Eric A. Knapp v. VGW Holdings Limited, VGW Luckyland, Inc., Fidelity National Information Services, Inc., and Worldpay, LLC

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Delaware granted Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. and Worldpay, LLC’s motion to dismiss Eric A. Knapp’s amended complaint. The court held that the Terms of Service’s Delaware choice-of-law provision barred Knapp’s Florida statutory claims and that the civil conspiracy claim failed to satisfy Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b). The court entered an order consistent with the memorandum opinion.

Holdings

1. The Terms of Service's Delaware choice-of-law provision barred Knapp from obtaining relief on his Florida statutory claims; Counts I, II, III, and V therefore failed to state claims upon which relief could be granted against the Moving Defendants.
2. Knapp failed to plead with particularity facts plausibly showing that an individual associated with Fidelity or Worldpay knew VGW was engaged in illegal gambling or wrongful conduct, or when and how such knowledge arose. The civil conspiracy claim in Count IV therefore failed under Rule 9(b) and Rule 12(b)(6).
3. The transferor court's prior rejection of Knapp's argument that the Terms of Service were void because they involved illegal gambling was law of the case and could not be independently reconsidered absent an applicable exception.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Delaware choice-of-law provision in VGW's Terms of Service barred Knapp from obtaining relief on statutory claims pleaded under Florida law.
2. Whether Knapp's civil conspiracy claim against Fidelity and Worldpay pleaded the defendants' knowledge and participation in the alleged fraud with the particularity required by Rule 9(b).
3. Whether Knapp's contention that the Terms of Service were void because they involved illegal gambling had already been resolved by the transferor court and was therefore barred by the law-of-the-case doctrine.

Disposition

dismissed