Olson v. Energy North, Inc.

9 Mass. L. Rptr. 494
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedJanuary 14, 1999
DocketNo. 9800228
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 9 Mass. L. Rptr. 494 (Olson v. Energy North, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Olson v. Energy North, Inc., 9 Mass. L. Rptr. 494 (Mass. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

Gants, J.

The individual plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, seek to be certified as representatives of the class of all persons and entities who purchased “unbranded” and/or adulterated gasoline, rather than the advertised “branded” Citgo or Gulf gasoline, from gasoline stations in Massachusetts supplied by gasoline distributor Energy North, Inc. (“Energy North”) for the period from January 1, 1994 through the present (“the putative class"). In addition, a substantial number of motions are pending that were filed by the named defendants, some referring to complaints that have since been amended. I will decide the issue of class certification and all other pending motions in this decision. Since there are many motions to be decided that were filed at many different times in this litigation, I believe that clarity will best be served by first describing the chronology of this litigation and, where appropriate, deciding certain pending motions during the course of that chronology.

Chronology of the Litigation

On February 5, 1998, Susan Olson, as the representative of the putative class, filed the original class action complaint against Energy North alone. Service of process on Energy North was not made until May 6, 1998. On May 28, 1998, Olson filed the first amended class action complaint as a matter of right under Mass.R.Civ.P. 15(a), adding as defendants Paul Tabacco, Matthew Gaeta, Gaeta’s Auto Services, Inc., Gaeta Towing Services, Inc., Yacoub Aoude, Elias Aoude, Nabih Aoude, Quarry Automotive, Inc., Aoude Petroleum Corporation, and Khaista Rahman, dba Brockton Citgo. On June 2, 1998, Energy North filed a motion to dismiss the original complaint pursuant to Mass.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) on the grounds that each count of the complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. This Motion to Dismiss is. DENIED AS MOOT in view of the filing of the first amended class action complaint and the subsequent filing by Energy North of a motion to dismiss that first amended complaint.

On June 11, 1998, a separate class action complaint, Civil No. 98-02956, was filed in Middlesex County Superior Court by putative class representatives Ottavia Turner and William Mack against the defendants Gaeta Energy, Inc., Gaeta’s Auto Service, Inc., and Matthew Gaeta, making allegations similar to those in this case.

On July 30, 1998, the plaintiff Olson filed her motion for class certification. On that same date, motions to dismiss the first amended class action complaint were filed by Energy North and by Matthew Gaeta, Gaeta’s Automotive Services, Inc., and Gaeta Towing Services, Inc. (“the Gaeta defendants”). On August 17, defendants Paul Tabacco and Khaista Rahman filed separate motions to dismiss the first amended class action complaint. All these motions were heard together on September 16, 1998. At that hearing, plaintiffs attorney asked for leave to add class representatives in an attempt to cure problems of standing and typicality raised by the defendants. This Court granted leave to amend the first amended complaint in order to name additional plaintiffs who purchased gasoline from each of the defendants during the putative class period.

A second amended class action complaint was filed on October 20, 1998, adding the plaintiffs found on the caption above, including Ottavia Turner and William Mack, who had earlier filed their own class action complaint in Middlesex Superior Court. However, this second amended class action complaint went beyond the leave granted by the Court to add plaintiffs, and made at least four other significant changes to the complaint. First, it omitted as defendants Paul Tabacco and Khaista Rahman dba Brockton Citgo; in essence, the plaintiffs acted to dismiss them from the case. Since Tabacco and Rahman had filed motions to dismiss the complaint against them, the proper course would have been to file a stipulation of dismissal or to seek an order of this Court under Mass.R.Civ.P. 41(a). This Court construes the second amended complaint as, effectively, a motion to dismiss the defendants Tabacco and Rahman under Mass.R.Civ.P. 41(a)(2). In the absence of any objection by the defendants Tabacco and Rahman to the filing of the second amended complaint, this Court ALLOWS the plaintiffs’ motion to dismiss Tabacco and Rahman, and dismisses the action against them without prejudice.1 In view of the dismissal of the action against Tabacco and Rahman, the Motions to Dismiss brought by Tabacco and Rahman are DENIED AS MOOT.

Second, it added two defendants — Kenneth Black and Gaeta Energy, Inc. The latter was a defendant in the related Middlesex action; the former has not been a defendant in either case.

Third, it sought to extend the class period from January 1, 1994 through the present to January 1, 1990 through the present. Perhaps in support of this attempt to expand the class period, the second amended complaint also added an allegation of fraudulent concealment.

Fourth, it added a fourth cause of action, alleging a breach of the implied warranty of merchantability. This cause of action had been pleaded in the Middlesex action.

On November 3, 1998, the plaintiffs moved to consolidate the two class actions. On that same date, Energy North and the Gaeta defendants moved to strike the second amended complaint to the extent that it exceeded the addition of plaintiffs allowed by my order.

[496]*496I will address the motion to strike the second amended complaint and to consolidate the two class action complaints first.

I. The Motion by Energy North and the Gaeta Defendants to Strike the Second Amended Complaint

Once responsive pleadings have been served (as they have here), a plaintiff may amend her complaint only by leave of court or with the written consent of the adverse party. Mass.R.Civ.P. 15(a). Plaintiff Olson, orally at the hearing on September 16, 1998 and in writing on September 18, sought leave only to amend the first amended complaint for the purpose of adding plaintiffs who purchased gasoline from each of the defendants during the class period, and this Court granted leave only for that purpose. As detailed above, however, when the second amended complaint was filed, it went well beyond the addition of new plaintiffs. The plaintiffs’ decision to take this liberty was unfortunate, since it generates confusion in the record as to the status of the second amended class action complaint. This Court is well aware that leave to amend “shall be freely given when justice so requires.” Mass.R.Civ.P. 15(a). Yet, even if leave to amend ultimately may be in the interests of justice, it may not be presumed without being asked for and granted. Here, leave to amend has not yet even been requested or allowed beyond the addition of new plaintiffs.

Therefore, the Motion to Strike the second amended class action is ALLOWED, except with respect to the addition of new plaintiffs and the allegations that pertain to the addition of those new plaintiffs. To avoid the confusion which has been engendered, the plaintiffs shall file with the Court within 14 days of this Order a revised second amended class action complaint that includes only the addition of new plaintiffs, the allegations that pertain to the addition of those new plaintiffs, and the dismissal of Tabacco and Rah-man from the case. If the plaintiffs wish to amend their complaint to add Black and Gaeta Energy, Inc.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
9 Mass. L. Rptr. 494, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/olson-v-energy-north-inc-masssuperct-1999.