Gevedon v. Pharma

212 F.R.D. 333, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25977, 2002 WL 31758422
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Kentucky
DecidedOctober 17, 2002
DocketNo. 02-CV-8-DCR
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 212 F.R.D. 333 (Gevedon v. Pharma) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gevedon v. Pharma, 212 F.R.D. 333, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25977, 2002 WL 31758422 (E.D. Ky. 2002).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

REEVES, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court for consideration of the Purdue Defendants’ Motion to Deny Class Certification. This Motion will be granted because the Plaintiffs have not shown a factual basis to support certification of a class under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

I. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND1

On May 2, 2002, the Purdue Defendants2 filed the instant motion asking the Court to deny the class action proposed by the Plaintiffs. [Record No. 23] The Plaintiffs responded on May 23, 2002, and asked for 180 days to conduct limited discovery on the issue of class certification. [Record No. 26] The Defendants filed their reply on May 30, 2002. [Record No. 27]

After reviewing the parties’ positions, and out of an abundance of caution, the Court gave the Plaintiffs 90 days to conduct limited [335]*335discovery on the maintainability of the alleged class action. The Court also gave the Plaintiffs 20 days to file an additional response following this discovery period. [Record No. 28]

The 90 day discovery period ended on September 5, 2002. However, the Plaintiffs did not file an additional response within the time allotted, nor have they filed any other pleading addressing the merits of the instant motion. Because the Plaintiffs have not filed any pleading presenting any factual or legal arguments in opposition to the instant motion, the Court must rely heavily on the allegations set forth in their First Amended Complaint.

II. LEGAL ANALYSIS

A. The Standard for Determining the Maintainability of a Class Action

Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure3 sets forth the requirements for maintaining a class action. Under this rule, a party seeking to certify a class bears the burden of establishing that certification is proper. In re American Medical Sys., Inc., 75 F.3d 1069, 1079 (6th Cir.1996). A class action may not be approved simply “by virtue of its designation as such in the pleadings.” Id. at 1079. Nor may prospective class representatives simply rely upon “mere repetition of the language of Rule 23(a)” to support their motion. Id. Instead, an adequate basis for each prerequisite must be pled and supported by the facts. Weathers v. Peters Realty Corp., 499 F.2d 1197, 1200 (6th Cir.1974) (citation omitted). Additionally, the court must engage in a “rigorous analysis” to determine whether the prerequisites of Rule 23 are satisfied. American Medical Sys., at 1078-79, citing General Tel. Co. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 161, 102 S.Ct. 2364, 72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982). The Court, however, should not attempt to resolve or assess the merits of the action in determining whether a class should be certified. Weathers, at 1201.

1. Rule 23 Analysis

a. Two Inherent Prerequisites: Existence of a “Class” and Membership in the “Class. ”

Although Rule 23 does not explicitly set forth this requirement, one necessary element is that “there must be a ‘class.’” Wright and Miller, § 1760. This determination depends on the circumstances of each case. If the Court is satisfied that a class exists, it must then examine whether the proposed representatives are members of the class they seek to represent. Id. at § 1761.

i. Is there a “Class ?”

In Sprague v. General Motors Corp., 133 F.3d 388, 397 (6th Cir.1998), cert. denied, 524 U.S. 923, 118 S.Ct. 2312, 141 L.Ed.2d 170 (1998), the court indicated that no class that fails to satisfy all four of the prerequisites of Rule 23(a) may be certified and that each class meeting those prerequisites must also pass at least one of the tests set forth in Rule 23(b). Stout v. J.D. Byrider, 228 F.3d 709, 717 (6th Cir.2000), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1148, 121 S.Ct. 1088, 148 L.Ed.2d 963 (2001). Other Circuits have held that other inherent elements must be shown in addition to the four explicit requirements. See Chaffee v. Johnson, 229 F.Supp. 445, 448 (S.D.Miss. 1964), aff'd, 352 F.2d 514 (5th Cir.1965), cert. den. 384 U.S. 956, 86 S.Ct. 1582, 16 L.Ed.2d 553 (1966) (“The members of a class must be capable of definite identification as being either in or out of it.”); Roman v. ESB, Inc., 550 F.2d 1343, 1348 (4th Cir.1976) (In order to determine whether a class action is proper, the district court must determine whether a class exists and, if so, what it includes. Although not specifically mentioned in the rule, the definition of the class is an essential prerequisite to maintaining a class action).

When examining whether a class exists, if “[t]he vague and indefinite description of the purported class depends upon the state of mind of a particular individual, rendering it difficult, if not impossible, to determine whether any given individual is within or [336]*336without the alleged class,” certification is not appropriate. Chaffee, 229 F.Supp. at 448; Simer v. Rios, 661 F.2d 655 (7th Cir.1981). In Koen v. Long, 302 F.Supp. 1383 (E.D.Mo. 1969), plaintiffs brought suit against certain public officers for intimidation and harassment and alleged that those officers engaged in a “scheme, plan or conspiracy” to deprive the proposed class of certain civil rights. Id. at 1386. The court held that “where membership in the class is dependent upon both the state of mind of the individual involved and upon the state of mind of the particular defendant involved” the class may not be maintained. Id. at 1388.

Likewise, in Newton v. Southern Wood Piedmont Co., 163 F.R.D. 625 (S.D.Ga.1995), aff'd, 95 F.3d 59 (11th Cir.1996), plaintiffs sought to have a class certified based on medical problems resulting from alleged chemical exposure. In order to ascertain the identity of the putative class, a medical diagnosis of each individual in the proposed class was required. Certifying the class would require an individualized inquiry into the existence of the medical condition of each member of the class.

The court recognized that the types of questions which must be answered in order to ascertain this type of class were highly individualized in nature and called for “plaintiff-specific information.” Id.

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212 F.R.D. 333, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25977, 2002 WL 31758422, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gevedon-v-pharma-kyed-2002.