Miller v. Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

80 F. Supp. 3d 1284, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4448, 2015 WL 179269
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedJanuary 14, 2015
DocketCase No. 6:13-cv-1016-Orl-40KRS
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 80 F. Supp. 3d 1284 (Miller v. Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miller v. Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 80 F. Supp. 3d 1284, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4448, 2015 WL 179269 (M.D. Fla. 2015).

Opinion

OMNIBUS ORDER

PAUL G. BYRON, District Judge.

This cause comes before the Court on the following:

1. Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 56), filed August 1, 2014;
2. Plaintiffs Response in Opposition to Defendants J & J’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 74), filed August 15, 2014;
3. Defendants’ Reply to Plaintiffs Response in Opposition to Defendants’, Johnson & Johnson and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 77) filed August 29, 2014;
4. Defendant Yale Associates, Inc.’s Motion for Summary Judgment and Incorporated Memorandum of Law (Doc. 64), filed August 1, 2014;
5. Plaintiffs Response in Opposition to Yale Associate, Inc.’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 73), filed August 15, 2014;
6. Defendant Yale Associate, Inc.’s Reply to Plaintiffs Response in Opposition to Yale Associate’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 76), filed August 29, 2014;
7. Plaintiffs Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Regarding Defendants Johnson & Johnson and Jans-sen Pharmaceuticals Liability as to Count I and II of the Complaint and Incorporated Memorandum of Law (Doc. 65), filed August 1, 2014; and
8. Defendants’ Response to Plaintiffs Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Regarding Defendants, Johnson & Johnson and Janssen Pharmaceuticals Liability as to Count I and II of the Complaint (Doc. 71), filed August 15, 2014.

Upon consideration and review of the record, including all pleadings, deposition transcripts, affidavits, exhibits, and memo-randa of respective counsel, the Court concludes that Plaintiff is entitled to summary judgment on Counts 1 and 2 of the Complaint on the issue of liability. The Court further concludes that Defendant Yale Associates, Inc. is entitled to summary judgment on Count 3.

I. BACKGROUND

[1287]*1287A. Facts1

In May 2011, Plaintiff, Thomas Miller II (“Miller”), submitted his name to Defendants, Johnson & Johnson and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (collectively, “J & J”),2 for a position as an Area Business Specialist in Orlando, Florida. Miller subsequently participated in a series of interviews, including a telephone interview with J & J’s recruiter, Amy Gilland Mitchell (“Gilland Mitchell”), and two in-person interviews with J & J’s district manager, Jim Lather (“Lather”). On June 9, 2011, Miller completed and submitted a formal application for the position.

On June 28, 2011, Miller received a contingent offer letter of employment from J & J. The offer letter stated that Miller’s employment was contingent on his successful completion of a background check. Miller acknowledged the offer letter with his signature. In furtherance of the required background check, Miller additionally signed an authorization for release of information to Defendant, Yale Associates, Inc. (“Yale”). Following receipt of Miller’s executed authorization for release of information, Yale conducted Miller’s background check. On July 6, 2011, Yale issued a consumer report (the “background report”) resulting from its check of Miller’s background and notified Gilland Mitchell of the results. Based on Yale’s background report, Gilland Mitchell flagged Miller’s application for further review. According to Miller, Gilland Mitchell called him on July 12, 2011 to inform him that J & J was rescinding his offer of employment due to information contained in the background report. (Doc. 65, pp. 3-4). Although J & J admits that Gilland Mitchell spoke with Miller on this date, J & J disputes that it had revoked Miller’s offer of employment at this time. (Doc. 56, p. 5).

On July 18, 2011, Yale mailed a package to Miller containing a copy of the background report and a letter that included a summary of Miller’s rights, as required by federal law. Yale’s Client Services Manager, David Hinman (“Hin-man”), signed the letter and included his telephone number for Miller to call to dispute any inaccurate information contained in the background report. Miller received the package on July 21, 2011. Upon receiving and reviewing his background report, Miller contacted Lather and Gilland Mitchell to dispute certain criminal activity that had been incorrectly listed in the background report. Gilland Mitchell directed Miller to contact Yale to dispute any inaccurate information.

Having not received a response from Miller, Yale mailed an adverse action letter to Miller on July 25, 2011 stating that his offer of employment with J & J had been withdrawn based, at least in part, on information contained within the background report. Miller received the adverse action letter on July 26, 2011. Miller first contacted Yale to dispute the criminal information listed in the background report on August 4, 2011. Although Hinman was not. available at that time, Miller spoke with Hinman the next day and informed him of the inaccurate information. Yale then re-investigated Miller’s criminal background, corrected the inaccurate information, and forwarded [1288]*1288a new background report to J & J on August 11, 2011. However, by the time J & J received Miller’s corrected background report, the position for which Miller had applied was no longer available.

B. Procedural History

On July 3, 2013, Miller initiated this lawsuit against J & J and Yale for violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681-1681x. (Doc. 1). Miller states three claims for relief. Counts 1 and 2 allege that J & J failed to provide Miller with a pre-adverse action disclosure and a pre-adverse áction opportunity to dispute the accuracy of the background report in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(3). (Id. ¶¶ 28-39). Count 3 alleges that Yale failed to maintain reasonable procedures to filter and verify disputed information in his credit file and relied upon a source that Yale knew was unreliable in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1681i. (Id. ¶¶ 40-42).

The parties now move for summary judgment. J & J moves for summary judgment on Counts 1 and 2. (Doc. 56). Miller cross moves for partial summary judgment on these counts, but only as to J & J’s liability under the FCRA. (Doc. 65). Yale moves for summary judgment on Count 3. (Doc. 64). All parties have briefed their respective positions or the time for doing so has passed.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

“The court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). The party moving for summary judgment must “cit[e] to particular parts of materials in the record, including depositions, documents, electronically stored information, affidavits or declarations, stipulations ...

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Bluebook (online)
80 F. Supp. 3d 1284, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4448, 2015 WL 179269, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miller-v-johnson-johnson-janssen-pharmaceuticals-inc-flmd-2015.