Douglas v. Talk America, Inc.
Douglas v. Talk America, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
PROCEEDINGS: ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO COMPEL DEFENDANT’S RESPONSES TO PLAINTIFF’S INTERROGATORIES SET TWO
On January 27, 2010, plaintiff filed a notice of motion and motion to compel defendant’s responses to plaintiffs interrogatories set two, a joint stipulation, and the supporting declaration of Kiley Lynn Grombacher with exhibits. On January 27, 2010, defendant filed the opposing declaration of Paul R. Gwilt with exhibits, and on February 3, 2010, plaintiff filed his supplemental memorandum and the supplemental declaration of Kiley Lynn Grombacher with exhibit. Oral argument was held on February 17, 2010.
BACKGROUND
On June 16, 2006, plaintiff Joe Douglas filed his initial complaint, and - on August 14, 2006, he filed his First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) against defendant Talk America, Inc., on behalf of himself and on behalf of a putative class, raising the following claims: (1) violation of the Federal Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. § 201; (2) declaratory relief under the Declaratory Relief Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201, et seq.; (3) breach of contract; (4) violation of the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, Civil Code §§ 1750, et seq.; and (5) unfair competition in violation of California Business & Professions Code §§ 17200, et seq. The gravamen of plaintiffs complaint is that defendant, a telecommunications corporation with its principal place of business in Pennsylvania, engaged in unfair, deceptive and misleading practices by billing consumers for undisclosed or inadequately disclosed non-governmental surcharges, specifically the “Inter-LATA Direct Dial Fee,” “Monthly Billing Fee” and “TSR Administration Fee,” and failed to fully and adequately disclose to consumers that it would be assessing and collecting these surcharges if they contracted with defendant for telephone service. FAC at 2:8-17, FAC ¶¶ 5, 9-12. Plaintiff defines the class he seeks to represent as:
all residents of the United States of America who, at any time during the two-year period of time predating the filing of the original Complaint in this action, were charged and have paid the “Inter-LATA Direct Dial Fee,” the “Monthly Billing Fee” or the “TSR Administrative Fee[].”
FAC ¶ 13. Plaintiff further defines the subclass he seeks to represent as:
all residents of the State of California who, at any time during the four-year period of time predating the filing of the original Complaint in this action, were charged and have paid the “Inter-LATA Direct Dial Fee,” the “Monthly Billing Fee” or the “TSR Administrative Fee [ ].”
Id. Plaintiff seeks compensatory damages and prejudgment interest, a declaration that defendant’s practice of failing to disclose or making incomplete disclosures to consumers regarding the three non-governmental fees is unjust, unreasonable and unlawful, an order mandating defendant make full disclosures of the non-governmental fees, disgorgement and restitution to plaintiff and members of the California subclass for monies wrongfully obtained and retained, punitive damages, reasonable attorney’s fees, and other relief.
On October 20, 2006, District Judge Gary A. Feess granted defendant’s motion to compel arbitration and stayed this action. (Docket no. 28). The plaintiff then filed a petition for writ of mandamus in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals challenging Judge Feess’s decision, and the Ninth Circuit granted the petition in a published opinion filed July 18, 2007. (Docket no. 57); Douglas v. United States Dist. Court for the Cent. Dist. of Cal., 495 F.3d 1062 (9th Cir. 2007) (per curiam), cert, denied, 552 U.S. 1242, 128 S.Ct. 1472, 170 L.Ed.2d 296 (2008).
On October 1, 2008, plaintiff filed a motion for class certification, which Judge Feess denied on March 10, 2009. (Docket no. 76). In denying the motion for class certification, the district court relied, in part, on the Court of Appeals’ finding that plaintiff “is not bound by the CSA [Consumer Services Agreement] because he never agreed to the new terms” although they were posted on Talk America’s website; thus, the district court determined plaintiffs claim cannot be deemed typical of the class, many of whom “actually received notice of, and are bound by, the terms and conditions of the CSA....” (Id. at 6-7). At the same time, the district court determined that “the close business and personal relationship of [plaintiff] and [attorney David] Greifinger creates, at the least, an impression of impropriety and causes the Court to conclude Greifinger is not appropriate class counsel.” (Id. at 16 (footnote omitted)). Subsequently, Mr. Greifinger withdrew from the case. (Docket no. 87).
On July 24, 2009, plaintiff filed a motion for leave to file a second amended complaint (Docket no. 88), which “eliminates all contract-based claims and adds a claim for unjust enrichment” and, as such, “ ‘is intended to address and rectify each of the obstacles to class certification that the Court identified in its Class Certification Order.’ ”
DISCUSSION
The discovery dispute before this Court focuses on plaintiffs second set of interrogatories to defendant. Interrogatory nos. 13 through 16, all of which ask defendant to identify some of the putative class members by providing the names, last known residential addresses and e-mail addresses of certain California customers. Specifically, Interrogatory no. 13 asks defendant to identify 200 California residents (customers) who “contracted directly” with Talk America for long distance telephone service and, during
The Court, having considered the parties’ arguments, HEREBY DENIES plaintiffs motion to compel. Now that Judge Feess has denied plaintiffs motions for class certification and to file a second amended complaint, plaintiff seeks to use the discovery process to go “fishing” through defendant’s list of customers to find a new class representative who might be found suitable by the district court.
ORDER
Plaintiffs motion to compel defendant’s responses to Interrogatory nos. 13 through 16, second set, IS DENIED.
. The Court of Appeals noted:
This is the first time any federal court of appeals has considered whether to enforce a modified contract with a customer where the customer claims that the only notice of the changed terms consisted of posting the revised contract on the provider’s website. This issue is also of some significance, as it potentially affects the relationship of numerous service providers with millions of customers....
Douglas, 495 F.3d at 1069.
. The proposed second amended complaint "challenges only two fees imposed by Talk America—the Inter-LATA direct dial fee and the TSR Administration Fee. It identifies two classes—a class of California residents who paid the InterLATA direct dial fee and a class of California residents who pay the TSR Administrative fee.” (Docket no. 96 at 3).
. Defendant also objected that the terms "customer complaint” and "refers, references, or relates to” in Interrogatories nos. 15 and 16 are vague and ambiguous.
. The Court need not address the California cases plaintiff cites since those cases are not relevant to the issue currently before the Court.
. In light of this ruling, it is unnecessary for the Court to address defendant's other objections to plaintiff’s discovery.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Joe DOUGLAS, etc. v. TALK AMERICA, INC., etc.
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published