Patricia Toben v. Bridgestone Retail Operations

751 F.3d 888, 88 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1234, 2014 WL 1887367, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 8880
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedMay 13, 2014
Docket13-3329
StatusPublished
Cited by94 cases

This text of 751 F.3d 888 (Patricia Toben v. Bridgestone Retail Operations) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Patricia Toben v. Bridgestone Retail Operations, 751 F.3d 888, 88 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1234, 2014 WL 1887367, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 8880 (8th Cir. 2014).

Opinion

BENTON, Circuit Judge.

Patricia Toben filed a putative class action against Bridgestone Retail Operations, LLC for violating the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (MMPA). After limited discovery, Toben moved for class certification. Bridgestone moved for summary judgment. Toben moved to stay summary judgment pending merits discov *890 ery. The district court granted summary judgment. Toben appeals. Having jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, this court affirms.

I.

Bridgestone services cars and sells tires at stores in Missouri. In December 2007, Toberis daughter took Toberis vehicle to Bridgestone for tire replacement. Before service, the daughter signed an itemized estimate of charges, including a $1.20 shop supply fee — 6% of total labor charges. The fee was explained on in-store menu boards and placards:

TO OUR CUSTOMERS
A variety of shop supplies are consumed in servicing our customer’s vehicles. Parts and labor necessary for servicing customer’s vehicles are itemized on estimates and invoices. However, shop supplies (such as protective items for your vehicle, solvents, cleaners, rags, etc.) do not lend themselves to precise itemization. Therefore, on invoices greater than $80, an additional charge of 6% of the total labor amount, not to exceed $25 will be added to your invoice. This charge represents costs and profits. Non-mandated disposal or recycling charges may also represent costs and profits.

Bridgestone’s advertising said: “Shop supply charges in the amount of 6% of labor charges will be added to invoices greater than $30. These charges will not exceed $25 and represent costs and profits.” Neither Toben nor her daughter read the fee disclosures or discussed the fee with anyone at Bridgestone. At payment, the daughter signed an invoice which again disclosed the $1.20 shop supply fee.

Toben filed a class-action complaint alleging damages for violation of the MMPA (Count 1) and “money had in received” (Count 2). The crux of her complaint alleged that the shop supply fee is for profit, not supplies. Bridgestone moved to dismiss. The district court denied the motion:

The Court finds that the amended complaint satisfies the heightened pleading requirements of Rule 9(b). Plaintiff alleges that in 2007 she received services to her vehicle at the defendant’s facility in Manchester, Missouri. She alleges that the defendant charged her a “shop supply” fee which was not related to any supplies or services provided by defendant. Plaintiff also alleges that the defendant disguised the “shop supply” fee as a legitimate charge for providing supplies to its customers when in fact the fee is the defendant’s profit. The Court finds that these allegations sufficiently state the who, what, when, where, and how of defendant’s fraudulent conduct. Therefore, Count I will not be dismissed. Furthermore, plaintiff has properly pled Count II under Rule 8(c). To state a claim for money had and received, plaintiff must allege that (1) the defendant received or obtained possession of the plaintiffs money, (2) the defendant thereby appreciated a benefit, and (3) the defendant’s acceptance and retention of the benefit was unjust.... Here, plaintiff alleges that the defendant received her money, appreciated a benefit from her payment, and that defendant’s retention of the money was unjust in that the fee was misrepresented to plaintiff. Count II will also not be dismissed.

The parties submitted a joint scheduling plan that provided for “discovery related to class certification issues” before Toben’s motion for class certification. The plan said: “Parties agree that discovery that relates only to merit issues will not occur prior to a decision regarding class certification.” Consistent with the plan, the court issued a “Class Discovery and Certi *891 fication Case Management Order” for “the class-action discovery and certification phases of this case.”

During class discovery, Bridgestone provided information on calculating the shop supply fee and what materials it included:

INTERROGATORY NO. 8: Explain how you have been determining how much to charge each customer for the
Fee during the discovery time period. RESPONSE: Bridgestone Retail objects to this interrogatory on the grounds that is overly broad and unduly burdensome in that it seeks information on charges for each customer and is not limited to the State of Missouri. Without waiver of the foregoing objections, Bridgestone Retail states that when charged the Fee was generally based on 6% of eligible labor charges incurred on service transactions, subject to a maximum charge of $25. Within the State of the Missouri, the threshold for the minimum charges to be subject to the Fee and disclosed on work orders was increased from $30 to $35 in July 2010. The individual fees charged to individual customers also varied. Some, but fewer than all, customers paid the full Fee.
INTERROGATORY NO. 11: “Identify” any and all materials used in servicing and repair of vehicles that constitute “shop supplies” that have been included in your definition of Fee during the “discovery time period.”
RESPONSE: Bridgestone Retail objects to this interrogatory as being premature in that it seeks information regarding the merits of this litigation and will not assist in the determination of the class certification issues. Subject to and without waiving the foregoing objection, Bridgestone Retail states there is no exhaustive list or definition of materials that are specifically included in the shop supply fee as understood by Bridgestone Retail. The fee, however, was intended to include items such as: seat covers, steering wheel covers, floor covers, wheel covers, antifreeze, brake fluid, power steering fluid, transmission fluid, lubricants, brake kleen, brake cleaner & degreaser, rust penetrant, carburetor cleaner, plastic cleaner, JD-404 conditioner, brake washer fluid, shock clips, bleeder screws, drain plug gaskets, cotter pins, PVC grommets, hose tees, hose connectors, wire, wire ties, washers, screws, nuts, bolts, carburetor link clips, headlamp screws, wheel bearing grease, parts return bags, moly lube, air conditioning o-rings, a/c refrigerant oil, a/c service port caps, wipes, shop towels, wet start, slider gel lube, instant gasket blue, instant gasket black, instant gasket red, lug nuts standard, lug nuts capped, mise, fasteners, octosorb, acetylene, oxygen, scotch locks, white lube, gasket cement, die electric grease, silicone spray, thread sealer, disc brake shims, gasket sealer, brake silicone lube, disc brake anti-squeal spray, brake fluid test strips, sanding discs for rotors, grease, anti seize, spray lube, gasket remover, vacuum hose fittings, fuel line fittings, fuel line/ft, tire bead sealer, tire cement, and flat repair supplies. The fee was intended to cover a range of similar items, including but not limited to, substances, materials and small parts consumed or used in automotive servicing.

Bridgestone’s corporate representative testified during his deposition:

Q.

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751 F.3d 888, 88 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1234, 2014 WL 1887367, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 8880, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/patricia-toben-v-bridgestone-retail-operations-ca8-2014.