Crasto v. Estate of Kaskel

63 F.R.D. 18
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedApril 16, 1974
DocketNos. 73 Civ. 3486-LFM, 73 Civ. 4039-LFM
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 63 F.R.D. 18 (Crasto v. Estate of Kaskel) 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
Crasto v. Estate of Kaskel, 63 F.R.D. 18 (S.D.N.Y. 1974).

Opinion

OPINION

MacMAHON, District Judge.

Plaintiffs, in these related class actions under the New York state and federal securities daws, move, pursuant to Rule 23(c)(1), Fed.R.Civ.P., and Rule llA(e) of this court, for class action determination.

The underlying facts in these controversies may be found in our earlier decisions of motions in these cases, dated December 12, 19731 and January 22, 1974, and in the opinion of the New York Court of Appeals in Richards v. Kaskel, 32 N.Y.2d 524, 347 N.Y.S.2d 1, 300 N.E.2d 388 (1973). We will therefore, discuss here only those facts relevant to this motion.

Plaintiffs are shareholders in 360 East 72nd Street Owners Incorporated (Corporation), a co-operative apartment building located in Manhattan. They sue on behalf of the class of all persons who have, at any time, purchased, held, or been allocated, shares in the Corporation, alleging violations of §§ 5, 12, 15, 16, 17(a) and 22 of the Securities Act of 1933, 15 U.S.C. §§ 77e, 771, 77o, 77p, 77q(a) and 77v; § 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C § 78j(b); §§ 352-c, 352-e and 359-ff of the New York General Business Law (McKinney’s Consol.Laws, c. 20 1968); and the common law. The complaints differ only in the relief sought. Plaintiffs seek damages in Crasto and rescission in Kahn.

The complaints allege that defendants, including the Estate of Alfred Kaskel, the sponsor of the co-operative plan (Sponsor), among other representations, made' oral and written misrepresentations to the class members to the effect that (1) the co-operative plan would be offered only to New York state residents; (2) the plan would not become effective until 35% of the tenants resident in the building had purchased shares in the'Corporation; (3) the requisite 35% was lawfully obtained by the Sponsor; (4) no claims or lawsuits were threatened or pending against the Sponsor or its agent in connection with the plan; (5) federal and New York state income tax deductions would be available to the shareholders; and (6) the plan, if declared effective, would enable the Corporation to evict the building’s tenants, who otherwise would be protected from eviction by the New York City Rent Stabilization Law of 1969.

Plaintiffs claim that these misrepresentations were made orally and in writing in a number of ways, at varying times, specifically, in the “Offering Plan and Statement of Cooperative Organization” (Offering Plan), issued by the Sponsor on October 31, 1969, the eight subsequent amendments to the Offering Plan issued over a three and one-half year period,2 additional selling materials, press releases and written announcements.

The parties differ in their estimates of the number of members of the class. Plaintiffs claim that the number of class members is approximately 350, but the records of the Sponsor, which plaintiffs concede are the most accurate source of [21]*21this information, reveal that there are 298 persons who have purchased, held, or been allocated, shares in the Corporation. At present, there are 232 shareholders, most of whom currently reside at 360 East 72nd Street.

On January 18, 1974, the Sponsor issued settlement proposals to the members of the class. Plaintiffs then sought an order temporarily and permanently enjoining defendants from distributing the proposals, but the court, after granting temporary relief, denied plaintiffs’ application for permanent injunctive relief and vacated the temporary restraining order on January 22, 1974. It now appears that 151 class members have accepted, or intend to accept, the Sponsor’s proposals and will, in accordance with the terms of the settlements, request exclusion from these actions should they be declared class actions. Thus, the class now contains 147 potential plaintiffs.3

If plaintiffs can satisfy the requirements of Rule 23(a) and (b), the motion , for class action determination should be granted.4 However, since we hold that these actions cannot properly be brought under any of the subsections of Rule 23(b), we need not discuss whether plaintiffs satisfy the requirements of Rule 23(a).

Plaintiffs appear to concede, as they must, that their actions cannot be brought under Rule 23(b)(2), which is applicable only to actions for declaratory or injunctive relief. They claim, however, that under either (b)(1) or (b)(3) of the rule, these actions should be granted class status.

An action may be brought as a class action under Rule 23(b)(1) if individual adjudication of the controversy would prejudice either the party opposing the class, (b)(1)(A), or the class members themselves, (b)(1)(B).5 Here, a disposition of the actions on an individual basis will neither prejudice the defendants nor the members of the class. At worst, defendants will have to pay damages or grant rescission to some plaintiffs but not to others, a course of conduct outside the scope of (b) (1) (A).6 Moreover, we can conceive of no possible prejudice to the class members from individual adjudications which will bind only the parties to those actions. Numerous courts have held that class actions under the securities laws are not appropriate for class action treatment .under (b)(1).7 We conclude, therefore, [22]*22that these actions may not be maintained as class actions under Rule 23(b)(1).

Most class actions brought under the securities laws invoke subsection (b)(3),8 and plaintiffs argue that subsection (b)(3) is most appropriate here. Before plaintiffs can qualify for class status under (b)(3), however, the court must find “that the questions of law or fact common to the members of the class predominate over any questions affecting only individual members, and that a class action is superior to other available methods for the fair and efficient adjudication of the controversy.”

PREDOMINANCE

Plaintiffs argue that the issues of fact respecting fraud and misrepresentation are common to the class and predominate over any individual issue, including reliance and damages. Our function here is to determine whether the class is “more bound together by a mutual interest in the settlement of common questions than it is divided by the individual members’ interest in the matters peculiar to them.”9

There can be no question that a securities fraud, perpetrated on a large group of persons by similar or identical misrepresentations, is appropriate for class treatment.10 “On the other hand, although having some common core, a fraud case may be unsuited for treatment as a class action if there was material variation in the representations made or in the kinds or degrees of reliance by the persons to whom they were addressed.”11 This is especially true where the alleged misrepresentations include oral statements to some or all members of the class, which must, of necessity, differ from person to person.12*

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Crasto v. Estate of Kaskel
63 F.R.D. 25 (S.D. New York, 1974)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
63 F.R.D. 18, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crasto-v-estate-of-kaskel-nysd-1974.