Friedman v. Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc.

304 F.R.D. 601, 90 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1037, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9661, 2015 WL 361232
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedJanuary 27, 2015
DocketCivil Action No. 12-cv-02432-WYD-KMT
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 304 F.R.D. 601 (Friedman v. Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, 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.

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Friedman v. Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc., 304 F.R.D. 601, 90 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1037, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9661, 2015 WL 361232 (D. Colo. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER ON MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION

Wiley Y. Daniel, Senior United States District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

THIS MATTER came before the Court on a hearing on Thursday, December 23, 2014, on Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification and brief in support thereof filed on October 14, 2014. This Order addresses the Motion for Class Certification as well as Plaintiffs’ Objections to Defendants’ Evidence Submitted in Support of Their Opposition filed on November 20, 2014, and Defendants’ Objection to the Court’s Consideration of the Expert Testimony of Donald R. Lichtenstein filed on December 15, 2014.

By way of background, the Second Amended Complaint [“SAC”] asserts claims against Defendants Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc., d/b/a Dollar Rent A Car, Dollar Rent a Car, Inc., and Dollar Operations, Inc. d/b/a Dollar Rent a Car [collectively “Dollar”] for violations of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act [“CCPA”] and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act [“FDUTPA”], breach of agreements and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and declaratory relief, and seeks to certify a class action. Plaintiffs allege that Dollar tricks consumers into buying Loss Damage Waiver [“LDW”], supplemental liability insurance [“SLI”], and roadside assistance [“Roadsafe”] [collectively “Add-On Products”] that they declined or were charged for without proper consent or contrary to disclosure requirements, and/or by misleading customers into signing up for the services contrary to their initial agreements. (SAC, ¶ 10.)1 This is allegedly a systematic pattern of conduct that has occurred at Dollar locations nationally, including Colorado and Florida. (Id. ¶ 11.) Plaintiffs allege that this scheme has allowed Dollar and its employees to pocket millions in fees at the expense of victimized consumers. (Id. ¶ 12.)

II. MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION

A Plaintiffs’Proposed Class

Plaintiffs seek to represent and have the court certify a class composed of:

[605]*605all persons who rented ears from Dollar in Colorado and Florida since January 1, 2009 and were charged for LDW, SLI, and/or Road Safe by Dollar other than as part of a pre-paid tour reservation.

This differs from the class definition in the SAC, wherein Plaintiffs sought to represent a class of persons comprised of “all consumers either residing or who rented cars in Colorado, Florida, and such other states within the United States the Court finds are appropriate who paid for CDW, insurance, or other products from Dollar that they either declined or were charged for without obtaining proper consent or in violation of statutory requirements during the past four years.” (SAC, ¶ 36.)

As grounds for certification of the proposed class, Plaintiffs reiterate that Dollar has implemented a systematic program through which it uniformly violates Colorado and Florida law by signing up customers for LDW and other Add-On Products that consumers do not need or already have through their own insurance or certain credit cards, or even have specifically declined. In Colorado, this scheme allegedly violates Colo.Rev. Stat. §§ 6-1-105 and 6-1-201, et seq., which mandate that ear rental companies provide clear and conspicuous statements in advertisements and agreements prior to entering into the transaction that warn consumers the “protections” promoted by Dollar may be duplicative of coverage the renter already has. Plaintiffs argue that consumers are not provided these disclosures or, at most, some disclosures are provided after the transaction is over or after Dollar’ claims an agreement has already been entered into, which disclosures are irrelevant.

Dollar’s conduct, according to Plaintiffs, can be shown to constitute a per se deceptive business practice in Colorado, violates the FDUPTA, and results in unjust enrichment and a systematic breach of agreements. Plaintiffs argue that the uniform practices employed by Dollar can be used to establish its liability on a class-wide basis based on the materiality of the claims and facts at issue, and that Plaintiffs’ experiences were typical for victims of this scheme. Thus, they argue that the class is manageable. They further assert that the class is ascertainable, as the class definition is objective. Finally, Plaintiffs assert that the class meets the requirements of Rule 23(a) and can be certified under Rule 23(b)(2) or (3) or Rule 23(c)(4).

B. Analysis

1. Rule 23 Legal Standard

“Rule 23(a) states four threshold requirements applicable to all class actions: (1) numerosity (a ‘class [so large] that joinder of all members is impracticable’); (2) commonality (‘questions of law or fact common to the class’); (3) typicality (named parties’ claims or defenses ‘are typical ... of the class’); and (4) adequacy of representation (representatives ‘will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class’).” Amchem Products, Inc. v. Windsor, 521 U.S. 591, 613, 117 S.Ct. 2231, 138 L.Ed.2d 689 (1997). Additionally, the court must ensure that the class definition is ascertainable and adequately defined. See Edwards v. Zenimax Media, Inc., No. 12-ev-00411-WYD, 2012 WL 4378219, at *45 (D.Colo. Sept. 25, 2012). The plaintiff bears the burden of showing that the class complies with Rule 23. Wallace B. Roderick Revocable Living Trust v. XTO Energy, Inc., 725 F.3d 1213, 1218 (10th Cir.2013).

“The class action is ‘an exception to the usual rule that litigation is conducted by and on behalf of the individual named parties only.’ ” Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, — U.S. —, 131 S.Ct. 2541, 2550, 180 L.Ed.2d 374 (2011) (quotation omitted). In making a class certification ruling, district courts are required “to conduct a ‘rigorous analysis’ of Rule 23’s requirements.” Vallario v. Vandehey, 554 F.3d 1259,1265 (10th Cir.2009) (quotation omitted); see also Trevizo v. Adams, 455 F.3d 1155, 1162 (10th Cir.2006) (“A party seeking class certification must show ‘under a strict burden of proof that all four requirements are clearly met.”) (quotation omitted). The court errs in “[r]elaxing and shifting Rule 23(a)’s ‘strict burden of proof ” to the party opposing certification, “liberally construing]” the class certification requirements, or resolving doubts “in favor of certification”. XTO Energy, Inc., 725 F.3d at 1218.

[606]*606In making its rigorous analysis of class certification, the court must address Rule 23’s requirements ‘through findings,’ regardless of whether these findings necessarily ‘overlap with issues on the merits.’” Vallario, 554 F.3d at 1267 (quotations omitted); see also Dukes, 131 S.Ct. at 2551-2552 (noting that frequently the rigorous analysis under Rule 23 “will entail some overlap with the merits of the plaintiffs underlying claim” which “cannot be helped” as the class determination “ ‘generally involves considerations that are enmeshed in the factual and legal issues comprising the plaintiffs cause of action’”) (quotation omitted).

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304 F.R.D. 601, 90 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1037, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9661, 2015 WL 361232, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/friedman-v-dollar-thrifty-automotive-group-inc-cod-2015.