Petersen v. Boeing Co., No. 11-18075 (9th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff brought suit against Boeing and BISS alleging breach of contract as well as several statutory and common law claims. At issue was the enforceability of a forum selection clause. The court held that the evidence submitted and the allegations made by plaintiff were more than sufficient to create a triable issue of fact as to whether the forum selection clause at issue here was enforceable under M/S Bremen v. Zapata Off-Shores Co. Therefore, the district court abused its discretion by granting BISS's motion to dismiss without convening an evidentiary hearing. The district court also abused its discretion in denying plaintiff leave to amend his pleadings. Accordingly, the court reversed and remanded. The court did, however, grant Boeing's and BISS's joint motion to strike the portions of plaintiff's reply brief that included new evidence or alleged new facts not in the record before the district court.
Court Description: Forum Selection Clause. The panel reversed the district court’s order dismissing the action under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(3) for improper venue based on a forum selection clause in an employment agreement. The panel held that the evidence submitted and the allegations made by appellant were more than sufficient to create a triable issue of fact as to whether the forum selection clause at issue was enforceable under M/S Bremen v. Zapata Off-Shores Co., 407 U.S. 1 (1972). The panel also held that the district court abused its discretion by dismissing on the basis of the forum selection clause without holding an evidentiary hearing as to whether appellant was induced to assent to the forum selection clause through fraud or overreaching. Finally, the panel held that the district court abused its discretion in denying appellant leave to amend his pleadings.
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