Schojan v. Papa Johns International, Inc.

303 F.R.D. 659, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 173555, 2014 WL 7178102
District Court, M.D. Florida·Decided December 16, 2014·No. Case No. 8:14-cv-1218-T-33MAP·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

ORDER

VIRGINIA M. HERNANDEZ COVINGTON, District Judge.

This cause comes before the Court for consideration of Plaintiffs, Bruce Schojan, Sean Timmons, and Christopher Tollerton’s Motion for Class Certification (Doc. #60) filed on October 16, 2014. Defendant Papa John’s International, Inc. and Papa John’s USA, Inc. (“Papa John’s”) filed a response in opposition (Doe. # 68) on November 18, 2014. Upon due consideration and for the reasons set forth below, Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification is granted.

I. Background

Plaintiffs filed this putative class action in state court on March 28, 2014, alleging that Papa John’s negligently misrepresented a sales tax for food delivered to customers that included a sales tax on the Papa John’s delivery fee. (Doc. # 2 at ¶ 40). Furthermore, Plaintiffs claim that Papa John’s charged and collected excess sales tax on delivery fees charged to its customers in violation of Florida law. (Id.). Specifically, Plaintiffs allege that Papa John’s included in the base amount upon which the tax was calculated a $3.00 delivery fee that Plaintiffs claim is exempt from taxation under Florida law because it is not “part of the [relevant pizza] sale[s].” (Doe. # 15 at 2).

Papa John’s removed the ease to this Court on May 22, 2014, under the Class Action Fairness Act. (Doc. # 1). On June 11, 2014, Plaintiffs filed an unopposed motion to extend the time to file a motion for class certification. (Doc. # 13). This Court granted the motion in part and extended the deadline to September 15, 2014. (Doc. # 14). Thereafter, on June 13, 2014, Papa John’s moved to dismiss or alternatively stay this action “because the relief sought—a refund of a purported sales tax overcharge—is barred by section 213.756, Florida Statutes, by the voluntary payment doctrine, and because Plaintiffs failed to exhaust their administrative remedies with the Florida Department of Revenue.” (Doc. # 14).

This Court denied Papa John’s motion to dismiss on July 23, 2014, and directed Papa John’s to file a response to the Complaint. (Doc. #34). On September 15, 2014, the parties filed agreed motions to seal the motion for summary judgment and motion for class certification. (Doe. ##50, 51). The Court denied the parties’ request to seal documents and directed the motions be filed on the open record. (Doc. # 48). Plaintiffs then filed their motion to certify class on September 30, 2014. (Doc. # 57). That motion was denied without prejudice when this Court granted Plaintiffs leave to amend their Complaint and directed that the motion to certify class could be refiled in conjunction with the new complaint. (Doc. # 58).

Plaintiffs filed the Second Amended Complaint on October 6, 2014. (Doc. # 59). The Motion to certify class, which is presently before this Court, was filed on October 16, 2014. (Doe. # 60). Papa John’s requested an extension of time to respond to the Motion until and including November 17, 2014, which this Court granted. (Doc. ## 63, 64). Papa John’s filed its response in opposition to the Motion on November 18, 2014. (Doc. # 68).

II. Legal Standard

A district court has broad discretion in determining whether to certify a class. Washington v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., 959 F.2d 1566, 1569 (11th Cir.1992); Griffin v. Carlin, 755 F.2d 1516, 1531 (11th Cir.1985). As explained in Valley Drug Co. v. Geneva Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 350 F.3d 1181, 1187 (11th Cir.2003), Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 “establishes the legal roadmap courts must follow when determining whether class certification is appropriate.” Under Rule 23(a), a class may be certified only if:

(1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable;
[664]*664(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.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a). The burden of proof to establish the propriety of class certification rests with the advocate of the class, and failure to establish any one of the four Rule 23(a) factors and at least one of the alternative requirements of Rule 23(b) precludes class certification. Amchem Prods., Inc. v. Windsor, 521 U.S. 591, 613-14, 117 S.Ct. 2231, 138 L.Ed.2d 689 (1997).

This Court must conduct a rigorous analysis of the Rule 23 prerequisites before certifying a class. Gen. Tel. Co. of the S.W. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 161, 102 S.Ct. 2364, 72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982). “Although the trial court should not determine the merits of the plaintiffs’ claim at the class certification stage, the trial court can and should consider the merits of the case to the degree necessary to determine whether the requirements of Rule 23 will be satisfied.” Valley Drug Co., 350 F.3d at 1188, n. 15; see also Coopers & Lybrand v. Livesay, 437 U.S. 463, 469, 98 S.Ct. 2454, 57 L.Ed.2d 351 (1978) (“The class determination generally involves considerations that are enmeshed in the factual and legal issues comprising the plaintiffs cause of action____The more complex determinations required in Rule 23(b)(3) class actions entail even greater entanglement with the merits.”) (internal citations omitted).

III. Analysis

A. Rule 23(a) Requirements

Before a class can be certified through one of the provisions of Rule 23(b), it must first satisfy several prerequisites: (1) numerosity; (2) commonality; (3) typicality; and (4) adequate representation. See Buford v. H & R Block, Inc., 168 F.R.D. 340, 347 (S.D.Ga. 1996) (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a)).

Under Rule 23(a), a class may be certified only if (1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members would be impracticable; (2) there are questions of fact and law common to the class; (3) the claims or defenses of the representatives are typical of the claims and defenses of the unnamed members; and (4) the named representatives will be able to represent the interests of the class adequately and fairly. “Failure to establish any one of these four factors and at least one of the alternative requirements of Rule 23(b) precludes class certification.” Valley Drug Co., 350 F.3d at 1188.

1. Numerosity

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Schojan v. Papa Johns International, Inc., 303 F.R.D. 659, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 173555, 2014 WL 7178102 (M.D. Fla. 2014).

303 F.R.D. 659 (Schojan v. Papa Johns International, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Dix v. RCSH Operations, LLC
M.D. Florida, 2020