This case arises out of an unpaid debt for watermelon seedlings grown by Plaintiffs and shipped to Defendants’ farm. Plaintiffs of Gilroy, California, are suppliers of transplants for use in commercial agriculture. Defendants own a 500-acre farm in Nevada. Id. at 5. Farm owner is a resident of Florida and company is incorporated in Florida. Plaintiff claims that it grew, sold, and shipped 500,000 watermelon transplants, valued at $203,049.55, to the farm in Nevada. No payment was tendered for the transplants. Interest of $92,254.65 had accrued on that debt as of March 31, 2018. Plaintiffs seek to enforce this debt by bringing five claims: restitution/unjust enrichment and conversion against both defendants; breach of contract against company; and promissory fraud and alter ego/veil piercing against farm owner.

Defendants moved to dismiss the complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction or, in the alternative, to transfer the case to a different venue (the District of Nevada). The Court found that it has personal jurisdiction over both defendants and that venue in the Northern District of California is proper, and therefore denied both motions.