Vaccariello v. XM Satellite Radio, Inc.

295 F.R.D. 62, 2013 WL 2896974, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83482
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJune 13, 2013
DocketNo. 08 Civ. 5336(RO)
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 295 F.R.D. 62 (Vaccariello v. XM Satellite Radio, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Vaccariello v. XM Satellite Radio, Inc., 295 F.R.D. 62, 2013 WL 2896974, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83482 (S.D.N.Y. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER

OWEN, District Judge:

Plaintiff Richard Vaccariello (“Plaintiff’) brings this action against Defendant XM Satellite Radio, Inc. (“Defendant”) under New York General Business Law § 349 (“GBL § 349”) and New York General Obligations Law § 5-903 (“GOL § 5-903”). Plaintiff asserts that Defendant, through its practice of automatically renewing customers’ subscriptions, violated GBL § 349 and was unjustly enriched, and also seeks injunctive relief mandating Defendant comply with GOL § 5-903’s notice provisions. Plaintiff seeks to certify a class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, consisting of “all residents of [66]*66the State of New York who subscribed to XM Satellite radio service and have had their service plan automatically renewed at any time since June 11,2005.”

Magistrate Judge George Yanthis issued a Report and Recommendation (the “Report”) in which he recommended that Plaintiffs motion for class certification be denied. For the reasons that follow, this Court concurs with the Report and hereby adopts it as the Order of this Court. Accordingly, Plaintiffs motion is DENIED.

BACKGROUND

The factual background is provided in further detail in the Report and Recommendation. Defendant XM provides subscription based satellite radio service through XM compatible automobiles, radios, and the internet. XM automatically renews the customer’s service for an identical term upon expiration of a subscription.

Plaintiff purchased a one-year XM subscription in April 2004 at the end of a three-month trial period following his leasing of a vehicle with a pre-installed XM radio. Approximately a year later, Plaintiff purchased a three-year subscription by telephone, and at around the same time, activated an XM online account allowing him to listen to satellite radio over the internet. In the process of activating this account online, Plaintiff checked a box indicating that he had read and that he accepted XM’s terms and conditions of service, which included, among other things, that “the term of this Agreement is indefinite and Services will continue until canceled.”

Plaintiffs subscription was renewed and Plaintiff thereafter received an invoice for an additional three year subscription. After receiving a past due notice a month later and then cancelling his subscription, Plaintiff paid a pro-rated bill for the cost of XM services for the time period between automatic renewal and cancellation.

Plaintiff asserts the following three causes of action: 1) that XM’s automatic renewal policy was a deceptive trade practice in violation of New York General Business Law (“GBL”) § 349(a). (Am.Comp. ¶ 34)1 and that XM violated New York General Obligations Law (“GOL”) § 5-903 by providing inadequate notice of its automatic renewal practice; 2) that XM was unjustly enriched by collecting subscription charges from customers whose services were automatically renewed (Id. ¶ 37); and 3) that Plaintiff is entitled to injunctive relief in the form of an injunction compelling XM to comply with GOL § 5-903’s notice provisions.

On April 4, 2011, Magistrate Judge Yanthis issued a Report and recommendation on (the “Report”), in which he recommended that Plaintiffs motion for class certification be denied, and issued an order staying discovery in this matter. (Docket Entry Nos. 106, 107). Plaintiff timely filed objections to the Report, and Defendant filed a reply to Plaintiffs objections. (Docket Entry No. 110-12.) This case was thereafter reassigned to this Court. (Docket Entry No. 113.)

DISCUSSION

The Report recommends that Plaintiffs motion for class certification be denied. First, the Report finds that Plaintiff lacks Article III standing and as such cannot certify a Rule 23(b)(2) injunctive class. The Report also recommends that Plaintiffs claims under GBL § 349 and for unjust enrichment are not amenable to class certification under Rule 23(b)(3) on the basis that the elements of the causes of action are not susceptible to class-wide proof because common evidence does not support Plaintiffs claims on a class-wide basis. The need for individual inquiries on multiple issues make class certification inappropriate in this action. Specifically, because proposed class members who requested, wanted, or assented to automatic renewal cannot recover for unjust enrichment, individual inquiries are required to assess injury and determine damages. The Report also found that class treatment is precluded by the individual inquiries necessary to determine which proposed class members entered into “cliekwrap” agreements. Furthermore, the Report found that individual defenses [67]*67Defendant could submit against individual class members preclude treatment as a class,

A. Standard of Review

United States Magistrate Judges hear dis-positive motions and make proposed findings of fact and recommendations, generally in the form of a Report and Recommendation. In reviewing a Report and Recommendation, a district court “may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate judge.” 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C).

A party may file “specific written objections,” Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b), to a Magistrate Judge’s proposed findings and recommendations, and in that case, the district court has an obligation to make a de novo determination as to those portions of the Report and Recommendation to which objections were made. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1); First Union Mortgage Corp., v. Smith, 229 F.3d 992, 995 (10th Cir.2000). A district court judge, in making such determination, has discretion in the weight placed on proposed findings and recommendations and may afford a degree of deference to the Report and Recommendation. See United States v. Raddatz, 447 U.S. 667, 676, 100 S.Ct. 2406, 65 L.Ed.2d 424 (1980). Objections to a Report and Recommendation are to be “specific and are to address only those portions of the proposed findings to which the party objects.” Camardo v. General Motors Hourly-Rate Employees Pension Plan, 806 F.Supp. 380, 381-82 (W.D.N.Y.1992). Objections that are “merely perfunctory responses argued in an attempt to engage the district court in a rehashing of the same arguments set forth in the original [papers] will not suffice to invoke de novo review.” See Vega v. Artuz, No. 97 Civ. 3775, 2002 WL 31174466, at *1, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18270 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 30, 2002).

Where no timely objection has been made by either party, a district court need only find that “there is no clear error on the face of the record” in order to accept the Report and Recommendation. Nelson v. Smith, 618 F.Supp. 1186, 1189 (S.D.N.Y. 1985). In the event a party’s objections are conclusory or general, or simply reiterate original arguments, the district court also reviews the Report and Recommendation for clear error.

B. Plaintiff’s Motion to Certify a Class

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295 F.R.D. 62, 2013 WL 2896974, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83482, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vaccariello-v-xm-satellite-radio-inc-nysd-2013.