Miri v. Dillon

292 F.R.D. 454, 2013 WL 2034310, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68211
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedMay 14, 2013
DocketNo. 11-15248
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 292 F.R.D. 454 (Miri v. Dillon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miri v. Dillon, 292 F.R.D. 454, 2013 WL 2034310, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68211 (E.D. Mich. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION AND TO APPOINT CLASS COUNSEL [28]

NANCY G. EDMUNDS, District Judge.

This is a civil rights lawsuit brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiffs Adhid Miri and The Exchange, Inc., on behalf of themselves and all other similarly situated legal persons, allege that Defendants violated their Fourth Amendment rights by following the Michigan Department of Treasury’s uniform practice during the relevant time period and entering their property without a judicially authorized warrant and seizing their property in satisfaction of an alleged tax debt. This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiffs Adhid Miri’s and The Exchange, Inc.’s motion for class certification and to appoint class counsel. Plaintiffs identify the following putative class:

All taxpayers subjected to a non-consensual search and/or seizure of their property pursuant to a Michigan Department of Treasury Warrant from December 1, 2008 to December 1, 2011.

(Pis.’ Mot., at iii.)

Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification is GRANTED IN PART. The class, as defined by the Court in this Opinion and Order, will be certified for liability purposes only. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(c)(4); Olden v. LaFarge Corp., 383 F.3d 495, 509 (6th Cir.2004); 2 W. Rubenstein, Newberg on Class Actions § 4:54, pp. 206-208 (5th ed. 2012). This Court also appoints Plaintiffs’ counsel to serve as Co-Lead Class Counsel.

I. Facts

A. Plaintiffs

The named Corporate Plaintiff, The Exchange, Inc., is a Michigan corporation doing business as “Copper Canyon Brewery” (“Copper Canyon”). The named Individual Plaintiff, Adhid Miri (“Miri”) is the sole shareholder and President of Copper Canyon. (Pis.’ Mot., Ex. 2, Miri 9/18/12 Dep. at 26.) Miri, a native of Iraq, is highly educated and an experienced businessman. He holds multiple degrees, including a Ph.D. in organic chemistry. He has also served as a professor at multiple international universities, including King’s College, at the University of London. (Id. at 8-9.) Miri came to the United States in 1981, founded a video rental store chain in 1982 that was subsequently sold for a profit in the late 1980’s. (Id. at 7, 10,13-15.) Next, he opened a chain of coffee stores that were subsequently sold to Caribou Coffee in 1995. (Id. at 15-16.) Miri did not owe any delinquent taxes on any of his video or coffee stores. He used his profits from the sale of those businesses to plan and fund the opening of Copper Canyon. (Id. at 15-18.) Copper Canyon opened in 1999 and remains open today. (Id. at 18, 20.)

Copper Canyon is a 9,600 square foot brew pub with an 800 square foot outdoor deck on 1.84 acres. (Id. at 27, 60-61.) Of the 9,600 square feet, 7,500 square feet is open to or in view of the public. The remaining 2,100 square feet, housing the kitchen, an office, storage space, and the liquor storage room, is private. (Id. at 60-61, 69, 113.) Using 2011 as a reference point, Copper Canyon employed about five full-time employees and ten part-time employees; and, at its peak, had revenues as high as $2.1 million. (Id. at 26, 29.)

B. Copper Canyon’s History With Michigan’s Treasury Department

Copper Canyon fell behind on its tax obligations to the State of Michigan, namely sales tax. At one time, it took advantage of an amnesty program, borrowing $100,000.00 to pay down its tax obligations, and also entered into various payment plans for delinquent taxes. (Id. at 35-37, 52,112.)

Leading up to the events that give rise to this lawsuit, Copper Canyon again owed sales taxes to the Michigan Treasury. (Id. at 34-35.) Defendant Manuel (Rick) Rodriguez (“Rodriguez”) was the Michigan Treasury Department Warrant Officer charged with collecting the debt owed by Copper Canyon. (Pis.’ Mot., Ex. 3, Rodriguez 7/19/12 Dep. at 18-19.) Rodriguez visited Copper Canyon on a couple of occasions; but always met with Miri in publicly accessible space, during business hours, for very short periods of time, [457]*457and never wore a badge or uniform that would identify him as a Treasury agent. (Miri Dep. at 50-52.) On January 7, 2010, Copper Canyon owed back taxes but Miri was working on paying its tax debt. To that end, he had contacted 13 or 14 mortgage companies, institutions, banks, hard money lenders, and soft money lenders and informed Rodriguez that he was trying his best to come up with the money. (Id. at 112.)

C. January 7, 2010 Treasury Department Search and Seizure

On January 7, 2010, with a Treasury Warrant issued without judicial approval, Rodriguez and other individuals—eight Treasury employees, two on-duty Michigan State Police Officers, and one locksmith—arrived at Copper Canyon a half-hour before it was scheduled to open and proceeded to search and seize Plaintiffs’ property. (Miri Dep. at 54, 66-67; Rodriguez Dep. at 122; Pis.’ Mot., Ex. 4, Copper Canyon 10/30/09 Treasury Warrant.) In front of waiting customers, Rodriguez and two uniformed officers met Miri at the entrance to Copper Canyon, told Miri that the Treasury Department was seizing the property, changing the locks, taking his licenses, and shutting Copper Canyon down. Rodriguez demanded to see the private office, the safe, and the liquor room. (Miri Dep. at 45-46, 54-55, 67-72.) All of those areas are locked, private and not accessible to the public or Treasury employees. (Id. at 69-72, 76, 79-80, 114-115.) Miri was visibly shaken. (Pis.’ Mot., Ex. 5, 1/12/10 Post Warrant Report.) The scene was chaotic. Miri attempted to get Rodriguez to explain what was going on while also trying to ease the concerns of his employees. (Miri Dep. at 54, 68.) After speaking with his attorney, Miri left Copper Canyon, but Rodriguez and the other Treasury agents remained inside Copper Canyon. Hours later, around 3:00 p.m., Miri returned with bankruptcy papers that his attorney had filed in order to halt the seizure. When he returned, the front door to Copper Canyon was locked. When he went to the back of the building, he saw Rodriguez with a couple other people. They had seized all the liquor from Copper Canyon, the licenses off the wall, and the cash from the safe. (Id. at 79-80.) After Miri showed them the bankruptcy papers, they l’eturned the seized liquor and licenses to him and gave him the new set of keys to Copper Canyon because the locksmith had changed the locks. (Id. at 80.) Plaintiffs allege damages they claim are the result of the Michigan Treasury Department’s unlawful search and seizure practice. (Mot. at 5.)

D. Treasury’s Department-Wide Warrant Policies and Procedures

On January 7, 2010, when the Treasury Warrant was executed at Copper Canyon, Rodriguez was acting in accordance with the Treasury Department’s established practices and procedures for procuring and executing Treasury Warrants as reflected in Treasury Bulletin BC-49020, titled “Tax Warrants, Guidelines for Collection by Seizure and Sale of Taxpayer’s Assets,” a policy that had been in effect since February 1, 2003. (Pis.’ Mot., Ex. 6, BC-49020; Ex.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
292 F.R.D. 454, 2013 WL 2034310, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68211, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miri-v-dillon-mied-2013.