Doyon v. Rite Aid Corp.

279 F.R.D. 43, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133978, 2011 WL 5837942
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maine
DecidedNovember 18, 2011
DocketNo. 2:11-cv-168-NT
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 279 F.R.D. 43 (Doyon v. Rite Aid Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Doyon v. Rite Aid Corp., 279 F.R.D. 43, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133978, 2011 WL 5837942 (D. Me. 2011).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER ON MOTION TO COMPEL

JOHN H. RICH III, United States Magistrate Judge.

Sheryl Doyon, the plaintiff in this putative class action, moves to compel defendants Rite Aid Corporation and Eekerd Corporation, d/b/a Rite Aid, to produce the names and addresses of putative class members. See Plaintiffs Motion To Compel Production of Class List (“Motion”) (Docket No. 26). The defendants oppose the Motion and argue, in the alternative, that, if it is granted, the court should supervise any communications with absent putative class members or, at a minimum, enter a protective order. See Defendants’ Opposition to Plaintiffs Motion To Compel Production of Class List (“Opposition”) (Docket No. 27). The plaintiff does not oppose the entry of a protective order but strongly opposes court supervision of her counsel’s communications with putative class members. See Reply Memorandum in Support of Plaintiffs Motion To Compel Production of Class List (“Reply”) (Docket No. 29) at 5-6. For the reasons that follow, I grant the Motion, grant the defendants’ requests for the entry of a protective order and for some level of court supervision of the plaintiffs communications with putative class members, and direct the parties to confer regarding the terms of proposed orders to be filed with the court.

I. Applicable Legal Standards

In this district, no written discovery motion may be filed without the prior approval of a judicial officer. See Local Rule 26(b). During a September 27, 2011, teleconference with counsel, I granted prior approval for the filing of the Motion. See Docket No. 25 at 2. A motion for pre-certification discovery in a putative class action implicates the discovery rules. See, e.g., Oppenheimer Fund, Inc. v. Sanders, 437 U.S. 340, 351 n. 13 & 354 n. 20, 98 S.Ct. 2380, 57 L.Ed.2d 253 (1978) (“[Discovery often has been used to illuminate issues upon which a district court must pass in deciding whether a suit should proceed as a class action under Rule 23, such as numerosity, common questions, and adequacy of representation.... We do not hold that class members’ names and addresses never can be obtained under the discovery rules. There may be instances where this information could be relevant to issues that arise under Rule 23, or where a party has reason to believe that communication with some members of the class could yield information bearing on these or other issues.”) (citation omitted).

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26 provides, in relevant part:

Parties may obtain discovery regarding any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense—including the ... identity and location of persons who know of any discoverable matter. For good cause, the court may order discovery of any matter relevant to the subject matter involved in the action. Relevant information need not be admissible at the trial if the discovery appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(1). Such discovery is subject to the following limitations:

On motion or on its own, the court must limit the frequency or extent of discovery otherwise allowed by these rules or by local rule if it determines that:
(i) the discovery sought is unreasonably cumulative or duplicative, or can be obtained from some other source that is more convenient, less burdensome, or less expensive;
(ii) the party seeking discovery has had ample opportunity to obtain the information by discovery in the action; or
(iii) the burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit, considering the needs of the case, the amount in controversy, the parties’ resources, the importance of the issues at stake in the action, and the impor[45]*45tance of the discovery in resolving the issues.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(2)(C).

II. Background

The plaintiff filed the instant action on April 22, 2011, alleging that, during her employment in Maine by Rite Aid as an assistant store manager (“ASM”) from approximately November 2005 to December 2006 and February 2007 to March 2007, Rite Aid improperly classified her as a salaried exempt employee, failing to pay her compensation, including overtime, for hours worked over 40 per week. See Motion at 1-2; Plaintiffs Complaint and Jury Trial Demand (Injunctive Relief Requested) (“Complaint”) (Docket No. 1) ¶¶ 8-10. In her suit, brought pursuant to 26 M.R.S.A. §§ 621-A, 626-A, 664, and 670, she seeks to vindicate her rights and those of similarly situated current or former employees of Rite Aid who worked as ASMs, or in comparable positions despite different titles, in Maine for the period from April 22, 2005, to the date of judgment in the instant suit. See Motion at 2; Complaint ¶¶ 15, 44-53. She seeks, for purposes of preparation of her motion to certify a class pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, to compel production of the names and addresses of other ASMs employed at Rite Aid’s Maine stores from April 22, 2005, through the present, which the defendants have refused to produce unless ordered to do so by the court. See Motion at 2-3.

The defendants represent, and the plaintiff does not dispute, that (i) the plaintiffs counsel, Klafter, Olsen & Lesser LLP (“KOL”), also represent plaintiffs in a Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) collective action pending against Rite Aid in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Craig v. Rite Aid Corp., Civil Action No. 4:08-CV-2317 (M.D. Pa.), alleging that Rite Aid miselassified ASMs, (ii) on December 9, 2009, the Craig court conditionally certified a nationwide collective action of salaried ASMs employed since December 9, 2006, (iii) on February 12, 2010, the court ordered that written notice be sent to ASMs regarding the Craig case, (iv) notice went out to more than 8,000 ASMs on March 12, 2010, giving them 70 days to decide whether to file a consent to join, (v) only 14 of 165 Maine ASMs notified of the pendency of the Craig action, including the plaintiff, opted into Craig, (vi) the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed her claims in Craig in August 2011 after filing the instant action in April 2011, and (vii) the plaintiffs counsel have access to the contact information of the 14 Maine ASMs working in Rite Aid stores since December 2006 who opted into Craig. See Opposition at 3-4; Affidavit of Danielle Y. Vanderzanden (Docket No. 28) ¶¶ 2-4; see generally Reply.1

III. Discussion

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Untitled Case
D. Maine, 2026
Cortez v. Target Corporation
N.D. Illinois, 2023
Maldanado v. Cultural Care, Inc.
D. Massachusetts, 2021

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
279 F.R.D. 43, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133978, 2011 WL 5837942, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doyon-v-rite-aid-corp-med-2011.