Delarosa v. Boiron, Inc.

275 F.R.D. 582, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106248, 2011 WL 4389919
District Court, C.D. California·Decided August 24, 2011·No. No. 8:10-CV-1569-JST (CWx)·Published·Cited by 18 cases

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION AND DENYING AS MOOT PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO STRIKE AND DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO STRIKE

JOSEPHINE STATON TUCKER, District Judge.

On January 14, 2011, Plaintiff Gina Delaro-sa filed a Motion for Class Certification. [585]*585(Doc. 26.) Defendant Boiron, Inc. filed its Opposition on March 14, 2011. (Doc. 49.) Defendant also filed a Motion to Strike the declaration of Dr. Lynn R. Willis, which was filed in support of Plaintiffs Motion for Class Certification. (Doc. 48.) Plaintiff filed a Reply in support of the Motion for Class Certification on April 4, 2011 (Doc. 52), and an Opposition to Defendant’s Motion to Strike on April 25, 2011 (Doc. 55). Plaintiff also filed a Motion to Strike the declaration of Dr. Robert Charles Dumont, which was filed in support of Defendant’s Opposition to the Motion for Class Certification. (Doc. 54.) Defendant filed an Opposition to Plaintiffs Motion to Strike (Doc. 56), and both parties filed Replies in support of their respective Motions to Strike (Docs. 59, 60.)

Because the Court does not rely on the declarations that are the subject of each party’s Motion to Strike, both Defendant’s Motion to Strike (Doe. 48) and Plaintiffs Motion to Strike (Doc. 54) are DENIED as MOOT. Having read the papers, and for the reasons set forth below, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs Motion for Class Certification.

I. BACKGROUND

Defendant Boiron, Inc. is the manufacturer and distributor of Children’s Coldcalm (“Coldcalm”). (Doc. 1, Ex. 2, Compl. ¶2.) Coldcalm belongs to a class of medicine known as “natural” or “homeopathic,” and is described as such on its packaging. (Id. ¶ 11; id. Ex. 2.) The homeopathic ingredients in Coldcalm include various flowers, vegetables, insects, metals, and poison. (Id. ¶ 17.) Defendant advertises on the outside of the package that Coldcalm will relieve symptoms of the common cold, including: sneezing, runny nose, nasal congestion, sinus pain, headaches, and sore throat. (Id. ¶ 7.)

Plaintiff Gina Delarosa read Defendant’s advertisements on the outside of the Cold-calm package and read about Coldcalm on a website. (Id. ¶ 8; id. Exs. 1, 2.) After reading that Coldcalm relieved cold symptoms, Plaintiff purchased Coldcalm, and her family used the drug as directed. (Id. ¶ 8.) Plaintiffs family did not obtain the advertised relief from the common cold, nor did they receive any benefits from using Coldcalm. (Id.) Plaintiff filed a Complaint alleging three claims: (1) violation of the California Legal Remedies Act (“CLRA”); (2) common-law fraud; and (3) violation of the California Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”). (Id. ¶¶ 29-46.) Plaintiff seeks to represent persons located within California who purchased Coldcalm for personal use at any time during the four years preceding the filing of the Complaint. (Id. ¶22.) Plaintiff requests all available legal and equitable remedies. (Id. at 11.) Plaintiff purports to represent others similarly situated for all three of these claims, and requests certification of the following class: “All persons located within California who purchased Children’s Coldcalm for personal use at any time during the four years preceding the filing of this Complaint.” (Id. ¶ 22.)

II. DISCUSSION1

A. Standing

As an initial matter, although not disputed by Defendant, the Court holds that Plaintiff has standing to file claims under the UCL [586]*586and CLRA.2 The UCL prohibits any “unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business act or practice and unfair, deceptive, untrue or misleading advertising and any act prohibited by Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 17500) of Part 3 of Division 7 of the Business and Professions Code.” Cal. Bus. & Prof.Code § 17200. Under the UCL, as amended by Proposition 64, a private plaintiff has standing to bring a UCL claim if the plaintiff “has suffered injury in fact and has lost money or property as a result of the unfair competition.” Id. § 17204. The California Supreme Court has held that the phrase “[‘as a result of] imposes an actual reliance requirement on plaintiffs prosecuting a private enforcement action under the UCL’s fraud prong.” In re Tobacco II Cases, 46 Cal.4th 298, 93 Cal.Rptr.3d 559, 207 P.3d 20, 39 (2009).

The CLRA prohibits twenty-four enumerated unlawful practices, including “[Representing that goods or services are of a particular standard, quality, or grade ... if they are another.” Cal. Civ.Code § 1770(a)(7). A private plaintiff has standing under the CLRA if she has been damaged “as a result of the use or employment by any person of a method, act, or practice declared to be unlawful by Section 1770____” Cal. Civ.Code § 1780(a). Like the UCL, the phrase “as a result of’ in the CLRA imposes an actual reliance requirement on the private litigant. See Steroid Hormone Prod. Cases, 181 Cal.App.4th 145, 104 Cal.Rptr.3d 329, 338-39 (2010).

In California, a plaintiff can prove reliance “by showing that the defendant’s misrepresentation or nondisclosure was an immediate cause of the plaintiffs injury-producing conduct.” In re Tobacco II Cases, 93 Cal.Rptr.3d 559, 207 P.3d at 39 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). One way for a plaintiff to prove that the misrepresentation was “an immediate cause” of the plaintiffs injury-producing conduct is by showing that in the absence of the misrepresentation, “the plaintiff in all reasonable probability would not have engaged in the injury-producing conduct.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). “Moreover, a presumption, or at least an inference, of reliance arises wherever there is a showing that a misrepresentation was material.” Id. (citation omitted). And in California, a misrepresentation is considered material “if a reasonable man would attach importance to its existence or nonexistence in determining his choice of action in the transaction in question____” Id. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

Here, Plaintiff has standing to file claims under the UCL and the CLRA, because she alleges that she bought Coldcalm as a result of Defendant’s allegedly deceptive representations that Coldcalm would ease the symptoms of a cold, as communicated by the labels on Coldcalm’s packaging and by Coldcalm’s website. She further asserts that neither she nor her children received the promised easing of their cold symptoms. Finally, she alleges that she suffered economic injury because she purchased Coldcalm in reliance of its promise of cold symptom relief, and the product did not work. In other words, she alleges that Defendant’s misrepresentation about Coldcalm’s efficacy was a material misrepresentation. The Court has no trouble finding that a “reasonable man” would attach importance to a statement that a product, which appears to have no purpose other than to remedy colds, does, in fact, relieve the symptoms of a cold. See Steroid Hormone Prod. Cases, 104 Cal.Rptr.3d at 338-39. Thus, the Court concludes that Plaintiff has standing to bring a UCL claim and a CLRA claim.

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Delarosa v. Boiron, Inc., 275 F.R.D. 582, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106248, 2011 WL 4389919 (C.D. Cal. 2011).

275 F.R.D. 582 (Delarosa v. Boiron, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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