In re Conagra Peanut Butter Products Liability Litigation

251 F.R.D. 689, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56763, 2008 WL 2885951
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedJuly 22, 2008
DocketMDL Docket No. 1845. No. 1:07-MD-1845-TWT
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 251 F.R.D. 689 (In re Conagra Peanut Butter Products Liability Litigation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Conagra Peanut Butter Products Liability Litigation, 251 F.R.D. 689, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56763, 2008 WL 2885951 (N.D. Ga. 2008).

Opinion

[691]*691 ORDER

THOMAS W. THRASH, JR., District Judge.

This is a products liability action. It is before the Court on the Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification [Doc. 91]. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is DENIED.

I. Background

This action arose out of the distribution by ConAgra of peanut butter that was contaminated by Salmonella bacteria. The contaminated peanut butter was manufactured in late 2006 and early 2007 at the Defendant’s plant in Sylvester, Georgia. It is undisputed that hundreds of people got sick after eating the contaminated peanut butter. On February 14, 2007, the Food and Drug Administration issued a national warning advising people not to eat from certain jars of ConAgra’s Peter Pan brand or Great Value brand peanut butter due to a risk of bacteria contamination. At the same time, the FDA announced a recall of the implicated peanut butter. The FDA specifically identified the presence in the peanut butter of Salmonella bacteria. The contaminated jars of peanut butter were all manufactured at ConAgra’s plant in Sylvester, Georgia and bore a product code beginning with “2111.”

The FDA’s February 14, 2007, warning was based on an epidemiological study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and state and local health agencies, which linked, at that time, 288 incidents of food-borne illness in 39 states to consumption of ConAgra’s peanut butter. On February 16, 2007, the FDA confirmed the presence of Salmonella bacteria in opened jars of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter obtained from infected persons. As of February 27, 2007, according to the CDC, there were at least 370 cases from 42 states of Salmonella bacteria illness caused by ConAgra’s peanut butter, with at least 60 requiring hospitalization. By March 7, the CDC had reports of 425 people in 44 states having been infected with Salmonella Tennessee bacteria, 71 of whom were hospitalized. By March 9, the recall of ConAgra’s peanut butter was extended back to include all peanut butter manufactured at the Sylvester, Georgia plant from October 2004 on. On June 1, 2007, the date of the last public announcement about the outbreak from the CDC or FDA, the CDC had confirmed that as of May 22, 2007, 628 people in 48 states had been infected with Salmonella from contaminated ConAgra peanut butter.

Post-recall product testing demonstrated that the vast majority of the recalled peanut butter was free of contamination. For example, testing of 1,340 jars of peanut butter thought by potential claimants to have caused illness yielded less than a two percent positive rate for Salmonella. Undistributed product tested by the FDA showed even lower rates of contamination. ConAgra, nonetheless, immediately offered full refunds to all purchasers of recalled peanut butter. The recall received a lot of publicity and prompted widespread participation in the refund program. For example, ConAgra received nearly a million phone calls on the day that the recall was announced, and media coverage generated over 600,000,000 media “impressions” the day after the initial press release. As of January 2008, ConAgra has refunded $2,984,308.68 directly to consumers, representing 941,302 jars of peanut butter. ConAgra also has reimbursed retailers $30,665,293.00 for inventory that was in the retailers’ possession at the time of the recall or for product returned to the retailers by customers.

Personal injury and consumer class actions were filed all over the country. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred the actions pending in federal court to this Court for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings. (See Transfer Order [Doc. 1]). The cases included individual actions and numerous class actions. The Plaintiffs then filed a Master Complaint in this Court in which they seek to represent two classes. The first is a proposed class of purchasers of ConAgra peanut butter “which was rendered [692]*692unusable and valueless by the February 14, 2007 recall of such peanut butter.” The Plaintiffs seek to recover economic loss for this class under a theory of unjust enrichment. The second is a proposed class of persons who consumed ConAgra peanut butter and “who assert or allege claims sounding in personal injury therefrom.” As to this class, the Plaintiffs seek certification under Rule 23(c)(4) of common liability issues. Both of the proposed classes are national in scope.

II. Class Certification Standard

To maintain a case as a class action, the party seeking class certification must satisfy each of the prerequisites of Rule 23(a) and at least one of the provisions of Rule 23(b). Klay v. Humana, Inc., 382 F.3d 1241, 1250 (11th Cir.2004). Rule 23(a) sets forth the four prerequisites to maintain any claim as a class action:

One or more members of a class may sue or be sued as representative parties on behalf of all 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 prerequisites are commonly referred to as: (1) numerosity, (2) commonality, (3) typicality, and (4) adequacy of representation. Cooper v. Southern Co., 390 F.3d 695, 711 n. 6 (11th Cir.2004). Failure to establish any one of the four factors precludes certification. In addition, under Rule 23(b), the individual plaintiffs must convince the Court that: (1) prosecuting separate actions by or against individual members of the class would create a risk of prejudice to the party opposing the class or to those members of the class not parties to the subject litigation; (2) the party opposing the class has refused to act on grounds that apply generally to the class, necessitating final injunctive or declaratory relief; or (3) questions of law or fact common to the members of the class predominate over any questions affecting only individual members and that a class action is superior to other available methods for fair and efficient adjudication of the controversy. Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b). The party seeking class certification bears the burden of proving that these requirements are satisfied. General Tel. Co. of Sw. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 161, 102 S.Ct. 2364, 72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982); Valley Drug Co. v. Geneva Pharms., Inc., 350 F.3d 1181, 1187 (11th Cir.2003).

The decision to grant or deny class certification lies within the sound discretion of the district court. Klay, 382 F.3d at 1251; Armstrong v. Martin Marietta Corp., 138 F.3d 1374, 1386 (11th Cir.1998) (en banc). When considering the propriety of class certification, the Court should not conduct a detailed evaluation of the merits of the suit. Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin,

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251 F.R.D. 689, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56763, 2008 WL 2885951, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-conagra-peanut-butter-products-liability-litigation-gand-2008.