Robinson v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

253 F.R.D. 396, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83244, 2008 WL 4405184
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Mississippi
DecidedSeptember 12, 2008
DocketCivil Action No. 3:07-cv-125-WHB-LRA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 253 F.R.D. 396 (Robinson v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Robinson v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 253 F.R.D. 396, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83244, 2008 WL 4405184 (S.D. Miss. 2008).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

WILLIAM H. BARBOUR, Jr., District Judge.

This cause is before the Court on the second Motion of Defendant, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., to Dismiss the Complaint or to Strike the Class Action Allegations or, in the Alternative, to Sever. The Court has considered the Motion, Response, Rebuttal, Amended Complaint, as well as supporting and opposing authorities and finds that the Motion should be granted in part and denied in part, with caveats as discussed below.

I. Factual Background and Procedural History

On March 5, 2007, Plaintiffs, who comprise two hundred and eighty-nine current and former employees of Defendant, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (‘Wal-Mart”), filed a class action law suit in this Court alleging:

During their employment, Plaintiffs were required to work hours off the clock for which they were not paid in violation of [398]*398Wal-Mart’s contractual obligations and the laws of the State of Mississippi. Plaintiffs were also required to work through their rest and meal breaks in violation of Mississippi law and in breach of Wal-Mart’s contractual agreement to provide them.

See Compl., at 114. Through the Complaint, Plaintiffs sought to certify a class comprised of “all current and former hourly-paid employees of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., in the State of Mississippi that were employed from May 28, 1999 until the present.” Id., at H 26. Based on the conduct alleged above, the Class sought compensatory and punitive damages on claims of (1) breach of contract, which arise from allegations that they were required to work off-the-clock and denied rest and meal breaks; and (2) conversion, which arise from allegations that “Wal-Mart has in its possession the personal property (earned and unpaid wages and working time) of the Plaintiffs and the Class.” Id., at HIT 41-52.

On November 15, 2007, on Motion of WalMart, the Court entered an Opinion and Order finding that it could not exercise subject matter jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ Complaint because they had failed to allege citizenship as required to establish diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. See Opinion and Order, Docket No. 11. Through that same Opinion and Order, Plaintiffs were granted leave to amend their Complaint to cure the jurisdictional defect contained therein.

On November 28, 2007, United States Magistrate Judge Linda R. Anderson granted Plaintiffs leave to file an Amended Complaint in accordance with the prior Opinion and Order of this Court. On December 6, 2007, Plaintiffs filed a Motion to Amend Complaint, attaching thereto their Amended Complaint. The allegations in the Amended Complaint are virtually identical to those in the original Complaint. Wal-Mart now moves for dismissal of the Amended Complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and again seeks dismissal of Plaintiffs’ conversion and class action allegations pursuant to Rules 12(b)(6), 12(b)(f) and/or 23(d)(4). In the alternative to dismissal, Wal-Mart moves for severance of the named Plaintiffs in this case.

II. Legal Analysis

A. Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction1

Wal-Mart moves for dismissal of Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint on the basis that the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction. It is well settled that a lawsuit must be dismissed if “the court lacks the statutory or constitutional power to adjudicate the case.” See Home Builders Ass’n of Miss., Inc. v. City of Madison, 143 F.3d 1006, 1010 (5th Cir.1998). In cases in which a Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is filed, the party seeking to litigate in federal court bears the burden of establishing jurisdiction. Ramming v. United States, 281 F.3d 158, 161 (5th Cir.2001). A “[l]ack of subject matter jurisdiction may be found in any one of three instances: (1) the complaint alone; (2) the complaint supplemented by undisputed facts evidenced in the record; or (3) the complaint supplemented by undisputed facts plus the court’s resolution of disputed facts.” Id. (citing Barrera-Montenegro v. United States, 74 F.3d 657, 659 (5th Cir. 1996)). “A motion under 12(b)(1) should be granted only if it appears certain that the plaintiff cannot prove any set of facts in support of his claim that would entitle him to relief.” Home Builders Ass’n of Miss., 143 F.3d at 1010.

In the case sub judice, Plaintiffs allege that this Court may properly exercise subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d). This statute provides, in relevant part:

(d)(2) The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action in which the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $5,000,000, exclusive of interest and costs, and is a class action in which— [399]*399(A) any member of a class of plaintiffs is a citizen of a State different from any defendant ...

28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(2)(A). Wal-Mart does not dispute whether the diversity requirement of 1332(d)(2)(A) has been satisfied, but does dispute whether the amount in controversy requirement has been satisfied.

In support of their claim that the amount in controversy is satisfied, Plaintiffs argue that the putative class in this case is likely comprised of over 80,000 claimants. See Resp. [Docket No. 15], at 7. This argument is based on a presumption that Wal-Mart employed 25,240 in Mississippi on May 2, 2007, and the putative class would also include employees who had previously worked at Wal-Mart from 1999 to present. Based on this figure, Plaintiffs argue that each class member’s claim would only need to equal $62.50 to satisfy the $5,000,000 jurisdictional requirement. Plaintiffs further argue that as other plaintiffs have each been awarded $420.00 in compensatory damages on claims similar to those alleged in this lawsuit, see Resp. at Ex. 3, and further as the claimants in this ease also seek punitive damages, that each class member’s claim would easily exceed the $62.50 necessary to satisfy the $5,000,000 jurisdictional requirement.

In support of its argument that the jurisdictional amount in controversy is not satisfied, Wal-Mart first argues that if Plaintiffs’ conversion claim is dismissed pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), they could not recover on that claim and would also be precluded from recovering punitive damages in this ease. The Court finds that this argument lacks merit as it is contrary to the long-established rule that: “Events occurring subsequent to the institution of suit which reduce the amount recoverable below the statutory limit do not oust jurisdiction.” St. Paul Mercury Indem. Co. v.

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253 F.R.D. 396, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83244, 2008 WL 4405184, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robinson-v-wal-mart-stores-inc-mssd-2008.