Dickens ex rel. Estate v. GC Servs. Ltd.
Dickens ex rel. Estate v. GC Servs. Ltd.
Opinion of the Court
THIS CAUSE comes before the Court upon Plaintiff's Renewed Motion for Class Certification and Appointment of Class Counsel (Dkt. 65), Defendant's Response in Opposition (Dkt. 74), and Plaintiff's Reply in Support (Dkt. 77); Defendant's Motion to Dismiss or Motion to Dismiss and Compel Arbitration (Dkt. 81) and Plaintiff's response (Dkt. 87); Defendant's supplemental authority (Dkt. 78) and Plaintiff's response (Dkt. 86); and Plaintiff's supplemental authority (Dkt. 85) and Defendant's response (Dkt. 88). The Court, having reviewed the filings, and being otherwise advised in the premises, concludes that Plaintiff's Renewed Motion for Class Certification and Appointment of Class Counsel should be granted, and Defendant's Motion to Dismiss or Motion to Dismiss and Compel Arbitration should be denied.
BACKGROUND
In this original lawsuit, Ronnie Dickens sued GC Services Limited Partnership ("Defendant") for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"),
On November 14, 2016, the Court granted partial summary judgment on the issue of liability in favor of Ronnie Dickens and against Defendant. The Court denied Ronnie Dickens' motion for class certification after concluding that he did not meet the adequacy and superiority elements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. The Court also awarded him damages. Ronnie Dickens appealed. The Eleventh Circuit vacated and remanded portions of the Court's Order, specifically the denial of class certification and the award of damages.
On October 20, 2017, Defendant filed a suggestion of death reporting that Ronnie Dickens had passed away. Terri Dickens, Ronnie Dickens' widow, filed an unopposed motion to substitute herself as named plaintiff in the case, on behalf of the estate of Ronnie Dickens. The Court granted her motion after concluding that Ronnie Dickens' FDCPA claims did not extinguish with his death. Terri Dickens ("Plaintiff") filed a renewed motion for class certification and Defendant filed a motion to dismiss or compel arbitration.
STANDARD FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
A district court is vested with broad discretion in determining whether to certify a class. Washington v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. ,
*1374Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes,
After meeting the requirements of Rule 23(a), the party must satisfy through evidentiary proof at least one of the provisions of Rule 23(b). See Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b). Therefore, courts may have to "probe behind the pleadings before coming to rest on the certification question." Comcast Corp. v. Behrend,
STANDARD FOR A MOTION TO DISMISS
Attacks on subject matter jurisdiction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) come in two forms. Meszaros ex rel. Meszaros v. United States , No. 8:05CV1214T30TGW,
With a factual attack, "no presumptive truthfulness attaches to [a] 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."
STANDARD TO COMPEL ARBITRATION
Federal policy favors arbitration over litigation. Seaboard Coast Line R. Co. v. Trailer Train Co. ,
The Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA") "requires courts to enforce [arbitration agreements] according to their terms." Rent-A-Ctr., W., Inc. v. Jackson ,
DISCUSSION
As an initial matter, the Court will consider Defendant's Motion to Dismiss or Motion to Dismiss and Compel Arbitration, and then, Plaintiff's Renewed Motion for Class Certification.
Defendant's Motion to Dismiss or Motion to Dismiss and Compel Arbitration
Defendant argues that Plaintiff does not have standing to sue because neither she nor Ronnie Dickens suffered a concrete injury by receiving Defendant's debt-collection letter. Even if Plaintiff has standing, Defendant urges the Court to dismiss the case and compel Plaintiff to attend a single-party arbitration. For the reasons discussed below, the Court denies Defendant's Motion.
Defendant argued that Ronnie Dickens lacked standing in at least four filings. Each time, the Court disagreed. Now, Defendant challenges Plaintiff's standing by challenging the Court's jurisdiction based on materials outside of the Complaint, specifically Plaintiff's deposition. If this "factual attack" affects the merits of Plaintiff's claims, the Court would have to treat Defendant's Motion to Dismiss as a motion for summary judgment and allow a jury to resolve material factual disputes. Morrison ,
"A plaintiff has an injury in fact if he suffered an invasion of a legally protected interest that is concrete, particularized, and actual or imminent." Nicklaw v. Citimortgage, Inc. ,
In its previous analysis of standing in this case, the Court relied on the Eleventh Circuit's opinion in Church v. Accretive Health, Inc. ,
A few months later, the Eleventh Circuit decided Nicklaw v. Citimortgage, Inc. ,
Defendant argues that Church is no longer good law because the Eleventh Circuit in Nicklaw "specifically rejected the holding from Church ." (Dkt. 74, p. 10). But the Eleventh Circuit did not mention Church in the Nicklaw opinion and Nicklaw did not involve the FDCPA. The Eleventh Circuit in Nicklaw analyzed a right provided to the plaintiff by a state law, and Church involved a right "Congress elevated" to an injury with the FDCPA. Church ,
Defendant also argues that some courts have expressed doubts about Church given developments in the law on standing post- Spokeo . Though some courts have expressed doubt that Church remains good law, those courts are all outside of this Circuit. To the extent that Defendant and some of these courts interpret Church as providing an automatic injury, and thus standing, whenever a plaintiff allegedly suffers a procedural violation, this is not the case. The Eleventh Circuit distinguished Church's allegations from the allegations of "a bare procedural violation" in Spokeo by explaining that "Church has not alleged a procedural violation. Rather, Congress provided Church with a substantive right to receive certain disclosures and Church has alleged that [defendant] violated that substantive right."
Defendant attempts dismissal of Plaintiff's complaint by focusing on excerpts from Plaintiff's deposition where she stated that neither herself nor Ronnie Dickens suffered a "loss or injury" after receiving Defendant's debt-collection letter. (Dkt. 87-1, p. 55). Plaintiff affirmed that "Mr. Dickens was not out any money because of the way [Defendant] wrote the letter." Id. at 69. And she agreed that she doesn't "know of anybody who's lost anything ... because they got inaccurate information." Id. at 86. The deposition speaks to a lack of a tangible injury, which is not dispositive of the case. Spokeo,
In addition to dismissal, Defendant, for the first time, moves to compel arbitration of Plaintiff's claims. The Court is wholly unpersuaded by this request given Defendant's active involvement in the litigation. As the Eleventh Circuit recently explained,
Acting in a manner inconsistent with one's arbitration rights and then changing course mid-journey smacks of outcome-oriented gamesmanship played on the court and the opposing party's dime. The judicial system was not designed to accommodate a defendant who elects to forego arbitration when it believes that the outcome in litigation will be favorable to it, proceeds with extensive discovery and court proceedings, and then suddenly changes course and pursues arbitration when its prospects of victory in litigation dim.
Gutierrez v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA ,
Plaintiff's Renewed Motion for Class Certification
In her renewed Motion, Plaintiff proposes the same class definition Ronnie Dickens proposed:
(1) All persons with a Florida address, (2) to whom GC Services Limited Partnership mailed an initial communication that stated: (a) "if you do dispute all or any portion of this debt within 30 days of receiving this letter, we will obtain verification of the debt from our client and send it to you," and/or (b) "if within 30 days of receiving this letter you request the name and address of the original creditor, we will provide it to you in the event it differs from our client, Synchrony Bank," (3) between April 4, 2015 and April 4, 2016, (4) in connection with the collection of a consumer debt, (5) that was not returned as undeliverable to GC Services Limited Partnership.
(Dkt. 65, p. 2). In its prior Order, the Court denied Ronnie Dickens' motion for class certification after concluding that he was not an adequate class representative and a class action was not the superior method of adjudicating his claims. Ronnie Dickens appealed the denial of certification along with the Court's award of statutory damages. The Eleventh Circuit remanded these issues back to the Court.
Since the issue of damages is one for a jury, the Court will only address Plaintiff's adequacy and the superiority of a class action.
1. Adequacy
Rule 23(a)(4) requires that a class action's representative party "adequately protect the interests of those he purports to represent." Valley Drug Co. v. Geneva Pharm., Inc. ,
The Court previously stated that it was concerned about Ronnie Dickens' adequacy as class representative "primarily on the issue of damages." (Dkt. 47, p. 13). Ronnie Dickens sought, and Plaintiff seeks, only statutory damages. The Court feared that certification "would preclude class members from recovering actual damages if they suffered them, which the FDCPA otherwise allows."
The Court now concludes that Plaintiff is an adequate class representative. At this time, the possibility that some class members may have suffered actual damages is insufficient to deem Plaintiff an inadequate representative. Because there is no "significant conflict of interest between [Plaintiff] and the class," Plaintiff meets this element of class certification. Dickens v. GC Servs. Ltd. P'ship ,
2. Predominance and Superiority
After a plaintiff meets Rule 23(a)'s criteria for class certification, a plaintiff must show that one of the criteria of Rule 23(b) is met. Here, Plaintiff seeks certification under Rule 23(b)(3) : "that the questions of law or fact common to class members predominate over any questions affecting only individual members, and that a class action is superior to other available methods for fairly and efficiently adjudicating the controversy." Fed. R. Civ. P. 23. Rule 23(b)(3) identifies the following pertinent factors for determining superiority and predominance:
(A) the class members' interests in individually controlling the prosecution or defense of separate actions;
(B) the extent and nature of any litigation concerning the controversy already begun by or against class members;
(C) the desirability or undesirability of concentrating the litigation of the claims in the particular forum; and
(D) the likely difficulties in managing a class action.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23.
a. Predominance
The issues raised in the class action that are subject to generalized proof and that are applicable to the class as a whole "must predominate over those issues that are subject only to individualized proof." Babineau v. Federal Exp. Corp.,
Courts in this Circuit have readily found that the predominance factor is met in FDCPA cases. See Belcher v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC , No. 8:16-CV-690-T-23AEP,
The Court already entered summary judgment as to liability in favor of Ronnie Dickens and against Defendant. This supports a finding that common issues predominate. Even though the issue of damages still remains, as the Court discussed with Plaintiff's adequacy, the possibility of individualized damages is not enough to defeat predominance. Carriuolo v. Gen. Motors Co. ,
b. Superiority
In its previous order denying class certification, the Court focused on class members' interests in controlling the prosecution of their own actions because of their interests in obtaining actual damages. And this Court determined that damages would be low if they did exist, so a class action would not be the superior method of adjudicating the claims. The Eleventh Circuit directed the Court to consider certain benefits to a class action such as low per-class-member recovery weighing in favor of certification. The Court revaluates Plaintiff's putative class action using Rule 23(b)(3)'s factors, while considering the Eleventh Circuit's opinion and recent FDCPA class-action caselaw.
The focus of the superiority analysis is on "the relative advantages of a class action suit over whatever other forms of litigation might be realistically available to the plaintiffs." Sacred Heart Health Sys., Inc. v. Humana Military Healthcare Servs., Inc. ,
Turning to the other factors, the Court is not aware of any litigation by or against class members related to this case. And the Court sees no issues with concentrating the litigation in the forum. See Johnson v. Enhanced Recovery Co., LLC ,
Defendant maintains its argument that a class is not a superior method because some individuals who received Defendant's letter may not have opened it, so they must not have standing. Plaintiff is not required to show that every putative class member has standing. Griffin v. Dugger ,
Upon review and consideration, it is therefore
ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that:
1. Plaintiff's Renewed Motion for Class Certification and Appointment of *1381Class Counsel (Dkt. 65) is GRANTED.
2. Defendant's Motion to Dismiss or Motion to Dismiss and Compel Arbitration (Dkt. 81) is DENIED.
DONE and ORDERED in Tampa, Florida, this 2nd day of October, 2018.
Standing is also a threshold issue. See Busby v. JRHBW Realty, Inc. ,
The Court will also analyze the issue of predominance since it did not reach this question in its prior Order.
As discussed in the parties' briefs about damages, this assumes each of the 9,862 proposed class members remains in the class. Otherwise, the amount per person would increase.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Terri E. DICKENS, ON BEHALF OF the ESTATE OF Ronnie E. DICKENS and others similarly situated v. GC SERVICES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
- Status
- Published