A federal court in New Jersey denied plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration or leave to file an interlocutory appeal challenging the court’s decision to grant defendants’ motion to transfer the case to the Western District of New York. Minnebo v. Metal Supermarkets Franchising Am. Inc., 2024 WL 1928458 (D.N.J. Apr. 30, 2024). Minnebo alleged Metal Supermarkets fraudulently induced Minnebo to enter into a franchise agreement that was designed to fail and impermissibly terminated the franchise agreement without cause in violation of the New Jersey Franchise Practices Act (NJFPA), along with other New York and common law claims. Metal Supermarkets removed the suit to federal court and the District of New Jersey granted Metal Supermarkets Franchising’s motion to transfer the matter to New York.
The New Jersey court denied Minnebo’s motion to reconsider the transfer, determining that the controlling law on the issue had not changed since the suit was filed and Minnebo did not present new evidence that was previously unavailable. Further, Minnebo failed to state a claim under the NJFPA in the amended complaint because it did not allege facts sufficient to meet the second prong of such a claim: “gross sales of products or services between the franchisor and franchisee covered by such franchise shall have exceeded $35,000.00 for the 12 months next preceding the institution of suit.” Without a viable NJFPA claim, the forum selection clause in the contract could not be considered presumptively invalid. The court also denied the alternative motion for leave to file an interlocutory appeal, as an appeal would not eliminate the need for a trial nor eliminate a complex issue that would complicate a future trial. Instead, the court reasoned that granting the motion would have only delayed the matter further. The court noted that even if the criteria to appeal the decision had been met, the court retained its discretion in evaluating and certifying the interlocutory appeal.
*Pierce Rose is a Summer Associate for Lathrop GPM who contributed to the writing of this post.