Taylor v. Fred's, Inc.

285 F. Supp. 3d 1247
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Alabama
DecidedFebruary 2, 2018
DocketCase No.: 2:17–CV–0495–VEH
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 285 F. Supp. 3d 1247 (Taylor v. Fred's, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Taylor v. Fred's, Inc., 285 F. Supp. 3d 1247 (N.D. Ala. 2018).

Opinion

VIRGINIA EMERSON HOPKINS, United States District Judge

I. Introduction

Plaintiff Tiffany Taylor ("Ms. Taylor") initiated this purported class action arising under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 ("FACTA"), 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(g), an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681 - 1681x, against Defendants Fred's, Inc. and Fred's Stores of Tennessee, Inc. (collectively "Fred's") on March 29, 2017. (Doc. 1). On May 24, 2017, Ms. Taylor filed a First Amended Class Action Complaint (the "FAC"). (Doc. 29).

Pending before the Court is Fred's Motion To Dismiss Plaintiff's First Amended Class Action Complaint (doc. 32) (the "Motion") filed on June 7, 2017. Fred's brings this Motion pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) and Rule 12(b)(6). The Court has reviewed the parties' filings offered in support of and opposition to the Motion. (Docs. 32-1, 34, 35, 45, 46, 48, 55). For the reasons set out below, the Motion is due to be granted in part and otherwise termed as moot.

II. Standards

A. Rule 12(b)(1) Generally

As the Eleventh Circuit has explained the standard on motions to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction:

Attacks on subject matter jurisdiction under FED. R. CIV. P. 12(b)(1) come in two forms. "Facial attacks" on the complaint "require[ ] the court merely to look and see if [the] plaintiff has sufficiently alleged a basis of subject matter jurisdiction, and the allegations in his complaint are taken as true for the purposes of the motion." Menchaca v. Chrysler Credit Corp. , 613 F.2d 507, 511 (5th Cir.), cert. denied , 449 U.S. 953, 101 S.Ct. 358, 66 L.Ed. 2d 217 (1980) (citing Mortensen v. First Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n , 549 F.2d 884, 891 (3d Cir. 1977) ). "Factual attacks," on the other hand, challenge "the existence of subject matter jurisdiction in fact, irrespective of the pleadings, and matters outside the pleadings, such as testimony and affidavits, are considered." Id.
These two forms of attack differ substantially. On a facial attack, a plaintiff is afforded safeguards similar to those provided in opposing a Rule 12(b)(6) motion-the court must consider the allega *1250tions of the complaint to be true. Williamson v. Tucker , 645 F.2d 404, 412 (5th Cir.), cert. denied , 454 U.S. 897, 102 S.Ct. 396, 70 L.Ed. 2d 212 (1981). But when the attack is factual,
the trial court may proceed as it never could under 12(b)(6) or FED. R. CIV. P. 56. Because at issue in a factual 12(b)(1) motion is the trial court's jurisdiction-its very power to hear the case-there is substantial authority that the trial court is free to weigh the evidence and satisfy itself as to the existence of its power to hear the case. In short, no presumptive truthfulness attaches to plaintiff's allegations, and the existence of disputed material facts will not preclude the trial court from evaluating for itself the merits of jurisdictional claims.
Id. at 412-13 (quoting Mortensen , 549 F.2d at 891 ).

Lawrence v. Dunbar , 919 F.2d 1525, 1528-29 (11th Cir. 1990) (emphasis added); see also Williamson v. Tucker , 645 F.2d 404, 413 (5th Cir. 1981) ("The district court consequently has the power to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction on any one of three separate bases: (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.").1

Here, the jurisdictional attack is facial. (See Doc. 32 at 1 ("[T]hough Plaintiff has filed an amended complaint, Plaintiff continues to fail to plead injury-in-fact as required by Article III of the U.S. Constitution.") ). Consequently, the Court has accepted all allegations contained in Ms. Taylor's FAC as true.

B. General Principles Governing Standing

"The Constitution limits the exercise of the judicial power to cases and controversies." Church of Scientology Flag Serv. Org., Inc. v. City of Clearwater , 777 F.2d 598, 604 (11th Cir. 1985). "The Art. III doctrine that requires a litigant to have 'standing' to invoke the power of a federal court is perhaps the most important of these doctrines [that pertain to the case-or-controversy requirement]. 'In essence the question of standing is whether the litigant is entitled to have the court decide the merits of the dispute or of particular issues.' " Allen v. Wright , 468 U.S. 737

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