Del Valle v. Global Exchange Vacation Club

320 F.R.D. 50, 2017 WL 433998, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14196
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedFebruary 1, 2017
DocketCase No.: SA CV 16-2149-DOC (JCGx)
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 320 F.R.D. 50 (Del Valle v. Global Exchange Vacation Club) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Del Valle v. Global Exchange Vacation Club, 320 F.R.D. 50, 2017 WL 433998, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14196 (C.D. Cal. 2017).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO CERTIFY CLASS [11]; DENYING MOTION TO REMAND [20]

DAVID 0. CARTER, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Before the Court are Plaintiff Michele Del Valle’s (“Del Valle” or “Plaintiff’) Motion for Class Certification (“Motion”) (Dkt. 11) and Motion to Remand (Dkt. 20). After considering the moving papers, the Court DENIES both Motions.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Gravamen of Plaintiffs Claim

On December 2, 2016, Defendants Global Exchange Vacation Club (“GEVC”), Resort Vacations, Inc. (“RVI”), and Global Vacations Marketing Corp. (“GVMC”) (collectively, “Defendants”) removed this action to federal court. See Notice of Removal (Dkt. 1). The gravamen of Plaintiffs First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) (Dkt. 1-3) is that Defendants violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), 27 U.S.C. §§ 227 et seq., by hiring two telemarketing companies who used an automatic telephone dialing system to call Plaintiffs cellular phone numbers without her express consent, and for the purpose of marketing Defendants’ timeshares. Plaintiff sues on behalf of herself and a putative class.

B. Motion for Class Certification

On December 8, 2016, Plaintiff filed the instant Motion for Class Certification (“Motion”) (Dkt. 11). Plaintiff seeks class certification for violations of the TCPA See generally Mot. Plaintiff seeks to certify the following class (“the proposed class”):

All persons within the United State to whom Intervoice Technologies [“IVT”] and Marketing Solutions, International [“MSI”] have placed a call to said persons’ cellular telephone (without them express prior consent and not for emergency purposes) through the use of an automatic telephone dialing system for the purpose of marketing Defendants’ timeshares from September 15, 2010 to the present.

FAC ¶ 24; Mot. at 1-2.

II. LEGAL STANDARDS

A. Class Certification

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 governs class actions. Fed. R. Civ. P. 23. A party seeking class certification must demonstrate the following prerequisites: “(1) nu-merosity of plaintiffs; (2) common questions of law or fact predominate; (3) the named [55]*55plaintiffs claims and defenses are typical; and (4) the named plaintiff can adequately protect the interests of the class.” Hanon v. Dataproducts Corp., 976 F.2d 497, 608 (9th Cir. 1992) (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)).

After satisfying the four prerequisites of numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy, a party must also demonstrate either: (1) a risk that separate actions would create incompatible standards of conduct for the defendant or prejudice individual class members not parties to the action; or (2) the defendant has treated the members of the class as a class, making appropriate injunc-tive or declaratory relief with respect to the class as a whole; or (3) common questions of law or fact predominate over questions affecting individual members and that a class action is a superior method for fairly and efficiently adjudicating the action. Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(l)-(3).

“A party seeking class certification must affirmatively demonstrate compliance with Rule 23—that is, the party must be prepared to prove that there are in fact sufficiently numerous parties, common questions of law or fact, etc.” Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 564 U.S. 338, 349, 131 S.Ct. 2541, 180 L.Ed.2d 374 (2011) (emphasis in original). The party may not rest on mere allegations, but must provide facts to satisfy these requirements. Doninger v. Pac. Northwest Bell, Inc., 564 F.2d 1304, 1309 (9th Cir. 1977). A class certification motion requires a district court to conduct a “rigorous analysis” that frequently “will entail some overlap with the merits of the plaintiffs underlying claim.” Wal-Mart, 564 U.S. at 351, 131 S.Ct. 2541. However, neither “the possibility that a plaintiff will be unable to prove his allegations, nor the possibility that the later course of the suit might unforeseeably prove the original decision to certify the class wrong, is a basis for declining to certify a class which apparently satisfies [Rule 23].” United Steel Workers v. ConocoPhillips Co., 593 F.3d 802, 809 (9th Cir. 2010). “[N]othing in either the language or history of Rule 23... gives a court any authority to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the merits of a suit in order to determine whether it may be maintained as a class action.” Id. (quoting Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin, 417 U.S. 156, 177-78, 94 S.Ct. 2140, 40 L.Ed.2d 732 (1974)).

The decision to grant or deny a motion for class certification is committed to the trial court’s broad discretion. Bateman v. American Multi-Cinema, Inc., 623 F.3d 708, 712 (9th Cir. 2010).

III. DISCUSSION

A. The Four Requirements of Rule 23(a)

1. Numerosity under Rule 23(a)(1)

Numerosity, the first prerequisite of class certification, requires that the class be “so numerous that joinder of all members is impractical.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(1). A proposed class of at least forty members presumptively satisfies the numerosity requirement. See Jordan v. Los Angeles County, 669 F.2d 1311, 1319 (9th Cir. 1982), vacated on other grounds by County of Los Angeles v. Jordan, 459 U.S. 810, 103 S.Ct. 35, 74 L.Ed.2d 48 (1982); Slaven v. BP America, Inc., 190 F.R.D. 649, 654 (C.D. Cal. 2000).

Here, Plaintiff contends, and Defendants do not dispute, that Plaintiffs proposed class is sufficiently numerous. See Mot. at 10. Evidence that Plaintiff has presented with her Motion confirms that this prerequisite is satisfied. See Mot. at 10 n.4. For example, Defendant GEVC’s Further Response to Plaintiffs Special Interrogatories states that RVI and its vendors (“third party contractors”) make more than 8,0Q0 calls per day. Plaintiffs Appendix of Evidence (“Pl.’s App.”) (Dkt. 11-2) Ex. E at 7:21-23. Plaintiff has also offered evidence that IVT and MSI each send approximately fifty to sixty customers to RVI per week. Pl.’s App. Ex. B (“Bryson Depo.”) at 168-169.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
320 F.R.D. 50, 2017 WL 433998, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14196, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/del-valle-v-global-exchange-vacation-club-cacd-2017.