Centeno v. Inslee

310 F.R.D. 483, 92 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 963, 204 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3312, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125142, 2015 WL 5542452
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedSeptember 17, 2015
DocketCase No. C14-200 MJP
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 310 F.R.D. 483 (Centeno v. Inslee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Centeno v. Inslee, 310 F.R.D. 483, 92 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 963, 204 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3312, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125142, 2015 WL 5542452 (W.D. Wash. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER ON RENEWED MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION, MOTION TO STAY

MARSHAL PECHMAN, Chief Judge.

THIS MATTER comes before the Court on Plaintiffs’ Renewed Motion for Class Certification (Dkt. No. 120) and Defendants’ Joint Motion to Vacate Dispositive Motion and Trial Dates (Dkt. No. 133). Having considered the Motions, the Responses (Dkt. Nos. 138, 145, 137), the Replies (Dkt. Nos. 152, 150), and all related papers, the Court hereby DENIES the renewed certification motion and GRANTS Defendants’ motion to stay the case until the Supreme Court resolves Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. See — U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 2933, 192 L.Ed.2d 975 (2015). The Parties are further ORDERED to file a Joint Status Report proposing new dispositive motions deadlines and trial dates within thirty (30) days of the Supreme Court’s decision.

[485]*485Background

This case comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Harris v. Quinn, in which the Supreme Court held "with respect to Illinois personal care assistants that are deemed employees solely for the purpose of collective bargaining that the imposition of involuntary “agency fee” payments to unions in lieu of equivalent union membership dues is a violation of the First Amendment. Harris v. Quinn, — U.S. -, 134 S.Ct. 2618, 2639, 189 L.Ed.2d 620 (2014). Prior to Harris, the State of Washington had an agency fee system for home health care providers (known as “Individual Providers”) arguably like the one struck down in Harris. (See First Glickman Decl., Dkt. No. 86 at 2-5.) In response to the Harris ruling, however, the State has changed its practice and imposed an opt-out system for union membership and/or dues deduction. (See id.) The named Plaintiffs (currently Mary Hoffman, Susan Routh, Linda Eby, and Mary Jane Aurdal Olson) are “Individual Providers” in Washington who care for disabled relatives and do not wish to join the Union or have dues deducted from their paychecks. (Third Am. Compl. [“TAC”], Dkt. No. 68 at 1-2, 4; Stipulated Dismissal of Plaintiffs Centeno and Wilen; Dkt. No. Eby Decl., Dkt. No. 70 at 2; Hoffman Decl., Dkt. No. 71 at 2; Olson Decl., Dkt. No. 72 at 2; Routh Decl., Dkt. No. 73 at 2-3.)

The Court previously denied a motion for certification of a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3) class made up of “[a]ll Individual Providers who, at any point from February 2011 to the present, were subjected to [the] compulsory deductions without their explicit consent.” (Dkt. No. 116.)

In this renewed Motion, Plaintiffs seek to certify a class pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3) made up of “All Individual Providers who: (1) provided written notification to SEIU Local 775NW (“SEIU”) or the State of Washington that they objected to paying dues or fees to SEIU; and (2) at any time from February 2011 to the present were subjected to automatic deductions of union dues or agency fees without their recorded, affirmative consent to those deductions.” (Dkt. No. 120 at 3.)

In addition to opposing certification of the class, Defendants also argue the Court should stay the case following the order on class certification in light of the Supreme Court’s grant of certiorari in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. (Dkt. No. 133.)

Discussion

I. Legal Standard for Class Certification

“The class action is an exception to the usual rule that litigation is conducted by and on behalf of the individual named parties only.” Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 564 U.S. 338, 131 S.Ct. 2541, 2550, 180 L.Ed.2d 374 (2011) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). To qualify for this exception to the general rule, a class representative must be part of the class and possess the same interest and suffer the same injury as the absent class members. Id. Class certification is proper if and only if “the trial court is satisfied, after a rigorous analysis,” that Plaintiffs have met their burden under Rule 23. Id. at 2551.

Proponents of class certification must demonstrate, first, that:

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

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

Next, proponents of certification must demonstrate that they meet the requirements of at least one of the class types described by Rule 23(b). Here, Plaintiffs rely on Rule 23(b)(3), which requires that “questions of law or fact common to class members predominate over any questions affecting only individual members” (“predominance”) and a class action would be “superior to other available methods for fairly and [486]*486efficiently adjudicating the controversy” (superiority). The Rule notes that matters relevant to predominance and superiority include:

(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 class members;
(C) the desirability or undesirability of concentrating the litigation of the claims in the particular forum; and
(D) the likely difficulties in managing a class action.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(3).

In support of the idea that one can bring a second class certification motion, Plaintiffs point to Rule 23’s statement that “[a]n order that grants or denies class certification may be altered or amended before final judgment.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(c)(1)(C). Courts have interpreted this rule to permit renewed motions for class certification offering narrowed class definitions. See, e.g., Hartman v. United Bank Card, Inc., 291 F.R.D. 591, 597 (W.D.Wash.2013).

II. Class Actions and the First Amendment

One recurring issue that the Parties struggle with in this briefing is whether a court must accept the plaintiffs theory of liability at the class certification stage, and what accepting Plaintiffs’ theory of liability would mean in this context.

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310 F.R.D. 483, 92 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 963, 204 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3312, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125142, 2015 WL 5542452, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/centeno-v-inslee-wawd-2015.