Brenner v. Future Graphics, LLC

258 F.R.D. 561, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98493, 2007 WL 6663741
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedSeptember 10, 2007
DocketCivil Action No. 1:06-CV-0362-CAP
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 258 F.R.D. 561 (Brenner v. Future Graphics, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brenner v. Future Graphics, LLC, 258 F.R.D. 561, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98493, 2007 WL 6663741 (N.D. Ga. 2007).

Opinion

ORDER

CHARLES A. PANNELL, JR., District Judge.

This action is before the Court on the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification [Doc. No. 152] and Defendant Future Graphics LLC’s motion for summary judgment [Doc. No. 122],

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The plaintiffs brought this action setting forth causes of action under federal and state Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Acts (“RICO”) as well as state law claims for civil conspiracy, breach of warranty, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment [Doc. No. 1]. The plaintiffs are individuals who purchased business opportunities from defendants Richard Morrell, his family members, and his corporate entities (the “Morrell [566]*566Defendants”).1 Essentially, the plaintiffs purchased the opportunity to become distributors of Future Graphics’ remanufactured ink cartridges. The named plaintiffs seek to represent a class of distributors of Future Graphics ink products. The potential class consists of more 500 members who, the named plaintiffs allege, invested millions of dollars but were provided with worthless product.

According to the complaint, the defendants sold the plaintiffs and proposed class members what was represented to be a turn-key business opportunity. The investors paid the Morrell Defendants a fixed sum of money in exchange for the opportunity to sell and distribute a line of Future Graphics’ ink cartridges guaranteed to generate monthly income through the resale of the ink products to retail customers.

After making full payment to the Morrell Defendants for the initial shipment of goods, an investor would receive the goods directly from Future Graphics. Meanwhile, the Mor-rell Defendants would pay Future Graphics for the goods immediately upon shipment. According to the plaintiffs, Future Graphics would ship only defective, unmerchantable products directly to the investor.

The plaintiffs further allege that upon the receipt of complaints and demands for refunds, the corporate entities set up by Defendant Richard Morrell began to go out of operation. Thus, the plaintiffs contend that they are left with no recourse against the entities that received money in exchange for worthless goods.

II. LEGAL ANALYSIS

A. Motion for Class Certification

The plaintiffs have proposed a class with the following definition: “All persons or entities that purchased a business opportunity to distribute Defendants’ ink-cartridge products” (the “Class”). The Morrell Defendants did not file responsive pleadings as to the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification. Therefore, only Future Graphics opposes class certification.

Class certification is governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. Subsection (a) provides:

One or more members of a class may sue or be sued as representative parties on behalf of all only if (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.

The four requirements are commonly referred to as “the prerequisites of numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy of representation.” General Telephone Co. of the Northwest, Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 446 U.S. 318, 330, 100 S.Ct. 1698, 64 L.Ed.2d 319 (1980). The burden of proving these prerequisites is on the party seeking class certification. Hudson v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 90 F.3d 451, 456 (11th Cir.1996).

Rule 23(b) provides that, in addition to the Rule 23(a) prerequisites, a class must fall into one of three categories: (1) the pursuance of separate actions would create a risk of inconsistent verdicts or would, as a practical matter, make individual adjudications dispositive of the interests of class members who are nonparties; (2) the party opposing the class has acted or refused to act on grounds generally applicable to the putative class such that declaratory or injunctive relief with respect to the class as a whole would be appropriate; or (3) questions of law or fact common to members of the class predominate over issues affecting individual members, and class adjudication is preferable to other methods of litigation for purposes of a fair and efficient resolution of the controversy.

And finally, prior to the certification of a class, the district court must determine that at least one named class representative has Article III standing to raise each class subclaim. Prado-Steiman ex rel. Prado v. Bush, 221 F.3d 1266, 1279 (11th Cir. [567]*5672000). To have standing, a named plaintiff must be a member of the class which he or she seeks to represent at the time the class action is certified by the district court. Sos-na v. Iowa, 419 U.S. 393, 403, 95 S.Ct. 553, 42 L.Ed.2d 532 (1975),

1. Rule 23(a)

a. Numerosity

The numerosity requirement simply asks whether there are so many members of the class that joinder of them all would be impracticable. Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a)(1). Factors determining whether joinder of class members is practicable include the size of the class, the geographical dispersion of the class, the ease with which class members may be identified, and the nature of the action and the size of each class member’s claim. Zeidman v. J. Ray McDermott & Co., 651 F.2d 1030, 1038 (5th Cir.1981).

The plaintiffs allege that at least 400 or more persons or entities purchased a business opportunity to distribute the defendants’ ink cartridge products. The plaintiff has provided a list of proposed Class members with their contact information [Doc. 152 at Ex. G].

Future Graphics makes no challenge to the actual number of class members. Rather, Future Graphics argues that the plaintiffs have failed to establish that the alleged class is readily ascertainable. This argument is without merit as the plaintiffs have already identified the potential class members. Moreover, Future Graphics can identify the potential class members by examining its own sales and shipping records. Accordingly, the court finds that the proposed Class meets the numerosity prerequisite of Rule 23(a).

b. Commonality

To satisfy the commonality requirement, the plaintiffs must show that there are questions of law or fact common to the entire class. Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a)(2). It is not necessary that all questions of law and fact be common. National Broadcasting Co. v. Cleland, 697 F.Supp. 1204, 1216 (N.D.Ga.1988); Strube v.

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Bluebook (online)
258 F.R.D. 561, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98493, 2007 WL 6663741, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brenner-v-future-graphics-llc-gand-2007.