Diaz v. Darling Ingredients Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedMarch 29, 2021
Docket1:20-cv-01259
StatusUnknown

This text of Diaz v. Darling Ingredients Inc. (Diaz v. Darling Ingredients Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Diaz v. Darling Ingredients Inc., (D. Colo. 2021).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO Judge Christine M. Arguello

Civil Action No. 20-cv-01259-CMA-SKC

ROBERT DIAZ, NICOLE DIAZ, ALBERT MALDONADO, and LORRAINE MALDONADO, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated,

Plaintiffs,

v.

DARLING INGREDIENTS INC., d/b/a DarPro and Pepco Manufacturing,

Defendant.

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFFS’ CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT

This matter is before the Court on Defendant Darling Ingredients Inc.’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ Class Action Complaint (“Motion”). (Doc. # 11.) The Court has reviewed the Motion and related briefing and concludes that no hearing is necessary. For the following reasons, the Court partially grants and partially denies the Motion. I. BACKGROUND1 Plaintiffs bring this class action against Defendant alleging claims of nuisance and negligence arising from the release of noxious odors from Defendant’s operation of

1 For the purposes of deciding the instant Motion, the Court accepts the well-pleaded facts in the Complaint as true and views the allegations in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs. Casanova v. Ulibarri, 595 F.3d 1120, 1124–25 (10th Cir. 2010). its animal rendering and used grease processing facility in Denver (“Facility”). (Doc. # 3 at ¶ 1.) The Facility is in the Adams County industrial/agricultural sector and is zoned industrial. (Doc. # 11 at 2.) It is surrounded by the Purina plant, the SunCor oil refinery, and a wastewater treatment plant. (Id.) Plaintiffs reside within three miles south of the Facility. (Doc. # 3 at ¶¶ 4, 16.) The Facility is surrounded by residential properties, whose residents comprise the putative class. (Id. at ¶¶ 15, 42.) At its Facility, Defendant collects discarded animal byproducts, including fat, bones, feathers, and internal organs and entrails, from a wide range of commercial sources. It uses these and other animal byproducts to produce marketable ingredients

for products, including feed and fuel. (Id. at ¶¶ 19–29.) For its grease recycling process, Defendant collects used cooking oil from food service establishments. (Id. at ¶ 26.) The used cooking oil is heated, settled, and refined. (Id. at ¶ 27.) The grease processing produces yellow grease, feed-grade animal fat, and oleochemical feedstocks, which Defendant sells commercially. (Id. at ¶ 28.) Plaintiffs allege Defendant’s industrial processes involve substantial pollutants, including highly noxious dead animal and “death” odors. (Id. at ¶¶ 29, 47.) They allege these odors are unreasonable and cause substantial discomfort to neighboring residents, and Defendant has failed to take reasonable steps to capture and control the odors. (Id. at ¶¶ 36–38, ¶¶ 42–53.) The Motion seeks dismissal of Plaintiffs’ nuisance

and negligence claims pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). See generally (Doc. # 11). II. STANDARD OF REVIEW Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) provides that a defendant may move to dismiss a claim for “failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). “The court’s function on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion is not to weigh potential evidence that the parties might present at trial, but to assess whether the plaintiff’s complaint alone is legally sufficient to state a claim for which relief may be granted.” Dubbs v. Head Start, Inc., 336 F.3d 1194, 1201 (10th Cir. 2003) (citations and quotation marks omitted). “A court reviewing the sufficiency of a complaint presumes all of [a] plaintiff’s

factual allegations are true and construes them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.” Hall, 935 F.2d at 1198. “To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (emphasis added) (citing Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). Plausibility, in the context of a motion to dismiss, means that the plaintiff pleaded facts which allow “the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. The Iqbal evaluation requires two prongs of analysis. First, the court identifies “the allegations in the complaint that are not entitled to the assumption of truth,” that is, those allegations which are legal conclusion, bare assertions, or merely

conclusory. Id. at 679–81. Second, the court considers the factual allegations “to determine if they plausibly suggest an entitlement to relief.” Id. at 681. If the allegations state a plausible claim for relief, such claim survives the motion to dismiss. Id. at 679. However, the court need not accept conclusory allegations without supporting factual averments. Southern Disposal, Inc. v. Texas Waste, 161 F.3d 1259, 1262 (10th Cir. 1998). “[T]he tenet that a court must accept as true all of the allegations contained in a complaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions. Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. “Nor does the complaint suffice if it tenders naked assertion[s] devoid of further factual enhancement.” Id. (citation omitted). “Where a complaint pleads facts that are ‘merely consistent with’ a defendant’s liability, it ‘stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility of ‘entitlement to relief.’” Id. (citation omitted). If the allegations

“are so general that they encompass a wide swath of conduct, much of it innocent, then the plaintiffs ‘have not nudged their claims across the line from conceivable to plausible.’” Robbins v. Oklahoma, 519 F.3d 1242, 1249 (10th Cir. 2008) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570). The standard is a liberal one, and “a well-pleaded complaint may proceed even if it strikes a savvy judge that actual proof of those facts is improbable, and that recovery is very remote and unlikely.” Dias v. City & Cty. of Denver, 567 F.3d 1169, 1178 (10th Cir. 2009). III. DISCUSSION A. NUISANCE CLAIM Under Colorado law, a nuisance involves a substantial invasion of another’s

interest in the use and enjoyment of their property when the invasion is either: (1) intentional and unreasonable; (2) unintentional but actionable under the rules for negligent or reckless conduct; or (3) so abnormal or out of place in its surroundings as to fall within the principle of strict liability. Public Serv. Co. v. Van Wyk, 27 P.3d 377, 391 (Colo. 2001). The elements of a nuisance claim include an intentional, negligent, or unreasonably dangerous activity causing unreasonable and substantial interference with another’s use and enjoyment of their property. Lowder v. Tina Marie Homes, Inc., 601 P.2d 657, 658 (Colo. App.

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Related

Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Southern Disposal, Inc. v. Texas Waste Management
161 F.3d 1259 (Tenth Circuit, 1998)
Benavidez v. United States
177 F.3d 927 (Tenth Circuit, 1999)
Dubbs Ex Rel. Dubbs v. Head Start, Inc.
336 F.3d 1194 (Tenth Circuit, 2003)
Dias v. City and County of Denver
567 F.3d 1169 (Tenth Circuit, 2009)
Casanova v. Ulibarri
595 F.3d 1120 (Tenth Circuit, 2010)
State, Department of Health v. Mill
887 P.2d 993 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1994)
Lowder v. Tina Marie Homes, Inc.
601 P.2d 657 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 1979)
Cook v. Rockwell International Corp.
273 F. Supp. 2d 1175 (D. Colorado, 2003)
Public Service Co. of Colorado v. Van Wyk
27 P.3d 377 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2001)
Coffman v. Godsoe
351 P.2d 808 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1960)
Gaskins v. People
272 P. 662 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1928)
Robin Baptiste v. Bethlehem Landfill Company
965 F.3d 214 (Third Circuit, 2020)
Ward v. Colorado Eastern Railroad Co.
125 P. 567 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 1912)

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