Wong

Filed 4/28/

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

SUNNY C. WONG,

Plaintiff and Appellant,

A161489

v. RESTORATION ROBOTICS, INC., (San Mateo County Super. Ct. No. 18CIV02609) Defendant and Respondent.

The value of shares of stock in Restoration Robotics, Inc., a Delaware corporation, dropped within months of the company’s 2017 initial public stock offering. Sunny C. Wong, who had bought the company’s stock, sued Restoration Robotics in San Mateo County Superior Court, alleging that the company’s offering documents contained materially false and misleading statements in violation of the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. § 77a et seq. (1933 Act).) Although the 1933 Act generally allows a plaintiff to choose whether to file suit in state or federal court, and bars the removal to federal court of a suit filed in state court, a “federal forum provision” (FFP) in Restoration Robotics’ certificate of incorporation states that 1933 Act claims must be brought in federal court unless Restoration Robotics consents to a different forum. So Restoration Robotics promptly moved to dismiss…