G.G. v. Salesforce.com, Inc.

G.G. v. Salesforce.com, Inc.

Opinion

 [*629]  MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

When G.G. was thirteen years old, she ran away from home and fell into the hands of a sex trafficker. The trafficker posted advertisements for sex with G.G. on the classified ad website run by Backpage.com  [*630]  ("Backpage").¹ As alleged in the complaint, Backpage [**2]  did not just allow but encouraged these types of illegal ads, to the point of becoming a dominant force in online sex trafficking. Beginning in 2013, Backpage contracted with Defendant Salesforce.com, Inc. ("Salesforce") to provide it with customer relationship management ("CRM") business software and support. That relationship allegedly helped grow Backpage's operations, including promoting the business of sex traffickers. G.G. and her mother, Deanna Rose, (together, "Plaintiffs") have now sued Salesforce pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1595, alleging that, through its contracts with Backpage, Salesforce violated the federal anti-trafficking laws by knowingly benefiting from and participating in a venture that it knew, or should have known, was engaged in illegal sex trafficking. Salesforce has filed a motion to dismiss the complaint in its entirety pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). (Dkt. No. 63.) For the reasons given below, the Court grants the motion.

BACKGROUND

For purposes of Salesforce's motion to dismiss, the Court accepts as true all well-pleaded facts in the Third Amended Complaint ("TAC") and views those facts in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs as the non-moving parties. Killingsworth v. HSBC Bank Nev., N.A., 507 F.3d 614, 618 (7th Cir. 2007). The TAC alleges as follows.

Backpage [**3]  was established in 2004 as an online marketplace for various goods and services. (TAC ¶ 16, Dkt. No. 62.) Among other things, Backpage allowed classified ads for sex. (Id.) In 2008, Backpage's primary competitor, Craigslist, made it harder for users to post ads for sex on its platform. Capitalizing on the displaced ad volume, Backpage entered into a period of explosive growth, soon becoming the most popular online classified site for adult advertisements and deriving the vast majority (up to 99%) of its revenue from such ads. (Id. ¶¶ 16, 23-24.)

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