Werner

This case calls on us to decide whether, under California law, a corporation’s allegations that its competitor lured away employees who had signed employment contracts, sufficiently states two common law tort claims and one state statutory claim.

Appellant CRST Van Expedited, Inc. (“CRST”) sued Werner Enterprises, Inc. (“Werner”), claiming Werner had intentionally interfered with CRST’s employment contracts by soliciting and hiring away truck driver employees whom CRST had trained at its expense. CRST additionally claimed Werner violated California Business and Professions Code § 17200 et seq., also known as the Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”) and had interfered with CRST’s prospective economic advantage. In a claim later informally withdrawn, CRST alleged Werner misappropriated CRST’s trade secrets.

The district court granted Werner’s Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss the first amended complaint, without reasoned analysis or explanation. The court also granted Werner’s motion for attorneys’ fees for CRST’s bad faith filing of the trade secret claim. We now reverse in full the district court’s dismissal of CRST’s complaint. We affirm the district court’s…