discovery.” E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co., 637 F.3d at 448.

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