Ketchum v. Sunoco, Inc.

217 F.R.D. 354, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15625, 2003 WL 22098577
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 11, 2003
DocketNo. C.A.01-CV-1042
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 217 F.R.D. 354 (Ketchum v. Sunoco, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ketchum v. Sunoco, Inc., 217 F.R.D. 354, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15625, 2003 WL 22098577 (E.D. Pa. 2003).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

GREEN, Senior District Judge.

In their complaint Plaintiffs seek relief from the alleged employment discrimination of Defendant Sunoco, Inc. (“Sunoco”). Their complaint recites that this action is brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000d-2 and 2000e-5(f), as amended, and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981. Presently before the Court is Plaintiffs’ motion for class certifica[356]*356tion under Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(2) and/or 23(b)(3) and the memoranda in support and in opposition thereto. The parties have been granted full discovery on all certification issues. Also, a certification hearing has been held and the testimony of expert witnesses presented. Counsel for the parties have been afforded full opportunity for oral argument. Thus, the Court decides these certification issues on a full certification record. For the reasons stated below, I will grant Plaintiffs’ motion in part as it relates to certification under Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(2), and I will order withdrawn Plaintiffs’ motion for certification under Rule 23(b)(3).

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs seek to represent a class consisting of “all Black exempt employees of [Defendant Sunoco] employed within the Philadelphia area at any time during the period January 1, 1996 to the present” pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23.1 At the outset it must be noted that during oral argument counsel for the Plaintiffs modified Plaintiffs’ motion for certification and withdrew their request for certification under Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(3). See Transcript of Oral Argument, page 143, lines 19-22. Also, Plaintiffs’ counsel limited the request for relief pursuant to 23(b)(2) to declaratory and injunctive relief and withdrew Plaintiffs’ request for individual monetary damages and instead will seek only equitable damages for the class. Plaintiffs’ counsel stated on the record that he will rely principally on statistical evidence to establish the discriminatory impact of Defendant’s personnel policies.

Defendant contends that the statistical evidence presented by Plaintiffs is insufficient to establish that Plaintiffs were discriminated against in employment, advancement, promotion or compensation. Defendant argues that the testimony of their expert, Doctor Siskin, completely refutes the testimony of Plaintiffs’ expert Doctor Madden, and as Doctor Madden failed to consider all of the variables suggested as necessary by Doctor Siskin, her evidence should not be credited. Absent the statistical evidence, Defendant contends Plaintiffs cannot establish a right to certification.

The experts used the same statistical database; however, they disagree as to the necessary combination of variable factors to be considered in reaching an opinion regarding the statistical significance of the evidence as it relates to discriminatory employment policies. Thus where Plaintiffs’ expert found statistically significant evidence of discrimination, Defendant’s expert reached the opposite conclusion. Defendant argues that this Court should at this time make a finding as to the merits of the litigation. However, I conclude that General Telephone Co. v. Falcon,2 relied upon by Defendant to support its merit determination argument, requires only that the Court not accept the bald assertions of the complaint regarding class action certification and instead imposes a duty on the Court to carefully scrutinize the record to determine if there is an evidentiary basis for Plaintiffs’ request for certification without deciding the merits of the controversy. I have carefully reviewed the record and conclude that the evidence of Plaintiffs’ expert Doctor Madden, even as challenged by Defendant’s expert Dr. Siskin, if credited, is sufficient to permit a determination that company employment policies as applied have a discriminatory impact adverse to the named Plaintiffs and the proposed class. In deciding that Plaintiffs have made the necessary showing to proceed by way of class action, I do not express an opinion as to the ultimate outcome or merits of the litigation.

II. DISCUSSION

To obtain certification, Plaintiffs are required to show that the purported class meets the four prerequisites of Rule 23(a) and at least one of the elements of Rule 23(b). See Baby Neal v. Casey, 43 F.3d 48, 55 (3d Cir.1994). Rule 23(a) provides four prerequisites to a class action:

(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 [357]*357representative 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). Defendant argues that Plaintiffs cannot meet any of the requirements of Rule 23(a) or 23(b)(2), accordingly I address those requirements.

A. 23(a)

1. Numerosity

Plaintiffs allege that the proposed class will consist of at least 170 current Sunoco employees and with the inclusion of former Sunoco employees the class size could increase to approximately 200. In the Third Circuit there is no minimum number required for class action certification. Generally, if the named plaintiff demonstrates that the potential number of plaintiffs exceeds 40, the numerosity requirement of Rule 23(a) has been met. Stewart v. Abraham, 275 F.3d 220, 227-228 (3rd Cir.2001). At oral argument Defendant conceded the Plaintiffs have technically met the number requirement. See Transcript page 124, lines 6—8. However, Defendant argues that it is not impractical to join the members of the proposed class as all appear to reside in the Philadelphia region. Given the size of the proposed class I have no difficulty finding that joinder is impractical and note that Defendant has not cited to any authority in the Third Circuit that even suggests that the impracticability requirement would not be met under the circumstances here. Accordingly, Plaintiffs satisfy the numerosity requirement of Rule 23(a).

2. Commonality

Commonality requires that the named plaintiffs share at least one question of fact or law with the claims of the prospective class. Baby Neal v. Casey, 43 F.3d 48, 56 (3d Cir.1994). In its opposition to certification the Defendant argues that the Plaintiffs have failed to identify a question of fact or law common to the class.

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Bluebook (online)
217 F.R.D. 354, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15625, 2003 WL 22098577, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ketchum-v-sunoco-inc-paed-2003.