MEMORANDUM & ORDER On December 11, 2015, plaintiff Ramin Setarehshenas commenced this action in Supreme Court, Kings County, against defendant National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (“NCCPA”), a non-profit organized under Georgia law. Dkt. No. 1-3. On January 20, 2016, NCCPA timely removed the action to this Court based on diversity of citizenship. Dkt. No. 1. NCCPA now moves, pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(c), to dismiss the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, or, in the alternative, for judgment on the pleadings. Dkt. No. 19. For the reasons that follow, the Rule 12(b)(1) motion is denied, but the Rule 12(c) motion for judgment on the pleadings is granted.BackgroundIn the fall of 1992, Setarehshenas enrolled in dental school at New York University, only to leave the program two years later without having received a degree. Dkt. No. 12 at6. Nevertheless, although he did not have the requisite degree or license, he engaged in the practice of dentistry starting in late 1999 and continuing through early 2000. Id. at7. In March 2000, he pled guilty to the felony of practicing dentistry without a license and was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay $18,000 in restitution. Id. at8. Later, Setarehshenas received a certificate of relief from disabilities, id., which relieves a convicted felon of certain automatic forfeitures of licenses and other public benefits. See N.Y. Corr. Law §701(1). The certificate of relief, however, does not expunge a conviction or “in any way prevent any judicial, administrative, licensing or other body, board or authority from relying upon the conviction specified therein as the basis for the exercise of its discretionary power to suspend, revoke, refuse to issue or refuse to renew any license, permit or other authority or privilege.” N.Y. Corr. Law §701(3).Setarehshenas would again pursue degree-bearing education and, in 2006, graduated from the physician assistant program at Touro College. Dkt. No. 12 at10. Having earned his degree, Setarehshenas applied to the New York State Education Department (“NYSED”) for a limited permit and license to practice as a physician assistant. Id. at11. Because the application requested information concerning his criminal history, Setarehshenas duly disclosed his conviction from 2000. Id. His application was then forwarded to NYSED’s Office of Professional Discipline (“OPD”), which assigned an investigator to his case. Id. at13. In March 2009, a hearing panel concluded that Setarehshenas was eligible to receive a limited permit and license. Id. at15. It was not to be the last word. A year later, that decision was reversed by an appellate panel. Id. at17.Undeterred by this setback, Setarehshenas reapplied in fall 2011. Id. at18. The application was denied at an initial review by OPD. Id. at26. This second denial pointed to his felony conviction and noted that “there is a direct connection between the crime committed and the professional license sought,” which would “thus create an unacceptable risk of harm to the public.” Id. at29. Setarehshenas appealed again.1 Dkt. No. 12 at23.Separate and apart from NYSED licensure, there was another prerequisite to lawful practice as a physician assistant in New York: The Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (“PANCE”), which is developed and administered by defendant NCCPA, a non-governmental organization. Dkt. No. 12 at
3, 12; Dkt. No. 13 at3. All 50 states require that prospective physician assistants pass the PANCE before receiving a license to practice. Dkt. No. 12 at5; Dkt. No. 13 at5. The individual states, however, and not NCCPA, remain the licensing authorities. Dkt. No. 13 at5.In furtherance of his objective, Setarehshenas, shortly after graduating from Touro, logged on to NCCPA’s website in July 2006 to register for the exam. Dkt. No. 12 at12; Dkt. No. 13 at12. He then discovered that the PANCE registration application, like the NYSED licensure application, required him to disclose his criminal history. Dkt. No. 12 at12. Setarehshenas further alleges that an investigator at NYSED — not NCCPA — told him that, because both the NYSED licensure application and the PANCE registration application contained questions about criminal history, Setarehshenas could not take the PANCE until he was “cleared by New York State.” Dkt. No. 12 at12-13. Apparently relying on this representation, Setarehshenas chose not to register for the PANCE at that time; nor did he ever register, according to the record. See Dkt. No. 12 at20-21; Dkt. No. 13 at12.Whatever his thinking, Setarehshenas did not perfect his registration. But, he claims, that at least as of August 29, 2011, he had been “advised that he was eligible to take the PANCE” and that he had one year of eligibility remaining. Dkt. No. 12 at20. Typically, a prospective physician assistant must take the PANCE within six years of graduating from an accredited program. Id. at
