Seaberg v. Atlas Roofing Corp.

321 F.R.D. 430
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedJune 9, 2017
DocketMDL DOCKET NO. 2495 1:13-md-2495-TWT; CIVIL ACTION FILE NO. 1:14-CV-3179-TWT
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 321 F.R.D. 430 (Seaberg v. Atlas Roofing Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Seaberg v. Atlas Roofing Corp., 321 F.R.D. 430 (N.D. Ga. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

THOMAS W. THRASH, JR., United States District Judge

This is a multi-district class action arising out of the marketing and sale of allegedly defective roofing shingles. It is before the Court on the Plaintiff Penny Seaberg’s Motion for Class Certification [Doc. 39], For the reasons set forth below, the Plaintiffs Motion for Class Certification [Doc. 39] is DENIED.

I. Background

The Plaintiff and putative class members are purchasers of Atlas Chalet and Stratford Shingles (“Shingles”).1 The Defendant Atlas Roofing Corporation (“Atlas”) designed, manufactured, and sold the Shingles.2 Atlas represented and continues to represent that the Shingles are durable, reliable, free from defects, and compliant with industry standards and building codes.3 The Plaintiff alleges that the Shingles were defective at the [436]*436time of sale due to a flaw in the manufacturing process.4 Specifically, the manufacturing process “permits moisture to intrude into the Shingle creating a gas bubble that permits blistering and cracking.”5 The Plaintiff further alleges that despite Atlas’s knowledge of the defect, Atlas did nothing to correct the defective design and continued to market and warrant the Shingles as durable.6

Atlas provided four different limited warranties throughout the eleven-year class period.7 The initial limited warranty was a twenty-five-year warranty, and it provided that the Shingles were “free from manufacturing defects, which would reduce the useful life of the product.”8 The warranty was transfeira-ble to future property owners.9 On January I, 2002, Atlas began issuing thirty-year limited warranties.10 The thirty-year warranty provided that the Shingles were “free from manufacturing defects, which results in leaks.”11 Atlas also limited the number of transfers of the warranty. For the thirty-year warranty, the coverage could only be transferred once and the second owner had to provide Atlas notice of the transfer of coverage.12

The named Plaintiff Penny Seaberg, who is a resident of Miami-Dade County, Florida, had the Shingles installed on her home in 2004.13 By 2012, the Plaintiff alleges that the Shingles “had lost their integrity, and had become porous and begun to leak.”14 As a result, the Plaintiffs roofers contacted Atlas on her behalf to report the Shingles’ deterioration.15 On January 8, 2013, Atlas offered $1,536.42 for a warranty settlement.16 The Plaintiff responded by arguing that the offer was not sufficient because the whole roof needed to be replaced,17 Atlas denied the Plaintiffs request.18 On July 1, 2014, the Plaintiff filed suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida 19 on behalf of herself and others similarly situated in the state of Florida.20 She seeks to bring her suit as a class action. Because similar consumer class actions were filed in other states, the Judicial Panel on Multidis-trict Litigation transferred all related class actions pending in federal court to this Court for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings.21

After the Motion to Dismiss stage, the Plaintiffs remaining claims in this class ac[437]*437tion are for violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (Count I) and breach of express warranty (Count I).22 The Plaintiff seeks both damages and equitable relief.23 As damages, the Plaintiff seeks the cost of replacing the Shingles, She proposes two methods for calculating the replacement costs. First, she states that a common formula that calculates replacement costs on a square foot basis could be employed, allowing class members to recover by merely showing the size of their roofs,24 This method accounts for the fact that “each class member’s damages are the expense of removing and discarding the defective shingles, including the cost of the replacement shingles plus all associated labor costs.”25 In the alternative, she proposes that individual class members can prove their actual replacement costs through a claims process.26

II. Class Certification Standard

To maintain a case as a class action, the party seeking class certification must satisfy each of the prerequisites of Rule 23(a) and at least one of the provisions of Rule 23(b),27 Rule 23(a) sets forth the four prerequisites to maintain any claim as a class action:

One or more members of a class may sue or be sued as representative parties on behalf of all members only if: (1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable; (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.28

These prerequisites are commonly referred to as: (1) numerosity, (2) commonality, (3) typicality, and (4) adequacy of representation.29 Failure to establish any one of the four factors precludes certification. In addition, under Rule 23(b), the individual plaintiffs must convince the Court that: (1) prosecuting separate actions by or against individual members of the class would create a risk of prejudice to the party opposing the class or to those members of the class not parties to the subject litigation; (2) the party opposing the class has refused to act on grounds that apply generally to the class, necessitating final injunctive or declaratory relief; or (3) questions of law or fact common to the members of the class predominate over any questions affecting only individual members and that a class action is superior to other available methods for fair and efficient adjudication of the controversy.30 The party seeking class certification bears the burden of proving that these requirements are satisfied.31

The decision to grant or deny class certification lies within the sound discretion of the district court.32 When considering the propriety of class certification, the court should not conduct a detailed evaluation of [438]*438the merits of the suit.33 Nevertheless, the court must perform a “rigorous analysis” of the particular facts and arguments asserted in support of class certification.34 Frequently, that “rigorous analysis” will entail some overlap with the merits of the plaintiffs underlying claim.35

III. Discussion

A. Rule 23(b)(3) class

1. Class Definition

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
321 F.R.D. 430, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/seaberg-v-atlas-roofing-corp-gand-2017.