Gonzalez v. Amazon.com, Inc.

Gonzalez v. Amazon.com, Inc.

Opinion

Order on Motions to Dismiss

Now before the Court are the Defendants motions to dismiss, one is filed by Amazon.com, Inc. ("Amazon") and the other by Susshi International Inc. ("Susshi"). For the reasons set forth below, the motions (ECF Nos. 13, 14) are granted.

1. Background¹

The Plaintiff Daniel A. Gonzalez ("Gonzalez") filed this action against the Defendants pursuant to Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act (the "Helms-Burton Act" or the "Act"). (ECF No 1.) The Act creates a [*2]  private right of action against any person who "traffics" in confiscated Cuban property. See 22 U.S.C. § 6082(a)(1)(A). A purpose of the Helms-Burton Act is to "protect United States nationals against confiscatory takings and the wrongful trafficking in property confiscated by the Castro Regime." 22 U.S.C. § 6022(6).

Gonzalez alleges that he is the rightful owner of an agricultural property in Cuba. (ECF No. 1 at ¶ 15.) His grandfather Manuel Gonzalez Rodriguez purchased the land in 1941, and then, at an unspecified time, passed ownership of the land to the Plaintiff "[b]y operation of succession." (Id. at ¶ 9.) The Cuban government confiscated the property in 1964. (Id. at ¶ 11.) Gonzalez could not file a claim with the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission under Title V of the International Claims Settlement Act of 1949 because he was not a United States Citizen at the time the property was confiscated. (Id. at ¶ 16.) However, as of the filing of his Complaint on September 26, 2019, Gonzalez is a United States citizen.

According to the Complaint, Susshi and Amazon began selling charcoal that was produced on Gonzalez's land starting on January 5, 2017. (Id. at ¶ 18.) Amazon.com markets Susshi's charcoal as "Direct from Farmers [*3]  in Cuba" and "sourced from independent farmers in Cuba." (Id. at ¶ 19.)

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