Warne v. Hall , 373 P.3d 588 ( 2016 )

1 Opinions of the Colorado Supreme Court are available to the
2 public and can be accessed through the Judicial Branch’s homepage at
3 http://www.courts.state.co.us. Opinions are also posted on the
4 Colorado Bar Association’s homepage at http://www.cobar.org.
5
6 ADVANCE SHEET HEADNOTE
7 June 27, 2016
8
9 2016 CO 50
0
1 No. 14SC176, Warne v. Hall—Civil Procedure—Pleading.
2
3 Warne petitioned for review of the court of appeals’ judgment reversing the
4 dismissal of Hall’s complaint, which asserted a claim of intentional interference with
5 contract. Although invited to apply the standard for dismissal articulated in Bell
6 Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007), and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662
7 (2009), the district court dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be
8 granted without addressing either Twombly or Iqbal in its written order. By contrast,
9 the court of appeals expressly declined to apply the more recent United States Supreme
0 Court jurisprudence governing Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), finding itself instead bound by
1 the Colorado Supreme Court’s existing precedent, which had heavily relied on the
2 United States Supreme Court’s earlier opinion in Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41 (1957),
3 and particularly its language to the effect that a complaint should not be dismissed for
4 failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove “no
5 set of facts” in support of his claim. Declining, therefore, to be influenced by the United
6 States Supreme Court’s more recent admonition to the federal courts that “a complaint
7 must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim for relief that is
1 plausible on its face,’” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570), the
2 court of appeals found the complaint sufficient to state a claim.
3 The Colorado Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals
4 finding the complaint to be sufficient. Because the Colorado Supreme Court’s case law
5 interpreting the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure in general, and C.R.C.P. 8 and
6 12(b)(5) in particular, reflected first and foremost a preference to maintain uniformity in
7 the interpretation of the federal and state rules of civil procedure and a willingness to
8 be guided by the United States Supreme Court’s interpretation of corresponding federal
9 rules whenever possible, rather than an intent to adhere to a particular federal
0 interpretation prevalent at some fixed point in the past, the Colorado Supreme Court
1 found that its precedent was interpreted too narrowly by the court of appeals. Because
2 it also found that the plaintiff’s complaint, when evaluated in light of the more recent
3 and nuanced analysis of Twombly and Iqbal, failed to state a plausible claim for relief,
4 the Colorado Supreme Court found the complaint insufficient under the Colorado Rules
5 of Civil Procedure.
6
2
1
2
3 The Supreme Court of the State of Colorado
4 2 East 14th Avenue • Denver, Colorado 80203
5 2016 CO 50
6 Supreme Court Case No. 14SC176
7 Certiorari to the Colorado Court of Appeals
8 Court of Appeals Case No. 12CA719
9 Petitioner:
0 Menda K. Warne,
1 v.
2 Respondent:
3 Bill J. Hall.
4 Judgment Reversed in Part and Affirmed in Part
5 en banc
6 June 27, 2016
7 Attorneys for Petitioner:
8 Vaughn & DeMuro
9 Gordon L. Vaughan
0 David R. DeMuro
1 Colorado Springs, Colorado
2
3 Attorneys for Respondent:
4 Clark Williams and Matsunaka, LLC
5 Roger E. Clark
6 Loveland, Colorado
7
8 Attorneys for Amicus Curiae Colorado Civil Justice League:
9 Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP
0 Jordan Lipp
1 Geoffrey C. Klingsporn
2 Denver, Colorado
3
4 Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell LLP
5 Terence Ridley
6 Evan Stephenson
1 Thomas Werge
2 Denver, Colorado
3
4 Attorneys for Amicus Curiae Colorado Defense Lawyers Association:
5 Jaudon & Avery LLP
6 Jared R. Ellis
7 Denver, Colorado
8
9 Attorneys for Amicus Curiae Colorado Plaintiff Employment Lawyers Association:
0 Lowrey Parady, LLC
1 Sarah J. Parady
2 Denver, Colorado
3
4 Attorneys for Amici Curiae The State of Colorado and Colorado Intergovernmental
5 Risk Sharing Agency (CIRSA):
6 Cynthia H. Coffman, Attorney General
7 Daniel D. Domenico, Solicitor General
8 Frederick R. Yarger, Assistant Solicitor General
9 Kathleen L. Spalding, Senior Assistant Attorney General
0 Matthew D. Grove, Assistant Solicitor General
1 Denver, Colorado
2
3 Colorado Intergovernmental Risk Sharing Agency (CIRSA)
4 Tami A. Tanoue, General Counsel
5 Denver, Colorado
6
7 Attorneys for Amicus Curiae The Colorado Trial Lawyers Association:
8 Leventhal & Puga, P.C.
9 Benjamin Sachs
0 David Mason
1 Denver, Colorado
2
3 Holland, Holland Edwards & Grossman, PC
4 John R. Holland
5 Denver, Colorado
6
7
8
9
0
1 JUSTICE COATS delivered the Opinion of the Court.
2 JUSTICE GABRIEL dissents, and JUSTICE MÁRQUEZ and JUSTICE HOOD join in
3 the dissent.
2
¶1 Warne petitioned for review of the court of appeals’ judgment reversing the
dismissal of Hall’s complaint, which asserted, as relevant here, a claim of intentional
interference with contract. See Hall v. Warne, No. 12CA719 (Colo. App. Jan. 23, 2014)
(not published pursuant to C.A.R. 35(f)). Although invited to apply the standard for
dismissal articulated in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007), and
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009), the district court dismissed for failure to state a
claim upon which relief could be granted without addressing either Twombly or Iqbal
in its written order. By contrast, the court of appeals expressly declined to apply the
more recent United States Supreme Court jurisprudence governing Fed. R. Civ. P.
12(b)(6), finding itself instead bound by this court’s existing precedent, which has
heavily relied on the Supreme Court’s earlier opinion in Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41
(1957), and particularly its language to the effect that a complaint should not be
dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff
can prove “no set of facts” in support of his claim. Declining, therefore, to be influenced
by the United States Supreme Court’s more recent admonition to the federal courts that
“a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim for
relief that is plausible on its face,’” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at
570), the court of appeals found the complaint sufficient to state a claim.
¶2 Because our case law interpreting the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure in
general, and C.R.C.P. 8 and 12(b)(5) in particular, reflects first and foremost a preference
to maintain uniformity in the interpretation of the federal and state rules of civil
procedure and a willingness to be guided by the Supreme Court’s interpretation of
3
corresponding federal rules whenever possible, rather than an intent to adhere to a
particular federal interpretation prevalent at some fixed point in the past, the court of
appeals too narrowly understood our existing precedent. Because the plaintiff’s
complaint, when evaluated in light of the more recent and nuanced analysis of
Twombly and Iqbal, fails to state a plausible claim for relief, the judgment of the court
of appeals finding the complaint to be sufficient is reversed, and the matter is remanded
with instruction to permit further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
I.
¶3 Bill Hall filed a complaint in state district court against the Town of Gilcrest and
its mayor, Menda Warne, as an individual. Hall’s complaint alleged that Warne used
her authority as mayor to interfere with his purchase agreement to sell a parcel of land
in Gilcrest to Ensign United States Drilling, Inc., which intended, according to an
attachment to the complaint, to build its headquarters on the property. Although the
precise terms of the agreement were not included in the pleadings, the complaint, along
with its attached exhibits, indicated that Ensign tried for more than a year to obtain
approval to purchase the property and construct its headquarters in Gilcrest, but its
efforts were thwarted by the town government. More specifically, the complaint
alleged that Warne caused Ensign to terminate the agreement by imposing
unauthorized and unreasonable conditions on its proposed site development plan, by
mayoral order, after the plan had been conditionally approved by the town board at a
public hearing. The complaint further alleged that Warne’s actions were motivated by
malice towards Hall and that the conditions imposed on Ensign’s plans were
4
“disproportionate to any impact Ensign would have on the town” and “were not based
on the reasonable requirements of applicable ordinances or law.” On the basis of these
and similar allegations, the complaint asserted several claims for relief under state and
federal law, including intentional interference with contractual obligations, taking
without just compensation, and violation of substantive due process under 28 U.S.C.
§ 1983 (2012).
¶4 Because the original complaint included both state and federal claims, the case
was removed to federal district court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441 (2012). Upon
removal, Warne and the town filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim for
relief under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). Before briefing was complete, the federal district
court accepted a stipulation by the parties whereby the federal law claims would be
voluntarily dismissed by Hall and the case would be remanded to state district court for
resolution of the state law claim for intentional interference with contractual obligations
against Warne.1
¶5 On remand to the state district court, the motion to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. P.
12(b)(6) was converted into a motion to dismiss under the corresponding, though
differently-numbered state rule, C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5). In subsequent briefing, Warne and
the town urged the district court to review the motion to dismiss according to the
“plausible on its face” standard recently articulated by the United States Supreme Court
in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007), and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S.
1 Two unrelated claims against the town were also included in the remand order and
later dismissed by the state district court. The plaintiff did not appeal the dismissal of
these claims, and thus neither is at issue before us.
5
662 (2009), rather than the so-called “no set of facts” standard from Conley v. Gibson,
355 U.S. 41 (1957), cited favorably by this court in the past. Without expressly
distinguishing the Conley from the Twombly/Iqbal standard of review, the district
court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss, finding that the complaint contained
insufficient allegations that Warne in fact caused the conditions to be imposed on
Ensign’s proposed development plan that ultimately led Ensign to terminate its contract
with Hall.
¶6 The plaintiff was granted leave to file an amended complaint, which he did, to
include additional allegations that he had been informed that Warne exercised control
over land development matters and would have used any means at her disposal to
ensure that Ensign would never meet the requirements necessary to build, regardless of
what had been approved by the town board. The defendants renewed their motion to
dismiss for failure to state a claim, which the district court again granted, finding that
while the amended complaint provided additional allegations supporting a conclusion
that Warne possessed the authority and intent to block Ensign’s development plan, it
lacked allegations of Warne’s specific conduct causing Ensign’s breach. Subsequently,
the district court also awarded attorney fees in favor of the defendants.
¶7 On Hall’s appeal of the dismissal of his claim for contractual interference, the
court of appeals reversed, finding itself bound by this court’s precedent relying on
Conley’s “no set of facts” standard and, therefore, rejecting Warne’s proposal to
examine the complaint under the Twombly/Iqbal “plausible on its face” standard.
Under the Conley standard, the court of appeals concluded that the complaint sufficed
6
to state a claim for relief and, more specifically, that Hall’s allegations to the effect that
Warne possessed the authority and intent to block Ensign’s development plan and that
she had exercised that authority to impose conditions despite the town board’s prior
approval of Ensign’s plan sufficiently pled that Warne caused Ensign to terminate its
contract with Hall. The court of appeals therefore also reversed the district court’s
award of attorney fees.
¶8 Warne petitioned this court for further review by writ of certiorari.
II.
¶9 In Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, in addressing the proper standard for
pleading an antitrust conspiracy through allegations of parallel conduct, the United
States Supreme Court explicated the pleading standard of Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 8 in greater detail than it had done in at least a half-century, giving particular
emphasis to the “plaintiff’s obligation to provide the ‘grounds’ of his ‘entitle[ment] to
relief.’” 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2)). In that context, the
Court stated that the factual allegations of the complaint must be enough to raise a right
to relief “above the speculative level,” id., and provide “plausible grounds to infer an
agreement,” id. at 556. Had there been any doubt, two years later, in Ashcroft v. Iqbal,
the Court made clear that Twombly’s “plausibility standard” was in no way limited to
the antitrust conspiracy context in which it had been articulated, but rather represented
a “construction of Rule 8,” Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678–80 (2009), which governs the
pleading standard “in all civil actions and proceedings in the United States district
courts,” id. at 684. Quoting liberally from its earlier opinion in Twombly, the Court in
7
Iqbal characterized that standard as being underlain by two working principles: First,
“the tenet that a court must accept as true all of the allegations contained in a complaint
is inapplicable to legal conclusions,” id. at 678, and second, “only a complaint that states
a plausible claim for relief survives a motion to dismiss,” id. at 679.
¶10 The Court derived its “plausibility standard” from Rule 8 as it then existed,
without feeling compelled to either amend the language of the rule or overturn any of
the Court’s prior interpretations, Twombly, 550 U.S. at 569 n.14, instead characterizing
the Twombly plaintiffs’ main argument against this interpretation as its “ostensible
conflict” with an isolated statement in the Court’s earlier construction in Conley v.
Gibson, 355 U.S. 41 (1957), Twombly, 550 U.S. at 560–61. As the Court explained, when
it spoke (some fifty years earlier in Conley) not only of the need for fair notice of the
grounds for entitlement to relief, but also of “the accepted rule that a complaint should
not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the
plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to
relief,” id. at 561 (quoting Conley, 355 U.S. at 45–46), the “accepted rule” to which it
referred was a rule that “once a claim has been stated adequately, it may be supported
by showing any set of facts consistent with the allegations in the complaint,” id. at 563.
While the Court openly conceded that the “no set of facts” passage of Conley could be
read in isolation as saying that any statement revealing the theory of the claim would
suffice unless its factual impossibility could be shown from the face of the pleadings,
and that many courts had understood it precisely that way, id. at 561, in context, Conley
“described the breadth of opportunity to prove what an adequate complaint claims, not
8
the minimum standard of adequate pleading to govern a complaint’s survival,” id. at
563.
¶11 Like many federal courts and other state courts, this court took Conley’s “no set
of facts” language, at least ostensibly, at face value. As the court of appeals rightly
noted, this court has a long, and continuous, tradition of repeating, in reliance on
Conley, that motions for dismissal are looked upon with disfavor and will be granted
only if it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of a
claim that would entitle the plaintiff to relief. See, e.g., Qwest Corp. v. Colo. Div. of
Prop. Taxation, 2013 CO 39, ¶ 12, 304 P.3d 217, 221; Sprott v. Roberts, 390 P.2d 465, 467
(Colo. 1964) (quoting Conley’s “no set of facts” passage for the first time in a concurring
opinion, while noting that “[t]his expresses the recognized way to test the sufficiency of
a claim, and it has been applied in a legion of cases in the lower federal courts”). In fact,
our reliance on the federal courts for our interpretation of the pleading standards of our
own Rule 8 can be traced back even before Conley, virtually to the initial replacement of
our former Code of Civil Procedure by the modern Rules of Civil Procedure. See
People ex rel. Bauer v. McCloskey, 150 P.2d 861, 863 (Colo. 1944) (citing Eberle v.
Sinclair Prairie Oil Co., 35 F. Supp. 296, 297 (E.D. Okla. 1940), aff'd, 120 F.2d 746 (10th
Cir. 1941); Sparks v. England, 113 F.2d 579, 582 (8th Cir. 1940); Leimer v. State Mut. Life
Assurance Co. of Worcester, Mass., 108 F.2d 302, 306 (8th Cir. 1940) (subsequently relied
on by Conley, 355 U.S. at 45–46 n.5, for its characterization of the “accepted rule”)).
¶12 The question before us today is therefore less one of whether we will abandon
the Conley pleading standard in favor of the Twombly/Iqbal standard than whether
9
our pleading standard has always represented an attempt to mirror the accepted federal
construction of the virtually identical federal pleading rules, rather than to adopt the
particular interpretation of the corresponding federal rule that was prevalent at the
time. For a number of reasons, in the absence of some compelling justification unique
to the history or practice of this jurisdiction, we have always considered it preferable to
interpret our own rules of civil procedure harmoniously with our understanding of
similarly worded federal rules of practice. See Leaffer v. Zarlengo, 44 P.3d 1072, 1080
(Colo. 2002) (federal cases interpreting federal rules provide “highly persuasive
guidance” when interpreting identical state rules); Faris v. Rothenberg, 648 P.2d 1089,
1091 n.1 (Colo. 1982). We see no reason to abandon that philosophy or approach today.
¶13 As a general matter, except as required by the Supremacy Clause of the Federal
Constitution, we are clearly not bound to accept the United States Supreme Court’s
understanding of language susceptible of more than one reasonable interpretation, and
for various reasons we have, on occasion, deviated in our construction of similarly
worded constitutional provisions, statutes, and rules. However, quite apart from the
fact that a considered interpretation by the Supreme Court, applying rules of
construction equally acceptable in this jurisdiction, will virtually always be worthy of
serious consideration, as we have previously observed, simply disagreeing with the
Supreme Court about the meaning of the same or similar provisions appearing in both
federal and state law risks undermining confidence in the judicial process and the
objective interpretation of codified law. See Curious Theatre Co. v. Colo. Dep't of Pub.
Health & Env't, 220 P.3d 544, 551 (Colo. 2009). This concern is only heightened when
10
the disagreement in question reflects our resistance to the Supreme Court’s
determination that our understanding of one of its prior pronouncements has in fact
been mistaken. Cf. Ingold v. AIMCO/Bluffs, L.L.C. Apartments, 159 P.3d 116, 123–25
(Colo. 2007) (overturning prior decision relying on federal caselaw subsequently
repudiated by the United States Supreme Court).
¶14 In light of our unequivocal statements of attribution in the past, we think it
disingenuous to suggest that our understanding of the pleading requirements of our
own rules was not directly borrowed from the prevailing interpretation of the
corresponding federal rules, by both the lower federal courts and ultimately the
Supreme Court itself. Of course, were we to conclude that our reliance on this federal
interpretation had become so much a part of the fabric of state practice that the benefit
of retaining it unaltered would outweigh the benefits of harmonizing the construction
of identical federal and state rules of civil procedure, we could avoid the tension created
by disparate interpretations of identical rules by simply amending our rule to expressly
codify a “no set of facts” standard. We do not, however, find that to be the case.
¶15 The desirability and importance of procedural uniformity in our unique, federal
form of government has been a critical factor not only in the development of federal
rules capable of serving as a model for the states, but also for our own decision to adopt
a version of the federal rules and construe them accordingly. It cannot seriously be
disputed that the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure were modeled almost entirely after
the corresponding federal rules, with the principal goal of establishing uniformity
between state and federal judicial proceedings in this jurisdiction. See C.R.C.P. app. D
11
at 427, Colo. Stat. Ann. vol. 1 (Supp. 1941) (“With the hope that procedure might be
adopted in Colorado following as far as practicable the new federal rules, so that a
Colorado lawyer would be equally at home in the courts of the United States and those
of Colorado, the Colorado Bar Association in September, 1938, authorized the
appointment of a Committee to effectuate that reform.”); see also Thomas Keely, How
Colorado Conformed State to Federal Civil Procedure, 16 F.R.D. 291 (1954) (authored by
the Chairman of the Colorado Supreme Court Rules Committee).
¶16 Far from a novel concept, the prevailing policy in this country has been to favor
procedural uniformity between state and federal court practice virtually since the
founding of our Union. Beginning with its adoption of the so-called “Conformity Act”
in 1789, Congress required lower federal courts to largely apply the procedural law of
the state in which they were located. Act of Sept. 29, 1789, ch. 21, § 2, 1 Stat. 93, 93; see
also 4 Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice & Procedure § 1002 (3d
ed. 2002) (titled, “History of Federal Procedure Under Statute”). While the Conformity
Act’s localized approach to federal procedure ultimately proved problematic, it was
replaced by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which were intended to facilitate
state-federal uniformity by serving as a singular, authoritative model for states to
follow. See Report of the Committee on Judicial Administration and Remedial
Procedure, reprinted in Report of the Thirty-Fifth Annual Meeting of the American Bar
Association at 434–35 (1912) (resolving to adopt rules of civil procedure for use in
federal courts and “as a model”); see also Edson R. Sunderland, The Grant of
Rule-Making Power to the Supreme Court of the United States, 32 Mich. L. Rev. 1116,
12
1122 (1934) (authored by one of the eventual drafters of the Federal Rules) (“[T]he
primary purpose [of the Federal Rules project] . . . was the attainment of local
uniformity in trial court practice between the state and federal courts.”).
¶17 Beyond the convenience and practical benefits of permitting practicing attorneys
to move effortlessly from one forum to another, both this court and the Supreme Court
have long emphasized the undesirability of having vastly different outcomes result
from nothing more than a choice of forums. See, e.g., Erie R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S.
64, 77–78 (1938); AE, Inc. v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 168 P.3d 507, 511 (Colo. 2007)
(“Colorado’s policy is to discourage . . . forum shopping.”). While state courts are
generally free to adopt procedural rules different from those governing federal
proceedings, but see Brown v. W. Ry. of Ala., 338 U.S. 294, 298 (1949) (state court not
permitted to dismiss federal law claim under strict local rule of pleading), the more
outcome-determinative any specific disparity between state and federal rules may be,
the more undesirable that disparity becomes. In this respect, there can be little question
that the difference between a rule of pleading that effectively permits reliance on the
compulsory process available in civil actions to discover whether grounds for the action
exist in the first place and another that effectively bars such reliance without being able
to first allege plausible grounds for relief can be extremely outcome-determinative. One
important benefit of uniformity in federal and state procedures has been and continues
to be the reduction of forum shopping.
¶18 In addition to the clear importance we have identified in maintaining a
substantial degree of procedural uniformity between state and federal practice, we also
13
do not view the plausibility standard described by the Supreme Court as effecting a
meaningful departure from the direction our interpretations and amendments have
taken in light of the existing realities of modern practice. Just as the Supreme Court
observed that a good many judges and commentators have balked at taking the literal
terms of the Conley passage as a pleading standard, Twombly, 550 U.S. at 562–63 (citing
numerous examples of Conley’s “no set of facts” language being “questioned, criticized,
and explained away” by judges and scholars, alike), we have at times found it
problematic to accept factual allegations that appear too conclusory, and on at least one
occasion have, without openly criticizing the “no set of facts” standard, simply found a
complaint insufficient to state a claim, for the reason that it merely asserted a theory
without alleging facts which, if proved, would satisfy the elements of the claim, see
Denver Post Corp. v. Ritter, 255 P.3d 1083, 1088 (Colo. 2011) (favorably citing Western
Innovations, Inc. v. Sonitrol Corp., 187 P.3d 1155, 1158 (Colo. App. 2008) (itself relying
on Twombly, 550 U.S at 555–56)); see also Pub. Serv. Co. of Colo. v. Van Wyk, 27 P.3d
377, 385 (Colo. 2001) (predating Twombly) (Mullarky, C.J., joined by Rice and Coats, JJ.,
concurring in part and dissenting in part) (“[T]he Van Wyks’ conclusory allegations of
unreasonableness fail to support a nuisance claim and thus, the motion to dismiss was
properly granted.”).
¶19 Similarly, just as the Supreme Court in Twombly referenced the costs of modern
litigation and the inadequacy of discovery and case management alone to weed out
groundless complaints as support for its decision to finally correct the widespread
misinterpretation of Conley, see Twombly, 550 U.S. at 558–59; see also Iqbal, 556 U.S. at
14
678–79 (“Rule 8 . . . does not unlock the doors of discovery for a plaintiff armed with
nothing more than conclusions.”), we have similarly identified a growing need, and
effort in our rules, to expedite the litigation process and avoid unnecessary expense,
especially with respect to discovery, see DCP Midstream, LP v. Anadarko Petroleum
Corp., 2013 CO 36, ¶ 27, 303 P.3d 1187, 1194; see also Richard P. Holme, New Pretrial
Rules for Civil Cases—Part II: What Is Changed, 44 Colo. Law. 111 (July 2015)
(discussing 2015 amendments to the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure, which were
“designed to significantly reduce the cost of and delays in litigation and to create a new
culture for the handling of lawsuits”); id. at 111 (explaining that one of the primary
influences of the 2015 amendments were proposed amendments to the federal rules
which were later adopted). In light of our recent ruling in Antero Resources Corp. v.
Strudley, 2015 CO 26, ¶¶ 19–26, 347 P.3d 149, 155–57, to the effect that the federal rules,
in one particular regard, authorize a trial court to eliminate frivolous claims and
defenses beyond what is currently authorized by our rules, the effectiveness of the
“plausibility standard” in weeding out groundless complaints at the pleading stage
may take on an even greater practical significance in this jurisdiction than in the federal
courts.
¶20 Finally, in addition to his other arguments for not accepting the plausibility
standard of Twombly and Iqbal as the correct interpretation of our own Rule 8, Hall
asserts that, in fact, the state and federal rules are not similar at all and that material
differences in the provisions of the two rules make a parallel interpretation of our rule
untenable. Hall refers to language in subsection (e)(1) of the rule, which finds no analog
15
in the federal rule. Compare C.R.C.P. 8(e)(1), with Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(d)(1). That
subsection indicates, in relevant part, that when a pleader is without direct knowledge,
allegations may be made upon information and belief, and that pleadings otherwise
meeting the requirements of the rules shall not be considered objectionable “for failure
to state ultimate facts as distinguished from conclusions of law.” C.R.C.P. 8(e)(1).
¶21 Even without express authorization in the language of Federal Rule 8, federal
courts had long understood it to permit pleading based on information and belief, and
they continue to do so following Twombly and Iqbal. See generally 5 Charles Alan
Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice & Procedure § 1224 & nn.1–1.75 (3d ed. 2002
& 2015 Supp.) (titled, “Statement of the Claim—Pleading on Information and Belief”)
(gathering cases and characterizing allegations on information and belief as a “practical
necessity”). Far from its conflicting with the plausibility standard, federal courts have
observed that pleading based on information and belief may, in fact, be useful where
the facts giving rise to a plausible claim are peculiarly within the possession and control
of the defendant, or where the belief is based on factual information that makes the
inference of culpability plausible. See, e.g., Arista Records, LLC v. Doe 3, 604 F.3d 110,
120 (2d Cir. 2010); see also 5 Wright & Miller, supra, § 1224 & n.7 (“Pleading on
information and belief is a desirable and essential expedient when matters that are
necessary to complete the statement of a claim are not within the knowledge of the
plaintiff but he has sufficient data to justify interposing an allegation on the subject.”).
¶22 With regard to C.R.C.P. 8(e)(1)’s reference to “ultimate facts” and “conclusions of
law,” although this reference might on first glance appear to bear on the requirement of
16
Twombly/Iqbal to allege plausible grounds for relief, in reality the term “ultimate
facts” appears as a term of art, with reference to distinctions between “evidentiary
facts,” “ultimate facts,” and “conclusions of law,” having significance for pleading
under the former code pleading system in this jurisdiction, but not for pleading under
the scheme of the rules. See McCloskey, 150 P.2d at 862 (addressing C.R.C.P. 8(e)(1)
and explaining that it served to distinguish our rules from code pleading rules); see also
John Denison, Code Pleading in Colorado §§ 312–13 (1936) (authored by former Chief
Justice of Colorado) (“It is said that ultimate fact is a conclusion by reasoning on
evidentiary facts, and that evidentiary fact is acquired by the senses, i.e., sight, hearing,
taste, etc.”).
¶23 As the original committee comment explained, C.R.C.P. 8(e)(1)’s unique
language—with regard to both pleading based on “information and belief” and
pleading “ultimate facts”—was not added to distinguish our rule from the
corresponding rule, but rather to “clarify the [rule’s] meaning and bring it in line with
the majority of the Federal decisions.” C.R.C.P. 8(e)(1) note, Colo. Stat. Ann. vol. 1
(Supp. 1941).
¶24 Because we understand our prior cases as reflecting the merit of interpreting our
rules of civil pleading harmoniously with the corresponding federal rules, wherever
that can be accomplished without violating our own interpretative rules or interfering
with important state policy, and because we find the interpretative gloss added by the
Supreme Court in Twombly and Iqbal to be very much in line with the direction our
rule-making has taken and the current needs of the civil justice system in this
17
jurisdiction, we join those other states already embracing the plausibility standard
articulated in those cases as a statement of the pleading requirements of their own
analogs to Federal Rule 8.
III.
¶25 A plaintiff cannot be entitled to relief on a claim of intentional interference with
contract unless he alleges and proves that the defendant intentionally and improperly
induced a party to breach the contract or improperly made it impossible for a party to
perform.2 Krystkowiak v. W.O. Brisben Cos., 90 P.3d 859, 871 (Colo. 2004). Because it is
so clearly dependent upon context and circumstances, we have never attempted to
rigidly define “improper” for all purposes of interference with contract, but we have
favorably referenced the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 767 (Am. Law Inst. 1965), in
this regard and its enumeration of potentially relevant factors, which includes the
nature of the actor’s conduct, the actor’s motive, the interests of the other with which
the actor’s conduct interferes, the interests sought to be advanced by the actor, the social
interests in protecting the freedom of action of the actor and the contractual interests of
the other, the proximity or remoteness of the actor’s conduct to the interference, and the
relation between the parties. See Trimble v. City & Cty. of Denver, 697 P.2d 716, 726
(Colo. 1985). Evaluated in terms of the plausibility standard and its disregard of legal
conclusions, whatever else the amended complaint may or may not have adequately
2 Because Warne withdrew her argument that Hall failed to allege with adequate
specificity the willful and wanton conduct required to overcome a defense of
governmental immunity, see § 24-10-110(5)(a), (b), C.R.S. (2015), any separate statutory
pleading requirements concerning willful and wanton conduct are not before us.
18
alleged, it failed to sufficiently allege that Warne acted improperly in inducing a breach
or making performance of the contract between Hall and Ensign impossible.
¶26 While the complaint did not allege the specific terms of the purchase agreement
between Hall and Ensign, the entirety of its allegations made clear that the agreement
contemplated the town’s approval of a site development plan before the property could
be used for the purpose for which Ensign desired its purchase. The thrust of Hall’s
complaint, therefore, was that Warne induced a breach of the purchase agreement or
effectively made the purchase impossible by improperly imposing conditions on the
plan that were not agreeable to Ensign. The allegations of the complaint bearing on the
question of the wrongfulness or impropriety of Warne’s conduct were of two broad,
and at times overlapping, kinds: allegations that Warne’s actions were motivated by
malice toward Hall and allegations that the conditions and the manner of their
imposition were unauthorized, unlawful, or unreasonable.
¶27 Much as was the case in both Twombly and Iqbal, the allegations of Hall’s
complaint were insufficient to state a claim because a number of them were conclusory
and therefore not at all entitled to an assumption that they were true, and because the
remainder insufficiently alleged plausible grounds for relief, largely because they were
equally consistent with non-tortious conduct. See Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 680–84; Twombly,
550 U.S. at 564–70. The broad allegations that Warne’s actions were motivated by
malice or animosity toward Hall were unchallengeably conclusory allegations of a kind
elsewhere held to be incapable of supporting a plausible claim for relief. See, e.g.,
Emmons v. City Univ. of N.Y., 715 F. Supp. 2d 394, 425 (E.D.N.Y. 2010) (allegation that
19
defendant acted out of “bad faith, self-interest, malice, and personal animosity” deemed
conclusory and insufficient to support a claim for tortious interference with contract); cf.
Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 686 (bald allegation of discriminatory intent held insufficient to
support unlawful discrimination claim). Similarly, the allegations that the conditions
allegedly imposed by mayoral order were unlawful, arbitrary, or unreasonable, without
reference to any particular law prohibiting them or any factual allegation specifying
how or why they should be considered unreasonable, were bare, conclusory assertions.
Even alleging that the conditions were disproportionate to any impact Ensign would
have on the town, without alleging the reasons why and manner in which the
conditions were disproportionate, could only be considered formulaic or conclusory
and therefore not entitled to be assumed true. In any event, without factual allegations
establishing that the imposition of disproportionate conditions exceeded Warne’s
authority or was otherwise prohibited, the complaint’s conclusory allegation of
disproportionality fails to plausibly suggest improper conduct, even if we were to
assume its truth. Cf. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 566 (allegation of parallel conduct held
insufficient to support antitrust claim requiring proof of an agreement).
¶28 To the extent the complaint included allegations of specific examples of conduct
that could be taken as previous exhibitions of “animosity” toward Hall, like Warne’s
asking how and for how much he acquired the property in question and opposing
Ensign’s plan despite its having had the support of the town board, these allegations
were, as was similarly the case in both Twombly and Iqbal, equally consistent with
non-tortious explanations for her conduct, namely attempting to fulfill her duty to the
20
town by acting in its best interests. See id. at 567–68 (while alleged parallel conduct by
antitrust defendants was consistent with an illegal agreement, it was equally consistent
with each defendant acting independently according to its own economic interest);
Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 680–81 (discrimination complaint against government officials held
insufficient where there was an “obvious alternative explanation” for the challenged
conduct). As the Supreme Court itself has emphasized, scrutinizing a complaint for
allegations that are not as consistent with proper conduct may be particularly important
with regard to the actions of government officials, who “must be neither deterred nor
detracted from the vigorous performance of their duties.” See Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 685–86.
Even assuming, as Hall was allegedly advised, that Warne stated she was not going to
allow Ensign to do business in Gilcrest, and taking as true the belief of a town official
that Warne would have used any means at the disposal of the town to ensure that
Ensign would never meet the requirements to build, those alleged statements do not
plausibly suggest malice towards Hall any more than, or perhaps even as much as,
merely an objection to doing business with Ensign, whether justified on legitimate
grounds or not. Land use decisions can clearly involve a complex array of policy
considerations as well as heated personal interactions, and therefore in the absence of
factual allegations plausibly suggesting Warne was acting out of unrelated personal
animus towards Hall or to the detriment, rather than the benefit, of the town for
personal reasons, even angrily opposing Ensign’s development plan does not plausibly
allege impropriety.
21
IV.
¶29 In his answer brief, the plaintiff requests that he be permitted to amend his
complaint in the event his complaint is deemed insufficient according to the plausibility
standard. Rule 15(a) of our Rules of Civil Procedure provides that leave to file amended
pleadings “shall be freely given when justice so requires.” Although our opinion today
does not result in an amendment to the language of our rules of procedure, it clearly
signals a shift in the considerations according to which a motion to dismiss is to be
evaluated and, therefore, a change in the terms in which a complaint may have to be
expressed to avoid dismissal. Because the plaintiff has not until today had notice of the
terms in which his claim must be pled, justice requires that he be given an opportunity
to amend the allegations of this claim for relief before any ruling on a motion to dismiss
for failure to state a claim. Only if the plaintiff fails to overcome a motion to dismiss his
newly amended complaint will an order of attorney fees become appropriate.
V.
¶30 Because the plaintiff’s complaint, when evaluated in light of the more recent and
nuanced analysis of Twombly and Iqbal, fails to state a plausible claim for relief, the
judgment of the court of appeals finding the complaint to be sufficient is reversed, and
the matter is remanded with instruction to permit further proceedings consistent with
this opinion.
JUSTICE GABRIEL dissents, and JUSTICE MÁRQUEZ and JUSTICE HOOD join in
the dissent.
22
JUSTICE GABRIEL, dissenting.
¶31 Today, the majority jettisons a rule that has stood the test of time for over fifty
years, based largely on an asserted preference for maintaining uniformity with federal
court interpretations of analogous federal rules of procedure. In reaching this result,
the majority misperceives the existing state of the law in Colorado and grafts onto
C.R.C.P. 8 a “plausibility” requirement that the rule does not contain and that other
courts have correctly recognized results in a loss of clarity, stability, and predictability.
Even more concerning, the majority’s preferred standard allows a single district judge,
at the incipient stages of a case, to weigh what the judge speculates the plaintiff will
plausibly be able to prove, based on the individual judge’s subjective experience and
common sense, and then to decide whether the plaintiff’s action is viable.
¶32 I cannot subscribe to such a standard, which I believe will deny access to justice
for innumerable plaintiffs with legitimate complaints. Indeed, the majority’s
application of its newly adopted standard in this case demonstrates the overreaching
nature and ultimate unfairness of that standard.
¶33 Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.
I. Current Law and the Plausibility Standard
¶34 As the majority correctly observes, in Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45–46 (1957),
abrogated by Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 563 (2007), the United States
Supreme Court concluded that a complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a
claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove “no set of facts” in
support of his or her claim. Maj. op. ¶ 1. The majority also correctly observes that this
1
standard was first cited in an opinion of this court over fifty years ago. See Sprott v.
Roberts, 390 P.2d 465, 467 (Colo. 1964) (Frantz, J., concurring in the result). We have
consistently adhered to that standard, without apparent difficulty or controversy, ever
since.
¶35 Notwithstanding this fifty-year history, the majority now assails the Conley
standard. In doing so, however, the majority does not acknowledge either our
long-established rules of notice pleading or the well-settled principles that inform how
the Conley standard has been implemented in practice.
¶36 It has been settled since before Conley that a plaintiff need not set out in detail
the facts on which his or her claim is based. See Conley, 355 U.S. at 47. To the contrary,
both Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2) and C.R.C.P. 8(a)(2) require only a “short and plain
statement” of the claim that will give the defendant fair notice of what the plaintiff’s
claim is and the grounds on which it rests. Conley, 355 U.S. at 47; Smith ex rel. Leech v.
Mills, 225 P.2d 483, 484 (Colo. 1950); see also Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93 (2007)
(“Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires only ‘a short and plain statement of
the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.’ Specific facts are not necessary;
the statement need only ‘give the defendant fair notice of what the . . . claim is and the
grounds upon which it rests.’”) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2); Twombly, 550 U.S. at
555).
¶37 It is likewise settled that in considering a motion to dismiss for failure to state a
claim, a court assesses the “well-pleaded” factual allegations of a complaint and ignores
conclusory allegations or allegations purporting to assert principles of law. See Ruiz v.
2
McDonnell, 299 F.3d 1173, 1181 (10th Cir. 2002) (noting that for purposes of
Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), all well-pleaded facts, as distinguished from conclusory
allegations, must be taken as true); Fernandez-Montez v. Allied Pilots Ass’n, 987 F.2d
278, 284 (5th Cir. 1993) (“[C]onclusory allegations or legal conclusions masquerading as
factual conclusions will not suffice to prevent a motion to dismiss.”); Gray v. Univ. of
Colo. Hosp. Auth., 2012 COA 113, ¶ 37, 284 P.3d 191, 198 (noting that conclusory
allegations are insufficient to defeat a C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5) motion to dismiss for failure to
state a claim); Vickery v. Evelyn V. Trumble Living Tr., 277 P.3d 864, 869 (Colo. App.
2011) (noting that for purposes of a C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5) motion, courts must accept all
well-pleaded facts as true but are not required to accept as true legal conclusions
couched as factual allegations).
¶38 These principles, which are central to the Conley standard, recognize the
practical limitations on how much a plaintiff can reasonably be required to plead,
particularly given that the plaintiff often lacks information that is in the defendant’s
exclusive possession and has no means of obtaining that information absent discovery.
See Conley, 355 U.S. at 47–48 (noting that (1) the civil rules’ simplified notice pleading
standard was made possible by the liberal opportunity for discovery and other pretrial
procedures established by the rules to allow the parties to flesh out more precisely the
basis of a plaintiff’s claim and (2) “[t]he Federal Rules reject the approach that pleading
is a game of skill in which one misstep by counsel may be decisive to the outcome and
accept the principle that the purpose of pleading is to facilitate a proper decision on the
merits”).
3
¶39 As amicus curiae Colorado Plaintiff Employment Lawyers Association observes,
this kind of “information asymmetry” is especially acute in cases in which a plaintiff
must prove the defendant’s motives and state of mind. See Br. of Amicus Curiae
Colorado Plaintiff Employment Lawyers Ass’n, at 6–7. See generally Arthur R. Miller,
From Conley to Twombly to Iqbal: A Double Play on the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure, 60 Duke L.J. 1, 43–46 (2010) (describing in detail the information asymmetry
problem posed by Twombly and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009), particularly in
cases involving questions of intent and malice). Indeed, as discussed more fully below,
the information asymmetry in this case underlies the majority’s conclusion that Hall’s
complaint should be dismissed for failure to state a claim on which relief can be
granted. Maj. op. ¶¶ 25–28.
¶40 The foregoing principles do not, however, allow a plaintiff to allege a claim and
then rely on compulsory process to discover whether grounds for the action existed in
the first place, as the majority suggests. See maj. op. ¶ 17. As noted above, a complaint
must contain and is assessed based on its “well-pleaded allegations,” and not on any
conclusory allegations or allegations of law. Moreover, all allegations of a complaint
(and any other pleading) are subject to the requirements of C.R.C.P. 11, which requires
all pleadings of a party represented by an attorney to be signed by at least one attorney
of record, and which further provides:
The signature of an attorney constitutes a certificate by him that he has
read the pleading; that to the best of his knowledge, information, and
belief formed after reasonable inquiry, it is well grounded in fact and is
warranted by existing law or a good faith argument for the extension,
modification, or reversal of existing law, and that it is not interposed for
4
any improper purpose, such as to harass or to cause unnecessary delay or
needless increase in the cost of litigation.
Accordingly, a plaintiff may not properly make baseless allegations and then later rely
on discovery tools to try to find evidence to support such claims.
¶41 For all of these reasons, I believe that the Conley standard, as it has been refined
over time, has worked precisely as it was intended. Neither trial nor appellate courts in
Colorado have had any difficulty in applying this standard. Nor have I seen any
evidence that this standard has contributed to a flood of frivolous cases overwhelming
our legal system, or that courts properly exercising their ample case management
authority have had any difficulty in weeding out unmeritorious claims or in protecting
defendants from needless expense and harassment. Accordingly, I am not persuaded
that the existing standard has posed a problem in need of a solution, much less the sea
change in pleadings practice that I believe the majority opinion will effect.
¶42 Notwithstanding the foregoing, the majority chooses to adopt the Twombly and
Iqbal plausibility standard, see Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679 (noting that to survive a motion to
dismiss, a complaint must state a “plausible” claim for relief); Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556
(same), principally based on an asserted need for uniformity between how federal
courts construe Fed. R. Civ. P. 8 and how Colorado courts construe the Colorado
analogue, C.R.C.P. 8. For a number of reasons, I am unpersuaded.
¶43 First, although we look to federal decisions interpreting federal rules for
guidance, we are not bound to interpret our rules of civil procedure in the same way
that the United States Supreme Court interprets its rules. See Garcia v. Schneider
5
Energy Servs., Inc., 2012 CO 62, ¶ 10, 287 P.3d 112, 115. This is particularly true when,
as here, the language of our respective rules differs.
¶44 As pertinent here, both Fed. R. Civ. P. 8 and C.R.C.P. 8 require “a short and plain
statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P.
8(a)(2); C.R.C.P. 8(a)(2). Both rules also require that each allegation of a pleading be
“simple, concise, and direct.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(d)(1); C.R.C.P. 8(e)(1). Unlike its federal
counterpart, however, the Colorado rule proceeds to allow a pleader who lacks direct
knowledge to make allegations “upon information and belief.” C.R.C.P. 8(e)(1). This
difference suggests to me a preference in the Colorado rules for a more lenient pleading
standard than the “plausibility” standard adopted in Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 570, and
expanded in Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678.
¶45 Second, the Twombly and Iqbal “plausibility” standard is neither set forth in nor
required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 8 or Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) (governing motions to dismiss for
failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted). Nor do I perceive any language
in Colorado’s corresponding provisions, C.R.C.P. 8 or C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5), that supports
the adoption of such a standard. To the contrary, I believe that such a standard is
inconsistent with the purposes of the foregoing rules generally and with several of our
pleading rules in particular.
¶46 C.R.C.P. 8, C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5), and their federal counterparts require only fair
notice of a claim, and they envision the use of proper case management and other
devices set forth in the civil rules to clarify and address the merits of that claim. See,
6
e.g., Conley, 355 U.S. at 47–48; Smith ex rel. Leech, 225 P.2d at 484. The plausibility rule
is contrary to these purposes.
¶47 Likewise, the “factual enhancement” that the plausibility standard requires, see
Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557, is inconsistent with (1) C.R.C.P. 8(a)(2), which mandates only
“a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,”
see Walsh v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 851 N.W.2d 598, 605 (Minn. 2014) (noting that the
plausibility standard raises the bar for claimants and thereby conflicts with Minnesota’s
counterpart to C.R.C.P. 8, which preferred non-technical, broad-brush pleadings), and
(2) C.R.C.P. 8(e)(2), which allows for hypothetical pleading.
¶48 And the “factual enhancement” requirement is inconsistent with C.R.C.P. 9,
which sets forth when certain matters must be pleaded with additional specificity or
particularity, and which expressly provides that “[m]alice, intent, knowledge, and other
condition of mind of a person may be averred generally.” C.R.C.P. 9(b). Under a
plausibility standard, all matters, including matters relating to a person’s state of mind,
arguably must be pleaded with specificity, and this would be difficult, if not impossible,
when the information that the plaintiff needs to satisfy such an enhanced pleading
standard is within the defendant’s exclusive possession and control. See Miller,
60 Duke L.J. at 43 (“It is uncertain how plaintiffs with potentially meritorious claims are
expected to plead with factual sufficiency without the benefit of some discovery,
especially when they are limited in terms of time or money, or have no access to
important information that often is in the possession of the defendant, especially when
the defendant denies access.”) (footnotes omitted). As a result, the plausibility standard
7
will likely result in the disproportionate dismissal of meritorious claims, thereby closing
the courthouse doors to many deserving claimants when the pleading rules were, in
fact, designed to open the doors for them. See Twombly, 550 U.S. at 575 (Stevens, J.,
dissenting) (“Under the relaxed pleading standards of the Federal Rules, the idea was
not to keep litigants out of court but rather to keep them in. The merits of a claim
would be sorted out during a flexible pretrial process and, as appropriate, through the
crucible of trial.”).
¶49 Third, I believe that the “plausibility” standard is unworkable and gives far too
much authority to judges to dismiss claims, even before the defendant has been
required to answer the complaint, based on subjective and inherently speculative
factors. In Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, the Court explained what it meant by “plausible”:
“Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for relief will . . . be a
context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience
and common sense.” See also Plausible, Webster’s Third New Int’l Dictionary (2002)
(defining “plausible,” in pertinent part, as “superficially worthy of belief : CREDIBLE”).
¶50 Such a standard, which is subjective on its face, allows motions to dismiss to turn
on the “judicial experience and common sense” of the particular judge who happens to
be assigned to the case. Moreover, such a standard requires the judge to speculate as to
the evidence that a plaintiff will likely be able to present and then to weigh that
presumed evidence—before the defendant has even submitted an answer to the
complaint—to decide whether a claim based on such evidence would be “plausible”
(itself an inherently amorphous concept). See Webb v. Nashville Area Habitat for
8
Humanity, Inc., 346 S.W.3d 422, 431–32 (Tenn. 2011) (“[T]he plausibility standard
incorporates an evaluation and determination of the likelihood of success on the
merits—a judicial weighing of the facts pleaded to see if they ‘plausibly’ present a claim
for relief—at the earliest stage of the proceedings, before a sworn denial is even
required.”). In this regard, the “plausibility” standard approaches a summary
judgment test, albeit without any evidentiary record. Cf. Andersen v. Lindenbaum,
160 P.3d 237, 239 (Colo. 2007) (“To avoid summary judgment, the evidence presented in
opposition to such a motion must . . . be sufficient to demonstrate that a reasonable jury
could return a verdict for the non-moving party.”).
¶51 I cannot see how such a standard represents an advance over our present rule,
which requires courts to assess the well-pleaded allegations of the complaint to
determine whether, if true, such allegations set forth a viable claim for relief. To the
contrary, I agree with the Tennessee Supreme Court’s assessment that Twombly and
Iqbal have resulted in “a loss of clarity, stability, and predictability in federal pleadings
practice.” Webb, 346 S.W.3d at 431. I fear that the same outcome is now likely in
Colorado.
¶52 Fourth, in trumpeting the need for uniformity between the state and federal
standards, the majority suggests that adopting a plausibility standard is necessary to
expedite litigation and avoid unnecessary expense. See maj. op. ¶ 19. The majority,
however, does not adequately account for the case management tools that we have
recently implemented to achieve the majority’s desired ends. Specifically, although the
majority’s concern for expediting litigation and avoiding unnecessary costs, particularly
9
with respect to discovery, is appropriate, we recently adopted significant amendments
to our rules of civil procedure to address these very concerns. See generally Richard P.
Holme, New Pretrial Rules for Civil Cases—Part II: What is Changed, 44 Colo. Law. 111
(July 2015) (discussing the series of amendments to the Colorado Rules of Civil
Procedure that became effective on July 1, 2015 and that were designed to reduce
significantly the costs and delays in litigation, particularly with respect to discovery
matters). I have every confidence in our trial judges’ abilities to implement these rules
to achieve the desired ends. I therefore see no reason to alter our longstanding pleading
rules, particularly in the context of this litigation as opposed to through the normal
rulemaking process, to try to achieve the same ends.
¶53 Finally, I am unconvinced by the majority’s suggestion that adopting the
plausibility standard is necessary to avoid the undesirability of having “vastly different
outcomes result from nothing more than a choice of forums.” Maj. op. ¶ 17. The federal
and Colorado standards have been different for nine years, and I have seen no evidence
to suggest that these different standards have resulted in a spike in forum-shopping or
in “vastly different outcomes” (although I would anticipate that under the federal
standard, some meritorious complaints likely have been dismissed).
¶54 For these reasons, I see no compelling reason to overturn more than fifty years of
precedent in order to adopt a plausibility standard that I believe is unworkable and
unfair. See Walsh, 851 N.W.2d at 604 (“The doctrine of stare decisis directs us to adhere
to our former decisions in order to promote the stability of the law and the integrity of
the judicial process. We therefore require ‘a compelling reason’ to overrule our
10
precedent. . . . [The defendant] has not presented a compelling textual reason to
overrule [the cases setting forth the prevailing pleading standards in Minnesota].”)
(quoting Oanes v. Allstate Ins. Co., 617 N.W.2d 401, 406 (Minn. 2000)).
II. Application
¶55 The overreaching nature and unfairness of the plausibility standard that I have
identified above are well demonstrated by the majority’s application of that standard in
this case.
¶56 The majority concludes that Hall’s complaint failed to sufficiently allege that
Warne acted improperly in inducing a breach or making performance of the contract
between Hall and Ensign impossible. Maj. op. ¶ 25. In reaching this conclusion, the
majority deems Hall’s allegations to be conclusory and sees no factual allegations
plausibly suggesting that Warne was acting out of unrelated personal animus toward
Hall or to the detriment, rather than the benefit, of the town for personal reasons. Id. at
¶¶ 27–28. I do not agree with the majority’s reading of Hall’s complaint.
¶57 To establish a claim for intentional interference with contract, a plaintiff must
prove that the defendant (1) was aware of a contract between two parties, (2) intended
that one of the parties breach the contract, and (3) induced the party to breach or make
it impossible for the party to perform the contract. Krystkowiak v. W.O. Brisben Cos.,
90 P.3d 859, 871 (Colo. 2004). In addition, the defendant must have acted “improperly”
in causing the result. Id.
¶58 To determine whether the defendant acted improperly, courts consider the
following factors:
11
(a) the nature of the actor’s conduct,
(b) the actor’s motive,
(c) the interests of the other with which the actor’s conduct interferes,
(d) the interests sought to be advanced by the actor,
(e) the social interests in protecting the freedom of action of the actor and
the contractual interests of the other,
(f) the proximity or remoteness of the actor’s conduct to the interference
and
(g) the relations between the parties.
Restatement (Second) of Torts § 767 (1979); accord Memorial Gardens, Inc. v. Olympian
Sales & Mgmt. Consultants, Inc., 690 P.2d 207, 210 & n.7 (Colo. 1984).
¶59 Here, Hall alleged, in substance, the following facts:
 Hall entered into a contract to sell certain property in the Town of
Gilcrest to Ensign.
 In subsequent meetings with the Town Planner and the Town Board,
the Town imposed a series of conditions on Ensign. These conditions
were onerous, and many of them had no lawful basis either in the
Town’s own ordinances or in any other applicable laws or regulations.
 In May and June 2007, the Town made additional baseless demands on
Ensign. As a result, Ensign became increasingly frustrated and began
to look elsewhere for its business expansion.
 At a July 16, 2007 meeting of the Town Board, which Warne, the
Town’s mayor, attended, Hall explained that if the Town continued to
demand more and more conditions of Ensign that were not tied to
applicable law or regulations, then Ensign would withdraw from the
contract to buy Hall’s property and find somewhere else to do
business.
 The Board then unanimously approved Ensign’s site plan and
application (Warne did not vote).
12
 After this unanimous vote, Warne stormed out of the meeting room
and stated that she was not going to allow Ensign to do business in
Gilcrest.
 A former mayor and planning commission member stated that Warne
exercised control over all land use matters and would have used any
means at the Town’s disposal to ensure that Ensign would never meet
the requirements necessary to build, regardless of what had been
approved by the Board.
 Consistent with this statement, after the Board unanimously approved
Ensign’s site plan and application, and notwithstanding the fact that
Hall had advised the Board (and Warne) that further conditions would
cause Ensign to terminate its contract with Hall, the Town imposed
still more conditions on Ensign. These conditions again imposed
requirements beyond those required by the Town code; they were not
connected to, or were disproportionate to, any impact that Ensign’s
operations would have had on the Town; and they were not
reasonably related to the public health, safety, or welfare of the Town
or its residents.
 As a result of these new requirements and exactions, Ensign
terminated its contract with Hall, as it said it would do (and as Warne
was advised it would do).
 Warne had previously exhibited animosity toward Hall, the additional
exactions and conditions were imposed at Warne’s insistence and on
her order, and Warne’s actions were motivated by malice toward Hall.
¶60 In my view, and as the division below concluded, Hall v. Town of Gilcrest,
No. 12CA0719, slip op. at 7–12 (Colo. App. Jan. 23, 2014), these allegations more than
adequately alleged the requisite elements of an intentional interference with contract
claim. Indeed, I would so conclude even were I to apply the plausibility standard.
¶61 Specifically, it appears undisputed that Hall properly alleged the existence of a
contract between himself and Ensign and that Warne knew of this contract. Hall has
also alleged specific facts to establish that Warne intended for Ensign to terminate this
13
contract and that she either induced Ensign to breach the contract or made Ensign’s
performance impossible. For example, as noted above, Hall alleged that (1) Warne was
told that Ensign would terminate the contract if more conditions were imposed; (2) she
stated her intention to ensure that Ensign would not do business in Gilcrest; and
(3) knowing that Ensign would terminate the contract if further conditions were
imposed, she orchestrated the imposition of additional unreasonable (and legally
unfounded) conditions, which, in fact, induced Ensign to terminate its contract with
Hall.
¶62 Finally, Hall has sufficiently alleged that Warne’s conduct was improper. As
noted above, he alleged that after the Town Board had unanimously approved Ensign’s
site plan and application, Warne acted unilaterally to impose unprecedented and
unreasonable conditions that were inconsistent with the Town code, and Hall alleged
that Warne did so out of malice toward him and with the intent of ensuring that Ensign
would terminate its contract with him. In my view, such allegations are not at all
conclusory, and they clearly and sufficiently assert that Warne was acting out of
unrelated personal animus toward Hall, rather than for the Town’s benefit (the Town
Board, after all, had unanimously approved the deal).
¶63 Although the majority deems Hall’s allegations insufficient, it is not clear to me,
and the majority does not indicate, what more Hall could possibly have alleged. This
case reflects precisely the type of information asymmetry scenario discussed above, in
which a party is required to make allegations about another party’s state of mind.
Absent an ability to read Warne’s mind, Hall could do no more than plead conduct
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reflecting her improper motives, and he has done that with what I perceive to be ample
specificity.
¶64 In these circumstances, it is clear to me that Warne has received the reasonable
notice of the nature and basis of Hall’s claim to which she was entitled under C.R.C.P. 8.
It is equally clear to me that Hall has pleaded a viable intentional interference with
contract claim. Indeed, as pleaded, the complaint sets forth what I view to be a
prototypical intentional interference case.
¶65 In holding otherwise, the majority has effectively granted Warne summary
judgment before she was even required to respond to the complaint and before giving
Hall a fair opportunity to conduct discovery to establish facts that are in Warne’s
exclusive possession and control. In doing so, I believe that the majority has denied
Hall the fair day in court to which he was entitled.
III. Conclusion
¶66 For these reasons, I respectfully dissent.
I am authorized to state that JUSTICE MÁRQUEZ and JUSTICE HOOD join in this
dissent.
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