Macarz v. Transworld Systems, Inc.

201 F.R.D. 54, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7675, 2001 WL 682546
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedJanuary 8, 2001
DocketNo. 3:97CV2194 JBA
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 201 F.R.D. 54 (Macarz v. Transworld Systems, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Macarz v. Transworld Systems, Inc., 201 F.R.D. 54, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7675, 2001 WL 682546 (D. Conn. 2001).

Opinion

RULING ON PENDING MOTIONS

ARTERTON, District Judge.

Following this Court’s ruling on September 21, 1998 granting summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff on his claim that defendant’s debt collection letter violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692 et seq., the Court granted class certification on April 19, 2000. Now, plaintiff has moved for approval of its proposed class notice and for an order directing the defendant to mail both the proposed notice and the ruling on liability to all class members. The class certified by the Court’s [56]*56April 19, 2000 ruling is composed of: “All Connecticut residents who (1) were sent a collection letter by Transworld where (2) the letter was in the same form as the letter sent to plaintiff, and (3) the letter concerned a debt which from the records of the creditor or the nature of the debt, was a non-business debt.” Doc. # 57, at 3.

Expressing great outrage, defendant has moved to decertify the class. In the alternative, defendant objects to the proposed notice, the mailing of the ruling on liability, the proposed class termination date and to notice by mail.

A. Defendant’s Motion to Decertify [Doc. # 60]

The basis for the majority of defendant’s objections is the following excerpt from plaintiffs proposed class notice:

Class counsel believes that, because (1) liability has been determined, and (2) the large number of class members, it is advisable to exclude yourself to pursue an individual action. Class counsel may be willing to represent you if you chose this option. If you want your own attorney to represent you in an individual case, the terms of such representation are a matter for you and your attorney to negotiate.1

Defendant argues that because this constitutes a “bold-faced attempt to abuse the class action device by turning it into a method of soliciting individual actions,” this Court should decertify the class. Transworld also claims that because plaintiff has now stated that the class action is not a superior means of pursing the claims of the class members, the class should be decertified. As the defendant notes, this change of position by plaintiff is particularly troubling given plaintiffs previous arguments to this Court in support of class certification, in which plaintiffs argued that “[i]n this case there is no better method available for the adjudication of the claims which might be brought by each individual debtor.”

Plaintiff attempts to explain this change of tune by arguing now that a “class action is superior for the 99% of class members who don’t care to bring $1,000 lawsuits; the small number of class members who are willing to pursue individual claims are better off doing so.” See Doc. # 63, at 6. In his motion for class certification, plaintiff argued that a class was superior because the majority of class members were unaware that their FDCPA rights were violated and the majority of class members would not be likely to retain counsel and bring suit. If the class is decertified now, however, the putative class members would not receive notification that them FDCPA rights were violated by Trans-world.

Thus, the reasons that led this Court to rule that a class action is the most efficient and effective way to pursue this litigation remain in effect. See Doc. #57 at 16-20. Defendant has set forth nothing that shows that this is no longer the case. Finally, modifying the proposed notice will adequately remedy any possible “abuse” of the class action process by plaintiffs counsel. Therefore, defendant’s motion to decertify the class is denied.

B. Plaintiffs Motion for Approval of Notice [Doc. # 59]

1. Content of the notice

Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(c)(2) provides that “[i]n any class maintained under subdivision (b)(3), the court shall direct to the members of the class the best notice practicable under the circumstances, including individual notice to all members who can be identified through reasonable effort. The notice shall advise each member that (A) the court will exclude ■ the member from the class if the member so requests by a specified date; (B) the judgment, whether favorable or not, will include all members who do not request exclusion; and (C) any member who does not request exclusion may, if the member desires, enter an appearance through counsel.”

In addition to the requirements of Rule 23(c)(2), notice to the class members [57]*57must contain “objective, neutral” advice. See In re Nissan Motor Corp. Antitrust Litig., 552 F.2d 1088, 1092 (5th Cir.1977); Erhardt v. Prudential Group Inc., 629 F.2d 843, 846 (2d Cir.1980) (“Notice to class members is crucial to the entire scheme of Rule 23(b)(3). It sets forth an impartial recital of the subject matter of the suit, informs members that their rights are in litigation, and alerts them to take appropriate steps to make certain their individual interests are protected. It also preserves the right of class members to ‘opt out’ if they believe their interests are antagonistic to the other class members, or if they wish to proceed by separate suit.”) (emphasis added). The Court bears the responsibility of directing the “best notice practicable” to class members and of safeguarding them from “unauthorized, misleading communications from the parties or their counsel.” Id.; see also Schisler v. Heckler, 787 F.2d 76, 86 (2d Cir.1986) (“the district court should examine that notice, and fashion its own more effective notice, if necessary.”).

The notice proposed by plaintiff meets certain requirements of Rule 23(c) by informing class members of them right to opt out of the class, that they will be bound by any judgment reached if they do not opt out, and the likely maximum amounts of recovery under either an individual or the class action, from which class members may draw their own conclusions as to whether it is in their best interests to remain in the class or opt out. See Proposed Notice, at 2-3. However, the sentences advising the class members that their class counsel believes they should opt out of the class are neither objective or neutral and are therefore improper. See id. at 3.2 In addition, the policy interests behind Rule 23(b)(3) of providing “fair and efficient adjudication” are not served by encouraging putative class members to opt out of the class. Cf. In re Nissan, 552 F.2d at 1105 (class members should be advised of proposed settlement, in part because “[t]he binding scope of the present action would be directly diminished by that number of class members who decided to opt out of the action but who otherwise would have utilized the class action device if information of the proposed settlement had appeared in their subdivision (c)(2) notice.”); McCarthy, 164 F.R.D.

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Bluebook (online)
201 F.R.D. 54, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7675, 2001 WL 682546, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/macarz-v-transworld-systems-inc-ctd-2001.