Opinion ID: 4530507
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Count III—Civil Conspiracy

Text: ¶37. Finally, we affirm the chancellor’s dismissal of the State’s civil-conspiracy claim. ¶38. Because the State had no statutory claims, the chancellor ruled the State had no civilconspiracy claim, citing Wells v. Shelter General Insurance Co., 217 F. Supp. 2d 744, 75455 (S.D. Miss. 2002). On appeal, the State does not argue that its civil-conspiracy claim was based on anything other than its statutory claims. In fact, the State argues on appeal that the chancellor erred because it “relied on the Defendants’ violations of the MCPA and MAA as the underlying wrongs in its claim for civil conspiracy.” ¶39. In claiming error, the State relies on this Court’s recent decision in Rex Distributing Co., Inc. v. Anheuser-Busch, LLC, 271 So. 3d 445, 455 (Miss. 2019). As in this case, the plaintiff in Rex Distributing, in addition to a statutory-violation claim, brought a civilconspiracy claim based on the alleged statutory violation. The defendant argued this count had to be dismissed because there was no underlying tort. This Court rejected that argument because “there [wa]s an underlying wrong”—Anheuser Busch’s alleged violation of the Beer Industry Fair Dealing Act. Id. at 455 (emphasis added). But, in sharp contrast to this case, the Rex Distributing plaintiff’s alleged statutory claim survived Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal. Id. at 451. That is not the case here. In this case, the State’s complaint failed to state a claim on which relief can be granted under the MCPA or MAA. So, unlike Rex Distributing, there is no alleged underlying wrong. ¶40. Because the State’s statutory claims do not survive Rule 12(b)(6), its civil-conspiracy claim based solely on these alleged statutory violations cannot either. Cf. In re Microsoft 22 Corp. Antitrust Litig., No. CIV. JFM 03-743, 2003 WL 22070561, at  (D. Md. Aug. 22, 2003) (dismissing a civil-conspiracy claim based on a non-viable MAA claim). ¶41. AFFIRMED. RANDOLPH, C.J., KITCHENS AND KING, P.JJ., COLEMAN, BEAM, CHAMBERLIN, ISHEE AND GRIFFIS, JJ., CONCUR. 23