Castano v. American Tobacco Co.

889 F. Supp. 904
District Court, E.D. Louisiana·Decided June 23, 1995·No. No. 94-1044·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

ORDER AND REASONS

JONES, District Judge.

Pending before' the Court is “Plaintiffs’ Motion for Modification of the Stay Provisions of the May 15, 1995 Order,” which was taken under submission following oral argument. Having considered the memoranda and argument of the parties, the record and the applicable law, the Court GRANTS the motion.

[906]*906Background'

The factual backdrop of this lawsuit has been set forth previously in orders issued by this Court. Suffice it to say that plaintiffs Ernest R. Perry Sr., T. George Solomon Jr. and Dianne Castaño, wife of Peter Castaño, filed suit alleging numerous causes of action based on defendants’ alleged denial and concealment of the addictive nature of nicotine in cigarettes and defendants’ alleged control and manipulation of nicotine in cigarettes to create and sustain addiction. The causes of action are: fraud and deceit, negligent misrepresentation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress, violation of consumer protection statutes, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, strict product liability, and redhibition.

In an order issued February 17, 1995, this Court conditionally certified a class action in this matter. (R.Doc. 269.) Later, the Court granted the defendants’ motion for certification of an interlocutory appeal of the class certification issue. (R.Doc. 322.) In the same Order and Reasons granting certification of the interlocutory appeal, the Court decided to stay this matter pending a ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Id. at 9-10. The Court focused on the time and expense of class notification as a prime example of its reason to stay the case. Id.

Plaintiffs bring the instant motion arguing that the named plaintiffs will proceed with this action even if the Court of Appeals denies certification.1 Hence, plaintiffs argue, to put the entire ease on hold is unfair. Further, plaintiffs contend that the Interim Plaintiffs’ Legal Committee (hereinafter “IPLC”) has set up an office and document depository with a budget of $120,000 per month and is ready to proceed whether this action goes forward as class or not; thus, a delay is a waste of time and expense. Additionally, plaintiffs argue that modification of the stay will not prejudice defendants as the discovery to be pursued by the individual plaintiffs is eo-extensive with whatever class diseovery that will occur should class certification be upheld.

Defendants counter that the present, complete stay should remain in effect for four reasons. First, plaintiffs do not cite any change in circumstances since the Court stayed this matter that alters the Court’s reasoning for the stay. Second, plaintiffs have no right to seek “class discovery” at this juncture, which is what plaintiffs are really seeking. Third, discovery in the individual plaintiffs’ cases is inappropriate because the discovery process would be redundant should the class certification be affirmed. Finally, allowing discovery would waste the Court’s resources and prejudice defendants because the discovery that plaintiffs envision is staggering.

Law and Application

A trial court has inherent power “ ‘to control the disposition of the causes on its docket with economy of time and effort for itself, for counsel and for litigants.’” Itel Corporation v. M/S Victoria U (Ex Pishtaz Iran), 710 F.2d 199, 202-03 (5th Cir.1983), quoting Ohio Environmental Council v. United States District Court, 565 F.2d 393, 396 (6th Cir.1977). The decision whether to stay a matter is within the sound discretion of the district court. Itel Corporation, 710 F.2d at 202. In making this determination, the district court “must consider which side will bear the greater and less remedial burden from delay.” Id. at 203.

A term used by several courts to gauge the propriety-of a stay already entered is “immoderate.” The Fifth Circuit has described “immoderate” as being “a function of two variables — the scope of the stay, and the reasons cited for ordering it.” Hines v. D’Artois, 531 F.2d 726, 733 (5th Cir.1976). See also Landis v. North American Co., 299 U.S. 248, 254-55, 57 S.Ct. 163, 167, 81 L.Ed. 153 (1936) (“stay is immoderate and hence unlawful unless so framed in its inception [907]*907that its force will be spent within reasonable limits”).

As noted, previously this Court stayed this matter pending interlocutory appeal, based on the reasoning that the competing interests on the class certification issue called for a stay, especially in view of the time and resources that would be spent on class issues, including but not limited to class notification. (R.Doc. 322, pp. 9-10.)

Plaintiffs raise the point that even if the Fifth Circuit reverses the conditional class certification, the individual plaintiffs will pursue their cases. The Court believes that this is a substantial factor that should be taken into consideration in determining whether the instant stay is “immoderate.”2 In other words, the question is whether the individual plaintiffs should be delayed from proceeding while the class certification issue is being appealed. The answer is “No.” The Court finds that the three individual plaintiffs — not the other two class representatives or anyone else — are entitled to proceed with discovery in this matter as long as that discovery is narrowly tailored to their own eases. This-allows for a stay that is “moderate” is scope and also will alleviate defendants’ fears that plaintiffs are only attempting to conduct “class discovery.”

While some redundancy in discovery may occur if class certification' is affirmed, the Court believes that a limited lifting of the stay will allow discovery to progress so that the entire case will have travelled much farther down the road toward trial than had the stay remained in place completely and no discovery been undertaken. Additionally, modification of the stay will result in more efficient, not less efficient, use of the resources of both the Court and the litigants.

As it now stands, the stay is “immoderate,” considering that the three- plaintiffs have a case pending in this Court whether it proceeds as a class action or not. As the Fifth Circuit recognized in Itel, the parties are entitled to “prompt adjudication.”

Federal courts exist to decide controversy. Those who have, in the common parlance, a “federal case” deserve its prompt adjudication. Therefore, it is the duty of a district court not to sidestep or delay decision.

Itel, 710 F.2d at 202 (emphasis added). See Fed.R.Civ.P. 1 (“[The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure] shall be construed and administered to. secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action.”)

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

Castano v. American Tobacco Co., 889 F. Supp. 904 (E.D. La. 1995).

889 F. Supp. 904 (Castano v. American Tobacco Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Castano v. American Tobacco Co.
889 F. Supp. 904 (E.D. Louisiana, 1995)