Murray v. Local 2620, District Council 57, American Federation of State, County, & Municipal Employees

192 F.R.D. 629, 164 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2359, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8744, 2000 WL 635795
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedApril 17, 2000
DocketNo. C-99-3668 MHP
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 192 F.R.D. 629 (Murray v. Local 2620, District Council 57, American Federation of State, County, & Municipal Employees) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Murray v. Local 2620, District Council 57, American Federation of State, County, & Municipal Employees, 192 F.R.D. 629, 164 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2359, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8744, 2000 WL 635795 (N.D. Cal. 2000).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

PATEL, Chief Judge.

Robert Murray filed a class action complaint on July 30, 1999 against Local 2620 and other defendants alleging violations of his constitutional rights. Murray alleges that Local 2620 has not complied with the requirements for collection of fees from workers who are not members of the union but are benefitted by the union’s collective bargaining agreements. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1983, plaintiff alleges violations of his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights pursuant to the Supreme Court’s decision in Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson, 475 U.S. 292, 106 S.Ct. 1066, 89 L.Ed.2d 232 (1986). Plaintiff now moves for certification of a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(1) or 23(b)(2) class of all individuals who, at any time since July 1, 1998, were state employees in State Bargaining Unit 19 1, were not union members, and who had “fair share fees” taken from their pay.2 Having considered the parties’ arguments and submissions, and for the reasons set forth below, the court enters the following memorandum and order.

BACKGROUND

1. Facts

Murray works for the State of California as a Health and Social Service Professional. Local 2620 is the monopoly bargaining agent for the employees in Bargaining Unit 19. In 1998, Local 2620 secured a contract which included a provision that employees who were not members of the union would pay agency fees to cover services provided by the union. The union began collecting these “fair share fees” from non-members in July 1998. The same month, Murray wrote to the union requesting a refund of that portion of the fair-share dues that the union planned to use for purposes other than those directly related to collective bargaining, contract administration, or grievance procedures for the duration of the current contract. In September 1998, the union replied that Murray would receive a refund within sixty days. This did not occur. A year later, in August 1999, Local 2620 ordered the State of California to cease collecting the agency fees. In November 1999, the union sent out a notice to all non-members about the fair-share fees. The union had calculated that sixteen percent of its funds were spent for political, ideological or other activities not related to collective bargaining. The union offered to refund non-members fifty percent of the agency fees they had paid during the time from July 1998 to January 15, 2000. In response, 113 fee payers objected to paying full dues or challenged the calculations. Murray objected for the second time in a letter to the union dated [631]*631November 22,1999. Murray later received a rebate at the fifty percent rate for the agency fees that had been collected from him.

II. Proposed Class

Murray now moves for certification of a class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. The proposed class consists of all individuals who, at any time since July 1, 1998, were state employees in State Bargaining Unit 19, were not union members, and had “fair share fees” taken from their pay. Murray has not filed for certification of any subclasses.

LEGAL STANDARD

All motions for class certification must meet the prerequisites of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a), which provides that a class action may be maintained if; (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 representative 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. To obtain certification, a plaintiff must also fulfill the requirements for at least one of the three types of class actions enumerated in Rule 23(b).

The burden of satisfying the Rule 23 requirements is on the party seeking certification. See Doninger v. Pacific Northwest Bell, Inc., 564 F.2d 1304, 1308-09 (9th Cir.1977). However, a plaintiff need not make a prima facie showing that he will prevail on the merits for class certification to be granted. See Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin, 417 U.S. 156, 177, 94 S.Ct. 2140, 40 L.Ed.2d 732 (1974) (“nothing in either the language or the history of Rule 23 ... gives a court any authority to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the merits of a suit in order to determine whether it may be maintained as a class action”); Kraszewski v. State Farm Gen. Ins. Co., 38 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 197, 209 (N.D.Cal.1985). The court is bound to take the substantive allegations in the complaint as true. See Blackie v. Barrack, 524 F.2d 891, 901 n. 17 (9th Cir. 1975).

Rule 23’s requirements “must be read liberally in the context of civil rights suits.” Jones v. Diamond, 519 F.2d 1090, 1099 (5th Cir.1975). Where a plaintiff seeks certification of subclasses, each subclass must meet the conditions of Rule 23. See Betts v. Reliable Collection Agency, Ltd., 659 F.2d 1000, 1005 (9th Cir.1981).

DISCUSSION

I. Rule 23(a) Factors

Rule 23(a) lists four factors which must be met for the maintenance of a class action. Each factor is discussed in turn.

A. Numerosity

The Rule 23(a)(1) numerosity factor does not mean that the class must be so numerous that joinder is impossible, but rather simply that joinder of the class is impracticable. See Harris v. Palm Springs Alpine Estates, Inc., 329 F.2d 909, 913 (9th Cir.1964). Plaintiff “need not state the exact number of potential members nor identify all the members of the class so long as the putative class is not amorphous.” Martinez v. Bechtel Corp., 10 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 6351, 6353 (N.D.Cal.1975). Defendants have conceded that plaintiff satisfies the numerosity requirement of Rule 23(a) because the proposed class consists of more than one-thousand people. The class is thus sufficiently numerous to make joinder of all members impracticable.

B. Commonality

In order to fulfill the commonality prerequisite of Rule 23(a)(2), plaintiff must establish that there are questions of law or fact common to the class as a whole. Rule 23(a)(2) does not mandate that each member of the class be identically situated but only that there be substantial questions of law or fact common to all. See Harris, 329 F.2d at 914.

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192 F.R.D. 629, 164 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2359, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8744, 2000 WL 635795, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/murray-v-local-2620-district-council-57-american-federation-of-state-cand-2000.