Peterson v. H & R Block Tax Services, Inc.

174 F.R.D. 78, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22671, 1997 WL 399307
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJuly 10, 1997
DocketNo. 96 C 6647
StatusPublished
Cited by41 cases

This text of 174 F.R.D. 78 (Peterson v. H & R Block Tax Services, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Peterson v. H & R Block Tax Services, Inc., 174 F.R.D. 78, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22671, 1997 WL 399307 (N.D. Ill. 1997).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

CASTILLO, District Judge.

This case centers on allegations that H & R Block defrauded its customers by inducing them to pay for tax-related services that Block knew they could not receive. In conjunction with its tax preparation business, Block offers something called a “Refund Anticipation Loan” (RAL), which provides the customer a relatively quick tax refund via a bank loan. Advertised as “Rapid Refund” the service was enticing to customers certain of an IRS IOU. But what Block allegedly failed to disclose to its customers is that individuals claiming an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) were ineligible for RAL. To crack down on EITC-associated fraud, the IRS held up returns claiming EITCs for weeks. Block allegedly knew that this would happen, but charged customers claiming EITCs for the RAL service anyway, scoring [81]*81a profit while its customers waited in vain for their “Rapid Refunds.”

This opinion addresses not the merits of these allegations, but rather whether they support litigating this case as a class action.1 Peterson has filed a motion for class certification under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,2 proposing a class comprised of all Illinois residents who paid for Block’s RAL services, claimed an EITC on their federal income tax returns for the 1994 tax year or later, and were presented with a document (the RAL “Fact Sheet”) explaining the RAL service and Block’s obligations. For the reasons that follow, Peterson’s motion is granted.3 The class is certified as defined in the complaint.

LEGAL STANDARDS

Peterson bears the burden of establishing that certification is appropriate under Fed. R.Civ.P. 23, and we accept her well-pled allegations in support of the motion as true. Retired Chicago Police Ass’n v. City of Chicago, 7 F.3d 584, 596 (7th Cir.1993), Hardin v. Harshbarger, 814 F.Supp. 703, 706 (N.D.Ill.1993). Rule 23 prescribes a two-step analysis. First, the plaintiff must meet all four requirements of Rule 23(a): (1) the class must be so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable (“numerosity”); (2) questions of law or fact must be common to the class (“commonality”); (3) the claims or defenses of the representatives must be typical of the claims or defenses of the class (“typicality”), and (4) the representatives must be able to fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class (“adequacy of representation”). Failure to meet any one of these elements precludes certification. Retired Chicago Police, 7 F.3d at 596. Second, the plaintiff must satisfy one of three conditions set out in Rule 23(b) Amchem Prods., Inc. v. Windsor, — U.S. -, -, 117 S.Ct. 2231, 2245, 138 L.Ed.2d 689 (1997). Peterson seeks certification under Rule 23(b)(3), which requires that questions of law or fact common to class members predominate over questions affecting only individual members, and that a class action be superior to other available methods of fair and efficient adjudication. Id. Block opposes Peterson’s motion for class certification, arguing that, except for numerosity, Peterson fails all of Rule 23’s requirements.

ANALYSIS

1. Numerosity

The parties do not contest numerosity, and independent review shows that Peterson easily meets this requirement. Rule 23(a)(1) requires that the class be “so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable.” If the exact size of the class is unknown, “[t]he court is entitled to make common sense assumptions in order to support a finding of numerosity.” Patrykus v. Gomilla, 121 F.R.D. 357, 360 (N.D.Ill.1988), see In re VMS Sec. Litig., 136 F.R.D. 466, 473 (N.D.Ill.1991) (same). Peterson alleges that Block processed 2,325,000 RALs in 1995, and that Illinois customers accounted for about 5% of that number (approximately 115,000) Amd. Cmplt. f f 40. Although these figures are not adjusted to reflect persons claiming EITCs, common sense tells us that the class is large enough to make joinder impracticable and to satisfy numerosity. See 2 Newberg On Class Actions § 722.A (2d ed.1992) (when general knowledge or common sense tells court that class is large, “the court will take judicial notice of this fact and will assume joinder is impracticable.”).

[82]*82II. Commonality and Predominance

Normally, the court first addresses all four Rule 23(a) requirements before moving on to discuss whether the plaintiff can satisfy 23(b). In this case, however, the parties have addressed 23(a)(2)’s command that the class share common legal or factual issues together with 23(b)(3)’s requirement that these common issues predominate over individual members’ concerns. In addition, our analysis of predominance disposes of several arguments that Block raises in attempt to defeat Peterson’s support for the remaining class certification requirements under 23(a). As such, we will first analyze commonality and predominance together, then discuss the rest of the 23(a) requisites, and finally address the remaining aspect of Rule 23(b)(3).

Rule 23(a)(2) requires that the class members share common questions of law or fact. This element is usually satisfied when a common nucleus of operative facts unites the class. Rosario v. Livaditis, 963 F.2d 1013, 1018 (7th Cir.1992) (citing Franklin v. City of Chicago, 102 F.R.D. 944, 949-50 (N.D.Ill.1984)). The presence of some factual variations among class members’ experiences will not defeat commonality. Id. at 1017 Peterson need only show that there is “at least one question of law or fact common to the class.” In re VMS Sec. Litig., 136 F.R.D. at 473. Should we find the commonality requirement met, we next ask, under Rule 23(b)(3), whether the common questions of fact or law predominate over issues affecting only individual members.

A. Commonality

Block does not seriously contend that the class members share no common legal or factual issues. Instead, Block devotes most of its time to arguing that common issues do not predominate. We, too, decline to belabor commonality because it is easily met here. Courts have consistently found a common nucleus of operative facts when the defendants are alleged to have directed standardized conduct toward the putative class members, Chandler v. Southwest Jeep-Eagle, Inc., 162 F.R.D. 302, 308 (N.D.Ill.1995) (citations omitted), or where the class claims arise out of standard documents, Haroco, Inc. v. American Nat’l Bank & Trust Co., 121 F.R.D. 664, 669 (N.D.Ill.1988) (citations omitted) (claims arising out of standard documents present a “classic case for treatment as a class action”); Franklin v. City of Chicago, 102 F.R.D. 944, 949 (N.D.Ill.1984) (finding class certification appropriate where plaintiff challenged city police department’s standard method of transporting all arrestees). Here, Block’s standardized conduct lies at the heart of every single claim in the complaint.

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Bluebook (online)
174 F.R.D. 78, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22671, 1997 WL 399307, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peterson-v-h-r-block-tax-services-inc-ilnd-1997.