Gonzalez v. Proctor & Gamble Co.

247 F.R.D. 616, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67363, 2007 WL 2700954
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedSeptember 12, 2007
DocketNo. 06cv869 WQH (WMC)
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 247 F.R.D. 616 (Gonzalez v. Proctor & Gamble Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gonzalez v. Proctor & Gamble Co., 247 F.R.D. 616, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67363, 2007 WL 2700954 (S.D. Cal. 2007).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO CERTIFY CLASS

WILLIAM Q. HAYES, District Judge.

The matters before the Court are Plaintiffs “Motion for Class Certification” (Doc. # 51) and Defendant’s “Application for Leave to File Sur-Reply in Opposition to Plaintiffs Motion for Class Certification” (“Application for Leave to File Sur-Reply”) (Doc. #70).

I. Background

On September 20, 2006, Plaintiff Tuyet Tran Gonzalez filed a Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”) against Defendant Proctor and Gamble Company alleging the following claims: violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”), section 17200 et seq. of California’s Business and Professions Code; violations of California’s False Advertising Law (“FAL”), section 17500 et seq. of California’s Business and Professions Code; negligent misrepresentation; intentional misrepresentation; breach of express warranty; breach of implied warranty of merchantability; breach of implied warranty of fitness for purpose; and violations of California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act (“CLRA”), section 1750 et seq. of California’s Civil Code. (Doc. # 30.)

Plaintiff alleges that in or around 2002-2005, she purchased Pantene Pro-V hair products at a variety of locations in San Diego, California because she was exposed to representations by Defendant that they were effective products for strengthening hair. (SAC ¶ 2.) She allegedly relied on representations on Pantene Pro-V packaging and in Defendant’s other marketing efforts. (Id.) Plaintiff alleges that representations made by Defendant on Pantene Pro-V labeling and on television commercials included “try it today and get 99% more strength in one week,” and “makes it lOx stronger against breakage ... guaranteed.” (Id. ¶¶ 3-4.) After using the products as directed for some time, Plaintiff formed the opinion that the products had no strengthening effect. (Id. ¶ 2.)

Plaintiff alleges that many published statements regarding hair strengthening qualities of Pantene Pro-V do not single out a particular product in the Pantene Pro-V product line. (Id. ¶ 6.) Rather, Plaintiff alleges, Defendant’s advertising and marketing campaign led Plaintiff to believe that all Pantene Pro-V products could strengthen hair. (Id. ¶¶ 6-7.) Plaintiff alleges that Defendant’s claims regarding Pantene Pro-V were false and made to fraudulently manipulate Plaintiff and other consumers into choosing Defendant’s hair products. (Id. ¶ 8.)

On March 12, 2007, Plaintiff filed the Motion for Class Certification pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, moving for an order certifying a class of “all persons and entities who purchased in California Pantene Pro-V hair products that were the subject of [620]*620hair-strengthening claims, which products were manufactured, distributed, or sold by Defendant between the dates of January 20, 2002 and the present.” (Doc. #51 at 1.)

On June 18, 2007, after receiving briefing and evidence from each party, the Court (Huff, Judge) conducted oral argument on the Motion for Class Certification.1 On June 22, 2007, Defendant filed the Application for Leave to File Sur-Reply (Doc. # 70), which was opposed by Plaintiff (Doc. # 72).

II. Discussion

A. Legal Standards for Class Certification

According to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a), a district court may certify a class so that representative parties may sue on behalf of all members only if “(1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable, (2) there are questions of law or fact common to the class, (3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class, and (4) the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a). These requirements are commonly referred to as numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequate representation. See, e.g., Hanlon v. Chrysler Corp., 150 F.3d 1011, 1019 (9th Cir.1998).

In addition to demonstrating that the requirements of Rule 23(a) are met, a plaintiff must establish one or more of the requirements of Rule 23(b), which are as follows: there is a risk of prejudice from separate actions establishing incompatible standards of conduct; judgments in individual lawsuits would adversely affect the rights of other members of the class; the party opposing the class has acted (or refused to act) in a manner applicable to the class generally, thereby making injunctive or declaratory relief appropriate with respect to the class as a whole; or the questions of law or fact common to the class predominate over questions affecting the individual members and, on balance, a class action is superior to other methods available for adjudicating the controversy. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(l)-(3).

“As the party seeking class certification, [plaintiff] bears the burden of demonstrating that she has met each of the four requirements of Rule 23(a) and at least one of the requirements of Rule 23(b).” Zinser v. Accufix Research Inst, 253 F.3d 1180, 1186 (9th Cir.2001) (citing Hanon v. Data-products Corp., 976 F.2d 497, 508 (9th Cir. 1992)). In analyzing whether a plaintiff has met her burden to show that the above requirements are satisfied, a court must “analyze[] the allegations of the complaint and the other material before [the court] (material sufficient to form reasonable judgment on each [Rule 23] requirement).” Blackie v. Barrack, 524 F.2d 891, 900-01 (9th Cir.1975) (noting further that a court is to take the substantive allegations in the complaint as true); see also Hanon, 976 F.2d at 509 (finding that the court may consider evidence to ascertain whether Rule 23 has been met, even though the evidence relates to the merits); Sepulveda v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 237 F.R.D. 229, 233 (C.D.Cal.2006) (“[Because ‘the class determination generally involves considerations that are enmeshed in the factual and legal issues comprising the plaintiffs cause of action,’ a court must often look behind the pleadings ‘to evaluate carefully the legitimacy of the named plaintiffs plea that he is a proper class representative under Rule 23(a).’ ”) (quoting Gen. Tel. Co. of Sw. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 160, 102 S.Ct. 2364, 72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted)). A court should not conduct a hearing on the merits of the plaintiffs’ claims when determining class certification, see Valentino, 97 F.3d at 1232, although the issue of certification “generally involves considerations that are enmeshed in the factual and legal issues comprising the plaintiffs cause of action.” Coopers & Lybrand v. Livesay, 437 U.S. 463, 469, 98 S.Ct. 2454, 57 L.Ed.2d 351 (1978).

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Bluebook (online)
247 F.R.D. 616, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67363, 2007 WL 2700954, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gonzalez-v-proctor-gamble-co-casd-2007.