Bradford v. AGCO Corp.

187 F.R.D. 600, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16742, 1999 WL 440427
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Missouri
DecidedJune 28, 1999
DocketNo. 98-1323-CV-W-SOW
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 187 F.R.D. 600 (Bradford v. AGCO Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bradford v. AGCO Corp., 187 F.R.D. 600, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16742, 1999 WL 440427 (W.D. Mo. 1999).

Opinion

ORDER

WRIGHT, Senior District Judge.

Before this Court is the plaintiffs Motion for Class Certification (Doc. # 12) and defendant’s Memorandum in Opposition to plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification. For the reasons discussed below, the Motion is granted.

I. Background,

On June 16, 1998, plaintiffs filed a class action complaint. The basis of the plaintiffs’ claim is a breach of fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (hereinafter “ERISA”) (29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq.) and the Labor Management Relations Act (hereinafter “LMRA”) (29 U.S.C. § 185). The case was initially filed in the Northern District of Georgia and was transferred to this Court in December of 1998. Plaintiff moved for certification on February 24, 1999. Defendant sought additional discovery and filed its response on June 21, 1999.

Plaintiffs’ class action complaint consists of numerous retired employees of the defendant who were employed at the Independence, Missouri plant during the period from January 1, 1990 to approximately May 25, 1993. Plaintiffs state that benefits under a collective bargaining agreement were changed by the defendant from non-premium coverage to a fixed premium coverage. Additionally, other plaintiffs covered by the same bargaining agreement were denied coverage. Plaintiffs claim that those two changes in coverage violate the § 301 of the LMRA and §§ 502(a)(1)(B) and (a)(3) of ERISA.

The plaintiffs propose a class that consists of “all union-represented employees (and their spouses and dependants) of AGCO Corporation who retired from the combine plant in Independence, Missouri between January 1, 1990 and May 20, 1993 and were covered under either the 1986 or 1990 Insurance Agreements.”

II. Standard

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 sets forth the following standard for certifying a class action:

(1) numerosity (a “class [so large] that joinder of all members is impracticable”);
(2) commonality (“questions of law or fact common to the class”);
(3) typicality (named parties’ claims or defenses “are typical ... of the class”); and
(4) adequacy of representation (representatives “will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class”).

Amchem Products, Inc. v. Windsor, 521 U.S. 591, 117 S.Ct. 2231, 2245, 138 L.Ed.2d 689 (1997) (citing Fed.R.Civ.P. 23).

In addition to the requirements of Rule 23(a), the plaintiff must also fall under 23(b)(1), (2) or (3). Id. Plaintiff seeks certification under 23(b)(2). Justice Breyer noted in his dissent in Amchem Products that:

[t]he law gives broad leeway to district courts in making class certification decisions, and their judgments are to be reviewed by the Court of Appeals only for abuse of discretion. See Califano v. Ya-masaki, 442 U.S. 682, 703, 99 S.Ct. 2545, 61 L.Ed.2d 176 (1979) .... [District courts have] “broad power and discretion ... with respect to matters involving the certification” of class actions. Reiter v. Sonotone Corp., 442 U.S. 330, 345, 99 S.Ct. 2326, 60 L.Ed.2d 931 (1979).

[603]*603Id. at 2252-53.

III. Discussion

Plaintiffs seek to have a class certified in this ease. Defendant opposes certification on numerous grounds.

A. Class Actions

In order for any class action to be certified, the party seeking certification must demonstrate: (1) numerosity; (2) commonality; (3) typicality; and (4) adequacy of representation.

The Eighth Circuit has attempted to clarify the numerosity requirement by holding that this Court should examine the number of persons in a proposed class, the nature of the action, the size of the individual claims, the inconvenience of trying individual suits, and any other factor relevant to the practicability of joinder. Paxton v. Union Nat’l Bank, 688 F.2d 552, 559 (8th Cir.1982).

Rule 23(a)(2) sets forth the requirement of commonality. The Eighth Circuit has set forth the following standard for this requirement:

Commonality is not required on every question raised in a class action. Rather, Rule 23 is satisfied when the legal question “linking the class members is substantially related to the resolution of the litigation.” Paxton v. Union Nat’l Bank, 688 F.2d 552, 561 (8th Cir.1982) (quoting American Fin. Sys., Inc. v. Harlow, 65 F.R.D. 94, 107 (D.Md.1974)), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1083, 103 S.Ct. 1772, 76 L.Ed.2d 345 (1983).

DeBoer v. Mellon Mortg. Co., 64 F.3d 1171, 1174 (8th Cir.1995).

The typicality requirement has likewise been thoroughly defined by our Circuit Court.

Typicality under Rule 23(a)(3) means that there are “other members of the class who have the same or similar grievances as the plaintiff.” Donaldson v. Pillsbury Co., 554 F.2d 825, 830 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 856, 98 S.Ct. 177, 54 L.Ed.2d 128 (1977). The burden is “fairly easily met so long as other class members have claims similar to the named plaintiff.” DeBoer, 64 F.3d at 1174. Factual variations in the individual claims will not normally preclude class certification if the claim arises from the same event or course of conduct as the class claims, and gives rise to the same legal or remedial theory. Donaldson, 554 F.2d at 831; see, e.g., DeBoer, 64 F.3d at 1174-75 (typicality requirement satisfied even though class members held different mortgage instruments but sought same form of relief); accord Hoxworth v. Blinder, Robinson & Co., Inc., 980 F.2d 912, 923 (3rd Cir.1992) (affirming over typicality objections a class of securities investors who had purchased or sold any one of twenty-one securities during a certain period); see generally 1 Herbert B. Newberg, Newberg on Class Actions: A Manual for Group Litigation at Federal and State Levels S 3.13, at 167 (2d ed.1985) (claim typical if it challenges the same unlawful conduct affecting named plaintiff and putative class).

The fourth requirement is designed to “uncover conflicts of interest between named parties and the class they seek to represent.” Amchem Products, 117 S.Ct. at 2250 (citations omitted).

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Bluebook (online)
187 F.R.D. 600, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16742, 1999 WL 440427, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bradford-v-agco-corp-mowd-1999.