Knutson v. Providian Financial Corp.
Docket: No. 03-16820
Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; April 4, 2005; Federal Appellate Court
Albert Knutson's appeal from the district court's judgment on the pleadings against Providian National Bank was reviewed under 28 U.S.C. 1291 and affirmed. The court dismissed Knutson's breach of contract claims, emphasizing that no valid contract existed due to the lack of mutual assent on the inserted terms, referencing Hill-Shafer Partnership v. Chilson Family Trust. The court also dismissed claims of breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, fraud, conspiracy, libel, defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy, citing failures in adequately alleging essential elements of these claims. Specifically, Knutson's fraud claim was dismissed for not sufficiently alleging false representations or knowledge of falsity by the defendants, as noted in Haisch v. Allstate Inc. Co. The conspiracy claim was rejected due to a lack of allegations about an agreement to pursue unlawful objectives, referencing Elliott v. Videan. The libel and defamation claims were dismissed because Knutson did not demonstrate malice or intent in the defendants' reporting to credit agencies, following Bloom v. I.C. System, Inc. Additionally, claims for emotional distress and invasion of privacy were dismissed for failing to show that defendants' conduct was extreme or unreasonable, referencing Villiarimo v. Aloha Island Air Inc. and Sears, Roebuck Co. v. Moten. Knutson's motion for a new trial and a new judge was denied due to the lack of new evidence and unsupported claims of misconduct. The court affirmed that Knutson's remaining contentions were without merit. The disposition is not for publication and cannot be cited in court except as allowed by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.