Karim v. Hewlett-Packard Co.

311 F.R.D. 568, 88 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 523, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 170406, 2015 WL 9258100
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedDecember 18, 2015
DocketCase No. 12-cv-5240-PJH
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 311 F.R.D. 568 (Karim v. Hewlett-Packard Co.) 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
Karim v. Hewlett-Packard Co., 311 F.R.D. 568, 88 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 523, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 170406, 2015 WL 9258100 (N.D. Cal. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR CERTIFICATION OF A CALIFORNIA CLASS

PHYLLIS J. HAMILTON, United States District Judge

On August 5, 2015, plaintiffs motion for certification of a California class came on for hearing before this court. Plaintiff Nad Karim (“plaintiff’) appeared through his counsel, Jenelle Welling. Defendant Hewlett-Packard Company (“defendant” or “HP”) appeared through its counsel, Samuel Liversidge and Blaine Evanson. Having read the papers filed in conjunction with the motion and carefully considered the arguments and the relevant legal authority, and good cause appearing, the court hereby rules as follows.

BACKGROUND

This suit arises out of plaintiffs purchase of a laptop computer from HP’s website. Plaintiff alleges that HP made misrepresentations regarding the computer’s wireless card (used to connect to the Internet), and brings this suit on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated. The operative first amended complaint (“FAC”) asserts two causes of action, one for breach of express warranty, and one under California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act (“CLRA”), but plaintiff seeks certification only as to the warranty claim.

Plaintiff alleges that, on November 22, 2010, he visited HP’s website, which allows customers to customize and purchase computers directly from HP. FAC, ¶ 10. When choosing the customizable components, customers may click on a “help me decide” (or “HMD”) button that provides more detailed information about the choices available to the customer.

Plaintiff alleges that “[w]hen he got to the section to select a wireless card, he read HP’s description of the wireless card.” FAC, ¶ 11. HP represented that the wireless card option for his base model would operate on both the 2.4 GHz and the 5.0 GHz frequencies. Id. However, when plaintiff received the computer that he ordered, it was equipped with an “Intel Centrino-N 1000 802.11 b/g/n wireless card,” which operates only on the 2.4 GHz frequency. Id., ¶ 12. Plaintiff alleges that he “would have paid less for the computer or would not have purchased it had he known that neither it nor the wireless card with which it would be equipped could operate on both the 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz frequencies.” FAC, ¶ 18.

Plaintiff previously moved for certification of a nationwide class, but the court denied the motion for failure to meet the “predominance” requirement of Rule 23(b)(3). See Dkt. 78. Plaintiff subsequently amended his complaint to limit the class allegations to putative class members within California. Plaintiff now seeks certification of the following class:

All persons who, between January 1, 2010 and April 11, 2011, customized and purchased from HP’s website one of the following computers: Compaq Mini CQ10, Compaq Presario CQ61z, Compaq Presario CQ62z, HP Mini 110, HP Mini 210, HP Mini 210 HD, HP Mini 210 Vivienne Tam Edition, HP Pavilion dmlz, HP Pavilion dm3t, HP Pavilion dm3z, HP Pavilion dm4t, HP Pavilion dm4z, HP Pavilion dv4i, HP Pavilion dv4t, HP Pavilion dv5t, HP Pavilion dv6t, HP Pavilion dv6t Select Edition,. HP Pavilion dv6z, HP Pavilion dv6z Select Edition, HP Pavilion dv7t, HP Pavilion dv7t Select Edition, HP G42t, HP G60t, HP G62t, HP G71t, HP G72t, or HP TouchSmart tm2t; and whose computer was shipped to a California address.

Excluded from the class are purchasers who returned their computers, purchasers whose computers were equipped with a dual-band wireless card, and purchasers of the dv5t computers who selected a wireless card requiring an additional payment.

DISCUSSION

A. Legal Standard

“Before certifying a class, the trial court must conduct a ’rigorous analysis’ to [572]*572determine whether the party seeking certification has met the prerequisites of Rule 23.” Mazza v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc., 666 F.3d 581, 588 (9th Cir.2012) (citation and quotation omitted).

The party seeking class certification bears the burden of affirmatively demonstrating that the class meets the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 564 U.S. 338, 131 S.Ct. 2541, 2551, 180 L.Ed.2d 374 (2011), In order for a class action to be certified, plaintiffs must prove that they meet the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a) and (b).

Rule 23(a) requires that plaintiffs demonstrate numerosity, commonality, typicality and adequacy of representation in order to maintain a class. First, the class must be so numerous that joinder of all members individually is “impracticable,” See Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(1). Second, there must be questions of law or fact common to the class. Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(2). Third, the claims or defenses of the class representative must be typical of the claims or defenses of the class. Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(3). And fourth, the class representative^) must be able to protect fairly and adequately the interests of all members of the class. Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(4). The parties moving for class certification bear the burden of establishing that the Rule 23(a) requirements are satisfied. Gen’l Tel. Co. of Southwest v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 156, 102 S.Ct. 2364, 72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982); see also Dukes, 131 S.Ct. at 2551.

If all four prerequisites of Rule 23(a) are satisfied, the court then determines whether to certify the class under one of the three subsections of Rule 23(b), pursuant to which the named plaintiffs must establish that either (1) that there is a risk of substantial prejudice from separate actions; or (2) that declaratory or injunctive relief benefitting the class as a whole would be appropriate; or (3) that common questions of law or fact common to the class predominate and that a class action is superior to other methods available for adjudicating the controversy at issue. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(3).

The court does not make a preliminary inquiry into the merits of plaintiffs’ claims in determining whether to certify a class. Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin, 417 U.S. 156, 177, 94 S.Ct. 2140, 40 L.Ed.2d 732 (1974). The court will, however, scrutinize plaintiffs’ legal causes of action to determine whether they are suitable for resolution on a class-wide basis. See, e.g., Moore v. Hughes Helicopters, Inc., 708 F.2d 475, 480 (9th Cir. 1983). Making such a determination will sometimes require examining issues that overlap with the merits. See Dukes, 131 S.Ct. at 2551-52 (acknowledging that court’s “rigorous analysis” will frequently entail some overlap with merits of plaintiffs underlying claim).

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311 F.R.D. 568, 88 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 523, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 170406, 2015 WL 9258100, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/karim-v-hewlett-packard-co-cand-2015.