Vaszlavik v. Storage Technology Corp.

183 F.R.D. 264, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17940, 1998 WL 790556
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedNovember 9, 1998
DocketCiv.A. No. 95-B-2525
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 183 F.R.D. 264 (Vaszlavik v. Storage Technology Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vaszlavik v. Storage Technology Corp., 183 F.R.D. 264, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17940, 1998 WL 790556 (D. Colo. 1998).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

BABCOCK, District Judge.

Plaintiffs, all former employees of defendant Storage Technology Corporation (Storage Tek), assert claims for wrongful discharge and for violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq. (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. (ADA). Plaintiffs submit a second motion to certify an ERISA class action under Fed.R.Civ.P. 23. After consideration of the second motion, briefs, and counsels’ arguments at the November 6, 1997 hearing, I will grant the second motion to certify an ERISA class action.

I.

Storage Tek, headquartered in Louisville, Colorado, produces high technology computer equipment. Plaintiffs allege in their Sixth Amended Complaint that layoffs of Colorado workers were based on age and Storage Tek’s perception of Plaintiffs’ use or anticipated use of company benefits, such as the self-funded medical plan. At a previous hearing, Plaintiffs limited the relevant period to between April 13,1993, and December 31, 1996. Plaintiffs claimed violations, inter alia, of the ADEA and ERISA and sought certification of a class of plaintiffs for each claim.

[266]*266On November 26, 1997, I issued an order (1997 Order) granting the Plaintiffs’ motion to certify an ADEA collective action. Vasz-lavik v. Storage Technology Corp., 175 F.R.D. 672 (D.Colo.1997). Also, I denied, without prejudice, plaintiffs’ Motion to Certify an ERISA Class Action and stated that I “[would] permit Plaintiffs to submit a second motion for certification of an ERISA class.... ” Id. at 685.

II.

A. CLASS CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO FED.R.CPV.P. 23

Plaintiffs seek certification of a class pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 23 for violation of ERISA. Plaintiffs each request that they be designated as representatives of the ERISA class. ERISA, 29 U.S.C. § 1140 (section 510) prohibits:

any person to discharge, fine, suspend, expel, discipline, or discriminate against a participant or beneficiary for exercising any right to which he is entitled under the provisions of an employee benefit plan ... or for the purpose of interfering with the attainment of any right to which such participant may become entitled.

To establish a prima facie case of ERISA benefits discrimination, plaintiffs must demonstrate: “(1) prohibited employer conduct; (2) taken for the purpose of interfering; (3) with the attainment of any right to which the employee may become entitled.” Maez v. Mountain States Tel. and Tel., Inc., 54 F.3d 1488, 1504 (10th Cir.1995) (quoting Gavalik v. Continental Can Co., 812 F.2d 834, 852 (3rd Cir.1987)). Plaintiffs seek to represent the proposed class only to the extent their claim is based on a pattern and practice of discrimination, which is subject to the bifurcated approach of International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977)”. See also Gavalik, supra. If the representative plaintiffs show a pattern and practice of discrimination in phase one of the trial, the class members are entitled to a presumption that they were individually discriminated against.

As outlined in my 1997 Order, generally, Plaintiffs allege the following. From April 13, 1993, through December 31, 1996, Storage Tek engaged in corporate strategic planning which identified as a major corporate financial problem the high cost of employees with health problems or potential health problems. Id. at 682; Sixth Am.Comp. H 22. Based upon these concerns, Storage Tek engaged in a pattern and practice of benefits discrimination, through its layoffs, which resulted in the unlawful termination of thousands of employees. Sixth Am.Comp. 111127, 29-40. For example, the named plaintiffs allege they were laid off for a variety of reasons relating to health-care costs, including age, personal illness, illness of an insured family member, etc. In general, Storage Tek treated employees who were not perceived as placing a burden on the company’s benefits plans more favorably than those who were perceived as placing a burden on the company’s benefits plans. Sixth Am.Comp. UH 29^2.

1. Legal Standards for Class Certification under Fed.R.Civ.P. 23

Rule 23 sets forth a two-part test for the maintenance of a class action. First, plaintiffs must satisfy the four prerequisites of Rule 23(a). Second, one of the three subsections of Rule 23(b) must also be satisfied. Plaintiffs bear the burden of demonstrating that all the prerequisites for class designation are met. Rex v. Owens, 585 F.2d 432, 435 (10th Cir.1978). Class action certification is discretionary with the trial court judge, Anderson v. City of Albuquerque, 690 F.2d 796, 799 (10th Cir.1982), and may be altered, expanded, subdivided or abandoned as the case develops. See Daigle v. Shell Oil Co., 133 F.R.D. 600 (D.Colo.1990); Dubin v. Miller, 132 F.R.D. 269, 270-75 (D.Colo.1990). Because of the flexible nature of class certification, I am to favor the procedure. Esplin v. Hirschi, 402 F.2d 94, 99 & 101 (10th Cir.1968), cert. denied, 394 U.S. 928, 89 S.Ct. 1194, 22 L.Ed.2d 459 (1969). I will certify, however, only after rigorous analysis of the Rule 23(a) prerequisites. General Tel. Co. of Southwest v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 161, 102 S.Ct. 2364, 72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982); Reed v. Bowen, 849 F.2d 1307, 1309 (10th Cir.1988).

[267]*267B. PREVIOUS MOTION FOR ERISA RULE 23 CLASS CERTIFICATION

In the 1997 Order, I noted that the Teamsters bifurcation of liability and remedy, adopted by this Court in certifying this ADEA collective action, has also been adopted in the context of ERISA class action. See Gavalik, 812 F.2d at 858-63. (Teamsters bifurcation of liability and remedy applicable to pattern and practice class action under ERISA § 510).

In their initial motion for ERISA Rule 23 class certification, Plaintiffs proposed the following ERISA class definition:

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183 F.R.D. 264, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17940, 1998 WL 790556, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vaszlavik-v-storage-technology-corp-cod-1998.