Opinion ID: 2982211
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Sufficiency of Ram’s Pleading

Text: Parties litigating in federal court due to diversity must comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, including Rule 9, which requires a party pleading fraud to “state with particularity the circumstances constituting fraud.” F.R.C.P. 9(b). Therefore, although Michigan law governs with respect to the substantive elements of fraud, we first consider whether Ram has met the pleading requirement. See Minger v. Green, 239 F.3d 793, 800 (6th Cir. 2001). To comply with Rule 9(b), “a plaintiff must at a minimum allege the time, place and contents of the misrepresentation(s) upon which he relied.” Bender v. Southland Corp., 749 F.2d 1205, 1216 (6th Cir. 1984). Three paragraphs of Ram’s amended complaint—filed after ADT moved for Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal—miss the mark, as they convey the general content of ADT’s alleged representations, but not the particular time or place that they were made. Paragraph 56 reads, “Defendant through its agent made material representations regarding the reliability of its monitoring services when it first solicited Plaintiffs’ business,” but the complaint does not state here, or anywhere else, the actual content of those “material representations.” Paragraph 57 is similarly vague, stating, “Defendant made several misrepresentations through its advertisements and through statements made to Plaintiffs.” Paragraph 60 is specific as to the content of ADT’s alleged representations, but fails to explain when and where such representations were made—whether in an agreement exchanged between the parties, orally, or by some other means. Although we may consider the sales agreement attached as an exhibit to Ram’s amended complaint, see Bassett, 528 -8- No. 12-2023 Ram Int’l, Inc. v. ADT Sec. Serv’s, Inc. F.3d at 430, these particular representations do not appear in the agreement. Thus, the allegations addressed above do not comply with Rule 9(b). In contrast, a separate allegation in the complaint does contain sufficient information to meet the pleading requirement. In paragraph 58, Ram alleges that ADT “made representation about its UL Central Station Burglar Alarm System” in the UL Certificate, “which ADT knew or should have reasonably known . . . were [sic] blatantly false.” Paragraph 59 identifies the content of the alleged misrepresentation: that ADT was able to comply with UL standards. This information arguably fulfills Rule 9’s requirement that the plaintiff identify the time, place, and content of the misrepresentations, since the complaint supplies additional information pertaining to the UL Certificate. Furthermore, in subsequent paragraphs, Ram properly alleges that the fraudulent statements were false, that ADT knew they were false and intended to induce reliance, and that Ram indeed relied on the statements and suffered damages. See Bennett v. MIS Corp., 607 F.3d 1076, 1100–1101 (6th Cir. 2011) (setting forth requirements for pleading Michigan law fraud claim with particularity). Ram argues on appeal that if indeed its allegations of fraud are not stated with sufficient particularity, it should be given permission to amend its complaint. The record from the district court shows that Ram had already submitted an amended complaint, and that it did so after ADT had moved for judgment on the pleadings, in part on the argument that Ram had failed to plead fraud with sufficient particularity. Given that Ram had notice, before appealing to this Court, that its pleadings may have been deficient, we are not inclined at this point to give Ram an additional opportunity to amend. Cf. Roskam Baking Co. v. Lanham Machinery Co., 288 F.3d 895, 906 (6th -9- No. 12-2023 Ram Int’l, Inc. v. ADT Sec. Serv’s, Inc. Cir. 2002) (holding that district court had not abused its discretion in denying plaintiff’s motion to amend complaint). Therefore, Ram’s only allegation of fraud that survives Rule 9(b) pertains to ADT’s allegedly fraudulent statements in the UL Certificate, which, according to paragraph 59 of the complaint, represented that ADT was able to comply with UL standards.