In re Clorox Consumer Litigation

301 F.R.D. 436, 2014 WL 3728469
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedJuly 28, 2014
DocketMaster File No. 12-00280 SC
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 301 F.R.D. 436 (In re Clorox Consumer Litigation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Clorox Consumer Litigation, 301 F.R.D. 436, 2014 WL 3728469 (N.D. Cal. 2014).

Opinion

[439]*439 ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION

Samuel Conti, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs bring this putative class action against Defendant The Clorox Company (“Clorox”) in connection with its marketing and advertising of Fresh Step cat litter. Plaintiffs now move to certify five plaintiff sub-classes, each distinguished by the state in which the plaintiff purchased his or her cat litter. ECF No. 89 (“Mot.”) (filed under seal) at 7-14. The motion is fully briefed.1 Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7-l(b), the Court finds this matter appropriate for disposition without oral argument. For the reasons set forth below, Plaintiffs’ motion is DENIED.

II. BACKGROUND

A detailed discussion of this case’s background appears in the Court’s order on Clorox’s motion to dismiss. See In re Clorox Consumer Litig., 894 F.Supp.2d 1224, 1228-31 (N.D.Cal.2012). The basic facts are these: Clorox’s Fresh Step cat litter uses carbon to eliminate cat litter odors, whereas other eat litter products typically use baking soda. Clorox’s marketing campaign allegedly conveys that Fresh Step is more effective at eliminating eat odors than products that do not contain carbon. Plaintiffs, consumers of Fresh Step from five different states, allege that these statements are false and misleading and are contradicted by scientific studies.

The lead plaintiffs in the case purport to represent five sub-classes, each identified by the state in which the plaintiff purchased his or her Clorox cat litter. Specifically, Plaintiffs seek certification of sub-classes including all purchasers of Fresh Step between [440]*440October 2010 and the present in the states of California, Florida, New Jersey, New York, and Texas. Mot. at 7-14.

III. LEGAL STANDARD

“The class action is an exception to the usual rale 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) (internal quotations and citations omitted). “In order to justify a departure from that rule, a class representative must be part of the class and possess the same interest and suffer the same injury as the class members.” Id. (internal quotations and citations omitted). “As a threshold matter, and apart from the explicit requirements of Rule 23(a), the party seeking class certification must demonstrate that an identifiable and ascertainable class exists.” Wolph v. Acer Am. Corp., 272 F.R.D. 477, 482 (N.D.Cal.2011).

Under Rule 23(a), four prerequisites must be satisfied for class certification:

(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).

A plaintiff also must satisfy one or more of the separate prerequisites set forth in Rule 23(b). Plaintiffs move for certification under Rule 23(b)(3), which requires that common questions of law or fact predominate and that the class action is superior to other available methods of adjudication.

“Rule 23 does not set forth a mere pleading standard. A party seeking class certification must affirmatively demonstrate his compliance with the Rule — that is, he must be prepared to prove that there are in fact sufficiently numerous parties, common questions of law or fact, etc.” Dukes, 131 S.Ct. at 2551 (emphasis deleted). Analysis of these factors “generally involves considerations that are enmeshed in the factual and legal issues comprising the plaintiffs cause of action.” Id. at 2552 (internal quotations and citations omitted). “Nor is there anything unusual about that consequence: The necessity of touching aspects of the merits in order to resolve preliminary matters, e.g., jurisdiction and venue, is a familiar feature of litigation.” Id.

IV. DISCUSSION

Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification is denied because the class is not ascertainable and because common questions do not predominate, as required by Rule 23(b)(3). Accordingly, this discussion focuses mostly on those issues, but the Court mentions the other class certification requirements (at least briefly) for the sake of completeness.

A. Ascertainability

“A class definition should be precise, objective, and presently ascertainable.” O’Connor v. Boeing N. Am., Inc., 184 F.R.D. 311, 319 (C.D.Cal.1998) (internal quotations omitted). “While the identity of the class members need not be known at the time of certification, class membership must be clearly ascertainable. The class definition must be sufficiently definite so that it is administratively feasible to determine whether a particular person is a class member.” Wolph, 272 F.R.D. at 482 (internal citations omitted). Though there is a split among district courts in the Ninth Circuit on the issue, the undersigned has followed the guidance of the Third Circuit in requiring plaintiffs to “show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the class is currently and readily ascertainable based on objective criteria.” Carrera v. Bayer Corp., 727 F.3d 300, 306 (3d Cir.2013) (internal quotation marks omitted). In a consumer class action, like this one, where Plaintiffs intend to rely on retailer records, Plaintiffs must produce sufficient evidence to show that such records can be used to identify class members. Sethavanish v. ZonePerfect Nutntion Co., 12-2907-SC, 2014 WL 580696, at *4-6 (N.D.Cal. Feb. 13, 2014) (citing Carrera, 727 F.3d at 308-09). Affidavits from consumers alone are insufficient to identify members of the class. Carrera, 727 F.3d at 306.

[441]*441The problem Plaintiffs face is figuring out exactly who purchased Fresh Step during the class period. In their motion, Plaintiffs do not propose any method for making this determination. None of the named plaintiffs in this case, for example, kept receipts for their purchases of Fresh Step. ECF Nos. 108-8 (“Butler-Furr Depo.”) at 39:3-5; 109-2 (“Lenz Depo.”) at 14:22-24; 109-3 (“Luszez Depo.”) at 44:1-13; 109-4 (“Kowalewski Depo.”) at 49:24-50:5; 109-5 (“Doyle Depo”) at 28:16-18.2 Nor do consumers necessarily remember when they bought cat litter, or which sizes, types, or even brands of eat litter they purchased. Butler-Furr Depo. at 39:6-10; Kowalewski Depo. at 49:2-10; Doyle Depo. at 27:22-28:9. One of the plaintiffs in this case apparently cannot even recall whether she bought Fresh Step during the class period; Ms. Doyle testified at her deposition that the last time she bought Fresh Step was “around 2009.” Doyle Depo. at 36:14-18, 37:17-21, 54:14-55:21. But the class includes only persons who purchased Fresh Step between October 2010 and the present.

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Bluebook (online)
301 F.R.D. 436, 2014 WL 3728469, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-clorox-consumer-litigation-cand-2014.