Johnson v. MFA Petroleum Co.

10 F. Supp. 3d 982, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41878, 2014 WL 1292453
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Missouri
DecidedMarch 28, 2014
DocketNo. 4:11-cv-00981-DGK
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 10 F. Supp. 3d 982 (Johnson v. MFA Petroleum Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnson v. MFA Petroleum Co., 10 F. Supp. 3d 982, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41878, 2014 WL 1292453 (W.D. Mo. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS

GREG KAYS, Chief Judge.

This case is a putative class action brought by Plaintiff Joyce Johnson against Defendants MFA Petroleum Company (“MFA”), Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (“Casey’s”), and QuikTrip Corporation [986]*986(“QuikTrip”). Plaintiff alleges that Defendants used false advertising and material misrepresentations in the sale of gasoline to Missouri consumers, in violation of the Missouri Merchandising Practice Act (“MMPA”), Mo.Rev.Stat. § 407.020.

Now before the Court is Defendants’ Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (Doc. 63). Because Plaintiffs claims are expressly and impliedly preempted by the federal Petroleum Marketing Practices Act (“PMPA”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 2821-2824, the Court GRANTS Defendants’ motion.

Background

On August 22, 2011, named Plaintiff Joyce Johnson, a Missouri citizen, filed a one-count lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri alleging Defendants violated the MMPA. The MMPA is state consumer protection statute making it unlawful to use or employ “any deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise, misrepresentation, [or] unfair practice,” or to conceal, suppress, or omit “any material fact in connection with the sale or the advertisement of any merchandise in trade or commerce ...” Mo.Rev.Stat. § 407.020.1.

Plaintiffs complaint (the “Complaint”) alleges Defendants own and operate retail gas stations in Missouri that dispense gasoline through “single hose blender pumps,” that is, pumps which distribute multiple grades of gasoline {e.g., unleaded, unleaded plus, premium unleaded) through a single hose. Plaintiff contends that because these pumps dispense different grades through a single hose, each time a purchaser begins to pump gas there is a residual amount of gasoline remaining in the hose from the previous purchaser. If an individual purchases a grade of gasoline higher than the previous purchaser, then she actually receives a small quantity of the lower grade gasoline as well. Plaintiff seeks money damages and injunctive relief on behalf of a class of Missouri consumers who purchased higher grade gasoline at one of Defendant’s retail gas stations.

Defendants removed the action from the Circuit Court of Jackson Count to this Court, alleging jurisdiction under both the Court’s federal question jurisdiction and diversity jurisdiction, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1332, 1441. Plaintiff moved for remand, arguing neither basis for federal jurisdiction existed (Doc. 16). The Court ultimately exercised jurisdiction over the action based on complete preemption and granted Defendants’ motion to dismiss (Doc. 41). The Eighth Circuit reversed the Court’s finding of complete preemption and remanded for a determination of whether diversity jurisdiction existed under the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”). Johnson v. MFA Petroleum Co., 701 F.3d 243 (8th Cir.2012).1 On remand, the Court determined it possessed jurisdiction under CAFA (Doc. 58). Defendants then filed the instant motion (Doc. 63), arguing that the PMPA expressly and impliedly preempts Plaintiffs MMPA claim.

Standard

A. The standard of review for judgment on the pleadings.

After the pleadings have closed, a party may move for judgment on the pleadings. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c). In ruling on a motion for judgment on the pleadings, [987]*987the court must “accept as true all factual allegations set out in the complaint and construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, drawing all inferences in [her] favor.” Ashley Cnty., Ark. v. Pfizer, Inc., 552 F.3d 659, 665 (8th Cir.2009) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Much like the court’s review under Rule 12(b)(6), “[j]udgment on the pleadings is appropriate only when there is no dispute as to any material facts and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law....” Id. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Accordingly, “the court generally must ignore materials outside the pleadings, but it may consider some materials that are part of the public record or do not contradict the complaint, as well as materials that are necessarily embraced by the pleadings.” Porous Media Corp, v. Pall Corp., 186 F.3d 1077, 1079 (8th Cir.1999) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).

B. The standard of review for preemption.

Any state law that conflicts with any federal statute or duly authorized federal regulation is preempted under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution. U.S. Const. art. VI, cl. 2; City of New York v. F.C.C., 486 U.S. 57, 63-64, 108 S.Ct. 1637, 100 L.Ed.2d 48 (1988). A federal law may either expressly or impliedly preempt a state law. Altria Grp., Inc. v. Good, 555 U.S. 70, 76, 129 S.Ct. 538, 172 L.Ed.2d 398 (2008). A federal law expressly preempts a state law when the statutory language clearly evinces an intent to do so. Id. Implied preemption occurs when the scope of the federal “statute indicated Congress intended federal law to occupy the legislative field, or if there is an actual conflict between state and federal law.” Id. at 76-77, 129 S.Ct. 538.

Under either form of preemption, congressional intent “is the ultimate touchstone.” Id. at 76, 129 S.Ct. 538. In all preemption cases, the inquiry “start[s] with assumption that the historic police powers of the States were not superseded by the Federal Act unless that was the clear and manifest purpose of Congress.” Medtronic, Inc. v. Lohr, 518 U.S. 470, 485, 116 S.Ct. 2240, 135 L.Ed.2d 700 (1996) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). With these principles in mind, the Court analyzes whether the PMPA either expressly or impliedly preempts Plaintiffs claims.

Discussion

I. The PMPA expressly preempts Plaintiffs MMPA claim.

Defendants’ first argument is that the PMPA and attendant Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) Automotive Fuel Rating (“AFR”) regulations expressly preempt Plaintiffs MMPA claim. Defendants contend that Section 2824(a) of the PMPA and Section 306.4 of the AFR regulations contain broad preemptive language which encompasses Plaintiffs MMPA claim. Plaintiff counters that, as plead, her claim clearly avoids the preemptive scope of these provisions. After carefully reviewing Plaintiffs complaint as a whole, the Court holds that the PMPA and AFR regulations expressly preempt Plaintiffs MMPA claim.

A. The PMPA and AFR regulations preempt state law causes of action relating to. octane disclosure which are not identical to those in the PMPA.

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10 F. Supp. 3d 982, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41878, 2014 WL 1292453, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-mfa-petroleum-co-mowd-2014.