Source: http://pa.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20180319_0000378.WPA.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 21:11:05+00:00

Document:
Before the Court are Defendants Vincent Gemma (“Gemma”), and Everest Insurance, LLC, Everest Consulting Group, L.P.,  and Everest Consulting Group, LLC's (collectively, “Everest Defendants”), motions to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). (Doc. Nos. 46, 49.) For the reasons that follow, the Court will grant in part and deny in part the motions to dismiss.
Subsequently, on March 30, 2017, Gemma and the Everest Defendants each filed the instant motions to dismiss the amended complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) (Doc. Nos. 46, 49.) Gemma submitted a brief in support of his motion on March 30, 2017. (Doc. No. 47.) Liberty Mutual submitted a brief in opposition to Gemma's motion to dismiss on April 28, 2017. (Doc. No. 55.) Gemma did not submit a reply brief. As to their motion, the Everest Defendants submitted a brief in support on March 30, 2017. (Doc. No. 50.) Liberty Mutual submitted a brief in opposition to the Everest Defendants' motion to dismiss on April 28, 2017. (Doc. No. 54.) On May 5, 2017, the Everest Defendants filed a reply brief. (Doc. No. 56.) Accordingly, as they are either fully briefed, or the requisite time period for responsive briefing has expired, both motions are ripe for disposition.
As a result of its relationship with Northwood, Liberty Mutual “received a significant number of customer leads and developed a significant number of policyholders.” (Id. ¶ 38.) In addition, “Liberty Mutual offered, and Northwood accepted, substantial discounts off Liberty Mutual's insurance pricing for Northwood and its customers.” (Id. ¶ 41.) Gemma continued to act as Liberty Mutual's primary contact person with respect to Northwood (Id. ¶ 42), and from November 9, 2015 to April 7, 2016 (the date of Gemma's resignation), Gemma “sold over 100 policies to customers of Northwood” on behalf of Liberty Mutual (Id. ¶ 44).
[S]ell or attempt to sell products or services of the type or kind offered by or through the Company to any person, company or organization to whom [he] previously provided any service or to whom [he] previously quoted or sold insurance products offered by or through the Company during the last twelve months of [his] employment with the Company.
[C]ontact, advise, induce or assist any policyholder or prospective policyholder of the Company, to whom insurance obtained from or through the Company was sold or quoted, be it a person, company or organization, to reduce, replace, lapse, surrender or cancel any insurance obtained from or through the Company.
[S]olicit or attempt to solicit the purchase of products or services of the type or kind offered by or through the Company by, or contact, any person, company or organization to whom [he] previously provided any service or to whom [he] previously quoted or sold insurance products offered by or through the Company during the last twelve months of [his] employment with the Company.
contact, solicit or attempt to solicit the purchase of products or services of the type or kind offered by or through the Company, or the establishment of any group discount program with any affinity account, group savings plus account, marketing or networking account (including but not limited to mortgage companies, auto dealers, and real estate companies) for whom [he] served as the Company contact during the last twelve months of [his] employment with the Company.
(Id. ¶ 62) (alterations in original).
Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure authorizes a defendant to move to dismiss a complaint for “failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). The legal standards governing pleading practice in federal court have shifted to a “more heightened form of pleading, requiring a plaintiff to plead more than the possibility of relief to survive a motion to dismiss.” Fowler v. UPMC Shadyside, 578 F.3d 203, 210 (3d Cir. 2009). To avoid dismissal, all civil complaints must set out “sufficient factual matter” to show that the claim is facially plausible. Id. The plausibility standard requires more than a mere possibility that the defendant is liable for the alleged misconduct. Indeed, “where the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged - but it has not ‘show[n]' - ‘that the pleader is entitled to relief.'” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679 (2009) (citing Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2)). Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007).
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has identified the following steps a district court must take when evaluating the sufficiency of a complaint's allegations as tested against a Rule 12(b)(6) motion: (1) identify the elements a plaintiff must plead to state a claim; (2) discard any conclusory allegations contained in the complaint “not entitled” to the assumption of truth; and (3) determine whether any “well-pleaded factual allegations” contained in the complaint “plausibly give rise to an entitlement to relief.” See Santiago v. Warminster Twp., 629 F.3d 121, 130 (3d Cir. 2010) (citation and quotation marks omitted).
In evaluating whether a complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, the court must accept as true all factual allegations in the complaint and construe all reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. See In re Ins. Brokerage Antitrust Litig., 618 F.3d 300, 314 (3d Cir. 2010). A court “need not credit a complaint's ‘bald assertions' or ‘legal conclusions' when deciding a motion to dismiss, ” Morse v. Lower Merion Sch. Dist., 132 F.3d 902, 906 (3d Cir. 1997), and must disregard any “formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555. Additionally, a court may not assume that a plaintiff can prove facts that the plaintiff has not alleged. Associated Gen. Contractors of Cal. v. Cal. State Council of Carpenters, 459 U.S. 519, 526 (1983). In deciding a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the court may consider, in addition to the facts alleged on the face of the complaint, any exhibits attached to the complaint, “any ‘matters incorporated by reference or integral to the claim, items subject to judicial notice, [and] matters of public record.'” Buck v. Hampton Twp. Sch. Dist., 452 F.3d 256, 260 (3d Cir. 2006) (quoting 5B Charles A. Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice & Procedure, § 1357 (3d ed. 2004)).

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 § 1357