Bateman v. American Multi-Cinema, Inc.

252 F.R.D. 647, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88772, 2008 WL 4684146
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedOctober 24, 2008
DocketNo. 2:07-cv-0171 FMC (AJWX)
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 252 F.R.D. 647 (Bateman v. American Multi-Cinema, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bateman v. American Multi-Cinema, Inc., 252 F.R.D. 647, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88772, 2008 WL 4684146 (C.D. Cal. 2008).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S RENEWED MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION

FLORENCE-MARIE COOPER, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff Michael Bateman’s Renewed Motion for Class Certification (docket nos. 28, 48, 50), filed October 16, 2007 and September 22, 2008. The Court has considered the moving, opposition, and reply documents submitted in connection with this motion. The Court deems the matter appropriate for decision without oral argument. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 78; Local Rule 7-15. Accordingly, the hearing set for October 27, 2008, is removed from the Court’s calendar. For the reasons and in the manner set forth below, the Court hereby DENIES Plaintiffs Motion for Class Certification.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

This case arises out of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (“FACTA”). FACTA requires, in relevant part, that credit or debit card receipts issued to consumers shall not print more than the last 5 digits of the card number or the expiration date upon the receipt. 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(g)(l). Plaintiff Michael Bateman alleges that Defendant American Multi-Cinema issued credit and debit card receipts from its automated box office kiosks that were in violation of FAC-TA. Specifically, Defendant’s kiosks are alleged to have printed both the first 4 digits and the last 4 digits of a credit card on each receipt. Plaintiff filed his Complaint on January 5, 2007, alleging Defendant violated FACTA. However, the Complaint does not allege that Plaintiff or any potential class members suffer or have suffered any actual harm as a result of Defendant’s violation. Within two weeks of the Complaint being filed, Defendant corrected its kiosks to fully comply with FACTA.

Plaintiff filed his original Motion for Class Certification on October 16, 2007 (docket no. 28). The Court denied Plaintiffs original Motion because it failed to satisfy the superiority requirement of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3). The Court found that if certified, the potential statutory damages to be awarded could be enormous and completely out of proportion to any harm suffered by Plaintiff. (Minute Order dated October 31, 2007.) The Court denied the Motion without prejudice, however, as the Ninth Circuit had accepted interlocutory appeal of an analogous case, Soualian v. International Coffee and Tea LLC, CV 07-502-RGK (JCx), 2007 WL 4877902 (C.D. Cal. filed June 11, 2007). The parties stipulated to a stay of the case pending the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Soualian. However, the appeal was recently dismissed after the parties in Soualian reached a settlement. The Court thereafter permitted the parties in this case to submit supplemental briefing regarding the impact on class certification of Congress’ recent amendment to FACTA, H.R. 4008. (Minute Order dated Sept. 8, 2008.) Plaintiff thereafter filed his Renewed Motion for Class Certification, and a Corrected Renewed Motion for Class Certification on September 22, 2008 (docket nos. 48, 50).

II. LEGAL STANDARD

“Before certifying a class, the trial court must conduct a ‘rigorous analysis’ to determine whether the party seeking certification has met the prerequisites of Rule 23.” Zinser v. Accufix Research Inst., Inc., 253 F.3d 1180, 1186 (9th Cir.2001) (citing Valentino v. Carter-Wallace, Inc., 97 F.3d 1227, 1233 (9th Cir.1996)). The party seeking class certification bears the bui'den of demonstrating that each of the four requirements of Rule 23(a) and at least one requirement of Rule 23(b) has been met. Dukes v. Wal-Mart, Inc., 474 F.3d 1214 (9th Cir.2007).

[649]*649Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, one or more members of a class may sue as representative parties on behalf of the entire class only if all of the following four elements are met:

(1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable; (2) there are questions of law or fact common to the class; (3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class; and (4) the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a).1

In addition, the Court must find that one of the conditions of Rule 23(b) has been satisfied. Rule 23(b) provides that a class action may be maintained if: (1) the prosecution of separate actions would create a risk of (a) inconsistent or varying adjudications or (b) individual adjudications dispositive of the interests of other members not a party to those adjudications; (2) the party opposing the class has acted or refused to act on grounds generally applicable to the class; or (3) “questions of law or fact common to the members of the class predominate over any questions affecting only individual members, and that a class action is superior to other available methods for the fair and efficient adjudication of the controversy.” Fed. R.Civ.P. 23(b). In this case, Plaintiffs seek class certification pursuant to Rule 23(b)(3).

Rule 23(b)(3) provides several factors to consider: “(A) the class members’ interests in individually controlling the prosecution or defense of separate actions; (B) the extent and nature of any litigation concerning the controversy already begun by or against members of the class; (C) the desirability or undesirability of concentrating the litigation of the claims in the particular forum; (D) the likely difficulties in managing a class action.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(3).

III. DISCUSSION

In its Renewed Motion for Class Certification, Plaintiff submits three primary arguments to support class certification: (1) Congress’ passage of H.R. 4008 reflects Congressional approval of class actions based upon the printing of extraneous credit card account numbers, (2) the outcome of FACTA class action settlements demonstrates that damages will not be excessive or disproportionate, and (3) other courts have certified FACTA class actions. Plaintiff also has filed a Request for Judicial Notice of legislative materials and recent court decisions related to FACTA. The Court finds that these documents are not subject to reasonable dispute and are capable of accurate and ready determination by resort to sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned. Fed. R.Evid. 201. Defendant also does not dispute the accuracy or authentication of these materials and cites to them in its Opposition papers. Plaintiffs Request for Judicial Notice is therefore granted.

A. HR 4008

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Bluebook (online)
252 F.R.D. 647, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88772, 2008 WL 4684146, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bateman-v-american-multi-cinema-inc-cacd-2008.