Lindsay v. Government Employees Insurance

251 F.R.D. 51, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51944
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedJuly 3, 2008
DocketCivil Action No. 04-1213 (PLF)
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 251 F.R.D. 51 (Lindsay v. Government Employees Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lindsay v. Government Employees Insurance, 251 F.R.D. 51, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51944 (D.D.C. 2008).

Opinion

OPINION

PAUL L. FRIEDMAN, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on plaintiffs’ renewed motion for class certification and appointment of class counsel pursuant to Rule 23(b)(3) and Rule 23(g) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, respectively.1 Plaintiffs seek certification of a class represented by plaintiff Robert McGruder and consisting of all automobile damage adjusters employed by defendant GEICO “who worked in the state of New York from July 19, 1998 through the pay period ending July 9, 2004.” Pis.’ Mot. at 2. Plaintiffs also seek the appointment of the law firms of Cohen, Mill-stein, Hausfeld & Toll, PLLC and Shapiro Haber & Urmy LLP as class counsel. Upon consideration of plaintiffs’ motion, defendant’s opposition, plaintiffs’ reply, and the entire record in this case, the Court will grant plaintiffs’ motion.

I. BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On July 19, 2004, plaintiffs Christine Lindsay and Robert McGruder, both automobile [53]*53damage adjusters employed by GEICO, brought suit against GEICO on behalf of themselves and other similarly situated employees. Plaintiffs claim that, at least since 1985, GEICO has deliberately miscategorized its adjusters as administrative employees in order to avoid paying them the overtime compensation to which they aré entitled under Section 207(a) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201 et seq. (“FLSA”), and — in the case of New York-based adjusters — Section 663 of the New York Minimum Wage Act, N.Y. Lab. Law §§ 650 et seq. See First Amended Class and Collective Action Complaint ¶ 1.2 Plaintiffs sought certification of an “opt-in” class under the FLSA pursuant to Section 216(b) of the FLSA.3 Plaintiffs also sought certification of an “opt-out” class under the New York Minimum Wage Act pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Lindsay v. GEICO, 448 F.3d at 418.

On November 9, 2004, this Court found that the putative members of the proposed opt-in class were “similarly situated” for purposes of the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. § 216(b), and therefore granted plaintiffs’ motion for notice to potential class members. See Lindsay v. GEICO, Civil Action No. 04-1213, Memorandum Opinion and Order at 4-5 (D.D.C. Nov. 9, 2004).4 On December 23, 2004, however, the Court denied certification of the opt-out class on the ground that it would be inappropriate, in light of the procedural differences between Section 216(b) and Rule 23, to assert supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims of plaintiffs “who have not affirmatively opted into the [Section 216(b)] action.” Lindsay v. GEICO, 355 F.Supp.2d 119, 121 (D.D.C.2004). The Court therefore (1) declined to certify an opt-out class of state law plaintiffs who had not opted into the federal action, but (2) asserted supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims of those New York plaintiffs who had opted into the federal action. See id. at 120-24.5 On interlocutory appeal of the December 23, 2004 decision, the D.C. Circuit reversed this Court’s decision not to certify the opt-out class of state law plaintiffs who had not opted into the federal action. See Lindsay v. GEICO, 448 F.3d at 420-21. The Court stated, however, that on remand this Court “remains free to consider whether it ‘may decline to exercise’ supplemental jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c).” Id. at 424.6

[54]*54Plaintiffs renewed their motion for certification of the opt-out class of state law plaintiffs, and defendant opposed that motion. The Court heard oral argument on plaintiffs’ renewed motion on February 26, 2008.

II. SUPPLEMENTAL JURISDICTION

In its decision, the D.C. Circuit observed that this Court would not be justified in declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction under Sections 1367(c)(1) and (c)(2). See Lindsay v. GEICO, 448 F.3d at 424-25.7 Nor would the Court be justified in declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction under Section 1367(c)(4) on the ground that “the difference between the opt-in procedure provided by section 216(b) for FLSA claims and the opt-out procedure for state law claims provided by Rule 23 [fits] the ‘exceptional circumstances’/’other compelling reasons’ language of section 1367(c)(4).” Id. at 425. Thus, as plaintiffs point out, it appears that “the only permissible reason to decline [to assert supplemental] jurisdiction would be the existence of ‘exceptional circumstances’ under § 1367(c)(4) presenting ‘compelling reasons for declining jurisdiction,’ other than any conflict between opt-in and opt-out class action procedures.” Pls.’ Mot. at 3-4.

Defendant has identified no such circumstances, and the Court is aware of none. To the contrary, all of the relevant considerations — that is, considerations of “economy, convenience, fairness, and comity” — militate in favor of this Court asserting supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims. Lindsay v. GEICO, 448 F.3d at 425. As plaintiffs correctly observe, the claims of the opt-out class members are “garden variety overtime class action claims” that will not be difficult to manage or resolve alongside the “nearly identical” federal claims of the opt-in class members. Pis.’ Mot. at 4. In addition, declining to assert jurisdiction here likely would result in duplicative litigation in this Court and in a New York state court — and effectively waste much of the cost and effort already expended on this litigation. See id.; see also Pis.’ Reply at 2.

For the foregoing reasons, the Court concludes that it is appropriate to assert supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims of those plaintiffs who have not also asserted FLSA claims. The only remaining question, therefore, is whether the proposed opt-out class should be certified.

III. CLASS CERTIFICATION

A. Certification Requirements

A party who moves for class certification bears the burden of showing that his proposed suit meets all of the requirements for certification. See Amchem Products, Inc. v. Windsor, 521 U.S. 591, 614, 117 S.Ct. 2231, 138 L.Ed.2d 689 (1997). Those requirements fall into two categories. First, the moving party must show that his proposed suit satisfies the four threshold requirements of Rule 23(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

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Bluebook (online)
251 F.R.D. 51, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51944, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lindsay-v-government-employees-insurance-dcd-2008.