Brandt v. Owens-Illinois, Inc.

62 F.R.D. 160, 18 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 258
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedAugust 27, 1973
DocketNo. 72 Civ. 3003
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 62 F.R.D. 160 (Brandt v. Owens-Illinois, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brandt v. Owens-Illinois, Inc., 62 F.R.D. 160, 18 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 258 (S.D.N.Y. 1973).

Opinion

BAUMAN, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Roxanne Brandt, commenced this action on her own behalf and on behalf of other 4% cumulative preferred shareholders of Owens-Illinois, Inc. to recover for alleged violations of the securities laws and to compel Owens-Illinois, Inc. (“Owens”) to properly employ a purchase fund1 established for the benefit of its 4% cumulative preferred shareholders (“preferred shareholders”) Presently before the court is a motion by the plaintiff for an order pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure designating this a class action.

The complaint alleges that Owens has repeatedly violated Section 10(b) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b) and Rule 10b-5, 17 C. F.R. § 240.10b-5, by falsely representing to its shareholders that it is in full compliance with the purchase fund provi[163]*163sions of its articles of incorporation.2 Plaintiff charges that, as a result of these false and misleading statements, the market price for the preferred shares was and continues to be “artificially deflated”. The complaint also sets out a cause of action for breach of contract with jurisdiction predicated upon diversity of citizenship. In this count, plaintiff alleges that Owens breached its obligations to its preferred shareholders by failing to effect purchases of preferred shares in the manner provided by its articles of incorporation.

Plaintiff seeks to represent two overlapping subclasses which correspond to her two causes of action. The first consists of all persons who purchased preferred shares after February, 1969, the period during which the first false and misleading statement was published; the second consists of all preferred shareholders.

The defendant has vigorously denied all of plaintiff’s allegations and submitted two lengthy memoranda in opposition to her class action motion. Unfortunately, most of its arguments are premised on the view that the merits of plaintiff’s claims have a substantial bearing on this motion. Thus, fully two-thirds of its memoranda are devoted to an attempt to demonstrate that there is no possibility that plaintiff could prevail on either of her claims and that “it would be an unjustified and expensive burden on the judicial system to permit the action to be maintained as a class action.”

Our Court of Appeals, however, has recently rejected this approach and barred inquiry into the merits in determining the propriety of a class action. Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin, 479 F.2d 1005 (2nd Cir. 1973), reh. en banc denied, May 24, 1973, (Eisen III). In adopting this view, the Court followed the authorities in this and other circuits which reject the concept of the preliminary hearing on the merits, the so-called “mini hearing.” See e. g., Halverson v. Convenient Food Mart, Inc., 458 F.2d 927, 932 (7th Cir. 1972); Miller v. Mackey International, Inc., 452 F.2d 424, 429 (5th Cir. 1971); Kahan v. Rosenstiel, 424 F.2d 161, 169 (3rd Cir.), cert. denied, 398 U.S. 950, 90 S.Ct. 1870, 26 L.Ed.2d 290 (1970); Fogel v. Wolfgang, 47 F.R.D. 213, 215 n. 4 (S.D.N.Y.1969) ; Mersay v. First Republic Corporation of America, 43 F.R.D. 465, 469 (S.D.N.Y. 1968). But see Dolgow v. Anderson, 43 F.R.D. 472 (E.D.N.Y.1968). It specifically approved the following language of Miller v. Mackey International, Inc., supra:

“In determining the propriety of a class action, the question is not whether the plaintiff or plaintiffs have stated a cause of action or will prevail on the merits, but rather whether the requirements of Rule 23 are met.” 452 F.2d at 427.

[164]*164 From this I conclude that a suit may be properly designated a class action even though the complaint fails to state a cause of action and may subsequently be dismissed. See Miller v. Mackey International, Inc., supra, at 427; Kahan v. Rosenstiel, supra, 424 F. 2d at 169. My inquiry therefore excludes a consideration of the merits as to which I express no view and is limited to whether or not the requirements of Rule 23 have been satisfied.

To be maintainable as a class action a' suit must meet all the requirements set forth in Rule 23(a)3 and also satisfy the requirements of one of the three subsections of Rule 23(b).4

I. The Prerequisites of Rule 23(a).

a) The Class Shall be so Numerous that Joinder of all Members is Impracticable.

Though plaintiff has not specified the exact number of people in the subclasses she purports to represent, they have been defined with some precision. Cf. Fischer v. Kletz, 41 F.R.D. 377, 384 (S.D.N.Y.1966). Since each subclass consists of hundreds, if not thousands,5 I am satisfied that the nu-[165]*165merosity requirement of Rule 23(a) has been met. See Esplin v. Hirschi, 402 F. 2d 94 (10th Cir. 1968), cert. denied, 394 U.S. 928, 89 S.Ct. 1194, 22 L.Ed.2d 459 (1969) (class of over 200 securities purchasers sufficiently numerous); Citizens Banking Co. v. Monticello State Bank, 143 F.2d 261, 264 (8th Cir. 1944) (class of 40 note holders held sufficiently numerous); Fidelis Corp. v. Litton Industries, 293 F.Supp. 164 (S.D.N.Y. 1968) (35 stockholders constitute a class in a securities fraud case).

b) There are Questions of Law or Fact Common to the Class.

This precondition is plainly satisfied because the failure of Owens to effect purchases of preferred shares in the manner provided by the articles of incorporation is a matter of concern to all shareholders. Moreover, with respect to the 10b-5 claim, I reject defendant’s argument that each person injured must show that he personally relied on the misrepresentations and omissions and that any common issues of misrepresentation do not predominate over individual questions of reliance. The short answer is that proof of reliance may no longer be a prerequisite to this type of 10b-5 case. See Affiliated Ute Citizens of Utah v. United States, 406 U.S. 128, 153-154, 92 S.Ct. 1456, 31 L.Ed.2d 741, reh. denied, 407 U.S. 916, 92 S.Ct. 2430, 32 L.Ed.2d 692; 408 U.S. 931, 92 S.Ct. 2478, 33 L.Ed.2d 345 (1972); Chris-Craft Industries, Inc. v. Piper Aircraft Corp., 480 F.2d 341 (2nd Cir. 1973). However, even if the defendant is correct in its assertion of the need for proof of reliance, the recent trend has been to allow class actions to proceed to a determination on the common questions and then to require individual proof on the remaining issues. See e. g., Green v. Wolf Corporation, supra, 406 F.2d at 301; Esplin v. Hirschi, supra; Donson Stores v. American Bakeries Company, 58 F.R.D.

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Bluebook (online)
62 F.R.D. 160, 18 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 258, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brandt-v-owens-illinois-inc-nysd-1973.