Allen v. Similasan Corp.

306 F.R.D. 635, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43748, 2015 WL 1534005
District Court, S.D. California·Decided March 30, 2015·No. Case No. 12-cv-376 BAS (JLB)·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

ORDER:

(1) GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO STRIKE; AND

(2) GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION

CYNTHIA BASHANT, District Judge.

Before the Court is Plaintiffs Lainie Ride-out and Kathleen Hairston’s motion for class certification. ECF 100. Defendant Simila-san Corporation opposed (ECF 114) and Plaintiffs replied (ECF 121). Defendant has also moved to strike two supplemental expert reports attached to Plaintiffs’ motion to certify class because they were untimely, as well as the initial reports of those experts. ECF 106. The Court finds these motions suitable for determination on the papers submitted and without oral argument. See Civ. L.R. 7.1(d.l). For the following reasons, Plaintiffs’ motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Defendant’s motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

BACKGROUND

Defendant produces, markets, and sells homeopathic products in hundreds of retail [639]*639stores across the country, including major chains such as Walgreens, Target, CVS, Rite-Aid, and Walmart. TAC ¶ 10; Pis.’ Mot. 1. Plaintiffs challenge six over-the-counter products “that are marketed and sold as ear, nose and eye remedies[.]” Pis.’ Mot. 1. These include “Earache Relief (now called Ear Relief), Nasal Allergy Relief, Sinus Relief, Pink Eye Relief (now called Irritated Eye Relief), Dry Eye Relief, and Allergy Eye Relief’ (collectively, the “Products”). Id. Each Product’s label claims the respective Product is effective, as well as other assertions, including “Eye Doctor Recommended,” “Pharmacist Recommended,” “Preservative Free,” etc. Id. at 2. Plaintiffs allege that every label states the respective Product has “100% Natural Active Ingredients,” or another similar statement. TAC 14:15-161, 17:26-27, ¶¶ 78, 88, 99,107.

Plaintiffs purchased Defendant’s products, allegedly in reliance on Defendant’s marketing claims. Pis.’ Mot. 2-3; TAC ¶ 123. Rideout purchased both Nasal Allergy Relief and Sinus Relief two to three times a year from 2000 to 2010. TAC ¶60, 16:22-27. Rideout ceased purchasing Defendant’s Products in October 2010 after researching them online, where she “discovered [that] the Produces] did not provide the benefits, characteristics and qualities as advertised[.]” Id. at ¶ 62, 17:3-8. Between 2009 and 2010, Hairston purchased Allergy Eye Relief, Earache Relief, Dry Eye Relief, and Pink Eye Relief at least twice each. Id. at ¶¶ 75, 84, 96, 104. In October 2010, Hairston concluded that the Products did not work for their denoted purposes after using the Products as their labels directed. Id. at ¶¶ 76, 85, 97, 105.

Plaintiffs claim Defendant’s Products are “worthless” because they do not work, describing several of the Products as mere “high-priced water.” TAC 15:317, 18:11-22, ¶¶ 81, 93, 100, 108, 120, 129. Plaintiffs also claim “Preservative Free” and “100% Natural” are false labels because the Products contain artificial preservatives. Id. at 15:3-17, 18:11-22, ¶¶ 81, 100, 108. Lastly, Plaintiffs claim both Earache (Ear) Relief and Pink Eye (Irritated Eye) Relief are illegal to sell. Id. at ¶¶ 91,110; Pls.’s Mot. 1-2.

Plaintiffs move for certification of the following classes:

All purchasers of Similasan Corporation homeopathic Products in California labeled Nasal Allergy Relief or Sinus Relief, for personal or household use and not for resale, from April 2, 2008 to the present (the “Nasal Allergy and Sinus Relief Purchasers Class”);
and
All purchasers of Similasan Corporation homeopathic Products in California, for personal or household use and not for resale, labeled Allergy Eye Relief, Earache Relief (also called Ear Relief), Dry Eye Relief and Pink Eye Relief (also called Irritated Eye Relief) from June 4, 2009 to present (the “Allergy Eye, Earache, Dry Eye and Pink Eye Relief Purchasers Class”).
Excluded from both Classes are governmental entities, Defendant, any entity in which Defendant has a controlling interest, its employees, officers, directors, legal representatives, heirs, successors and wholly or partly owned subsidiaries or affiliated companies, including all parent companies, and them employees; and the judicial officers, their immediate family members and court staff assigned to this ease.

Pis.’ Mot. 3. It appears from Plaintiffs’ proposed classes that Rideout is to represent the first class and Hairston the second class.

DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO STRIKE

Defendant has moved to strike the Third Report of Dr. Jon A. Krosniek (ECF 100-4) and the Addendum to the Expert Report of William R. Ackerman, CPA by Charlene Podlipna (ECF 100-6) on the grounds they were untimely filed and contain new opinions and information prejudicing Defendant. Def.’s Mot. Str. 2-3, ECF 106. In the same motion, Defendant also moves to strike the initial reports of Dr. Krosniek and Ackerman under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharm., Inc., [640]*640509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786,125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993). Def.’s Mot. 1. For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS Defendant’s motion to strike insofar as it relates to the supplemental reports of Dr. Krosniek (ECF 100-4) and William R. Ackerman (ECF 100-6) and DENIES it as it relates to Dr. Krosnick’s and Ackerman’s initial reports. ECF 106.

I. The Supplemental Reports Are Inadmissible

On March 24, 2014, Magistrate Judge Bernard G. Skomal amended the scheduling order to require the parties to submit their initial expert reports by April 28, 2014. ECF 84. Magistrate Judge Jill L. Burk-hardt later set the rebuttal expert disclosure deadline for May 23, 2014. ECF 94. Class discovery closed on July 18, 2014, and Plaintiffs were required to move for class certification by July 29, 2014. Id. Plaintiffs’ initial expert reports did not mention the premium pricing method of calculating damages. One of Defendant’s experts did discuss the premium pricing model in her initial report. Def.’s Mot. Str. 11. A premium pricing model attempts to quantify the decrease in true market value if a false or misleading statement is removed from a product’s label. A plaintiff then can recover the difference between the “premium” amount paid and the true market value of the product. See Carr v. Tadin, Inc., 51 F.Supp.3d 970, 975-76 (S.D.Cal. 2014). Without evidence of this theory, Plaintiffs’ standalone challenges to ancillary representations (those representations unrelated to the Plaintiffs theory of liability that the products are worthless because they are ineffective, e.g., “Eye Doctor Recommended”) are not entitled to class certification because common questions do not predominate.

Plaintiffs did not submit a rebuttal expert report on the premium pricing model before the rebuttal expert deadline. Def.’s Mot. Str. 11. On June 20, 2014, the district court in Allen v. Hyland’s, Inc., 300 F.R.D. 643 (C.D.Cal.2014) ordered supplemental briefing from Plaintiffs’ attorneys, who also manage that ease. Pis.’ Opp’n Mot. Str. 13. The relevant order is four pages long, with approximately one page discussing the need for supplemental briefing on the premium pricing model. See Marrón Decl. Ex. A, ECF 117-1.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Allen v. Similasan Corp., 306 F.R.D. 635, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43748, 2015 WL 1534005 (S.D. Cal. 2015).

306 F.R.D. 635 (Allen v. Similasan Corp.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Blair v. CBE Group, Inc.
309 F.R.D. 621 (S.D. California, 2015)