Martinelli v. Johnson & Johnson et al

Filing 167

ORDER signed by District Judge Morrison C. England, Jr on 3/26/2018 VACATING 80 , 83 , 85 , 101 , 102 , 103 , 120 , 121 , 138 Motions; Plaintiff is ordered to refile her Motion for Class Certifications no earlier than 4/1/2018, noticing that motion for 8/9/2018; Parties are DIRECTED to meet and confer and to file a stipulated briefing schedule within 10 days. Additionally, the parties are ORDERED to file a statement with the Court advising when briefing is complete and to submit unredacted copies of all filings and supporting documents. (Fabillaran, J)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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JOANN MARTINELLI, individually and
on behalf of all others similarly situated,
Plaintiff,

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v.

No. 2:15-cv-01733-MCE-DB

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

JOHNSON & JOHNSON and McNEIL
NUTRITIONALS, LLC,
Defendants.

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Through this class action, Plaintiff Joann Martinelli (“Plaintiff”), individually and on

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behalf of others similarly situated, seeks relief from Defendants Johnson & Johnson and

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McNeil Nutritionals, LLC (collectively “Defendants”) arising from the labeling and sale of

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Benecol Regular and Light Spreads (“Benecol Spreads”). Plaintiff alleges eight causes

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of action: (1) breach of express warranty, (2) breach of implied warranty of

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merchantability, (3) unjust enrichment, (4) violation of California’s Consumers Legal

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Remedies Act, (5) violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law, (6) violation of

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California’s False Advertising Law, (7) negligent misrepresentation, and (8) fraud. First

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Am. Compl. (“FAC”), ECF No. 9.

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On May 23, 2017, the Court denied Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to File a Second
Amended Complaint (ECF No. 46), and granted Defendants’ Motion to Deny Nationwide
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Class Certification (ECF No. 45). Order, ECF No. 78. The latter portion of the Order

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denied certification of Plaintiff’s proposed nationwide class, leaving Plaintiff’s proposed

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California subclass unaffected. On August 28, 2017, Plaintiff filed a Motion to Certify two

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classes: the previously named California Class, and a Multistate Express Warranty

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Class. ECF No. 80. That motion was originally noticed for December 14, 2017, and

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continued by the parties to March 8, 2018. See ECF Nos. 92-93.

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After the filing of that motion, Defendants filed an Opposition and two separate

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motions to exclude Plaintiff’s experts. ECF Nos. 82, 83, and 85. Plaintiff separately

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opposed each motion to exclude, filed three Motions to Strike various of Defendants’

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expert testimony (all of which Defendants opposed separately), and separately filed two

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expert declarations in support of her original Motion to Certify the Class. ECF Nos. 99-

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105, 132, 134, 136. Defendants then submitted a surreply in response to Plaintiff’s reply

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in support of her Motion, and two motions to strike the reply declarations of Plaintiff’s

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experts, all of which were opposed by Plaintiff. ECF Nos. 116, 120, 121, 124-126. On

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February 26, 2018, Plaintiff filed an ex parte Application for an order striking Defendants’

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new arguments and striking Defendants’ untimely oppositions to Plaintiff’s motions to

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strike. ECF No. 138. Defendants’ have opposed that application. ECF No. 139. All

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motions were scheduled for a hearing date of March 8, 2018, and all are currently

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pending before the Court.1 All total, the parties have filed nine noticed

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motions/applications, and twenty-eight separate filings, all related to a single class

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certification motion, and the majority of them dealing with evidentiary and expert issues.

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As set forth in the Court’s March 7, 2016 Scheduling Order, with regard to the

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class certification motion, “[t]he Court places a page limit for points and authorities

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(exclusive of exhibits and other supporting documentation) of twenty (20) pages on all

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initial moving papers, twenty (20) pages on oppositions, and ten (10) pages for replies.”

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ECF No. 25, at 2. The reason for these limits is twofold: (1) with rare exception, anything

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Because oral argument would not be of material assistance, the Court ordered this matter
submitted on the briefs. E.D. Cal. Local R. 230(g).

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that needs to be conveyed to the Court can be conveyed in twenty pages2; and (2) the

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Court’s resources are limited. Indeed, the Eastern District of California has one of the

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highest caseloads per judge in the country, with 1,246 pending cases per judge as of the

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end of 2017.3 Even if that were not the case, however, the filings the parties submitted

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here in relation to a single motion are still enough to drown a less impacted tribunal.

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Though the parties have technically complied with those page limits in each of

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their filings, they have filed nine separately noticed motions all relating to the same

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single issue of class certification. On top of those nine opposed motions, the parties

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have filed surreplies, replies to surreplies, ex parte requests, and notices of

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supplemental authority—28 total filings, by the Court’s count. Certainly, some additional

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filings are warranted in some cases, but based on the repetitive and cumulative nature of

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these 28 additional filings, such is not the case here. The parties have muddled the

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docket, unnecessarily complicated issues that could be simplified, buried the Court in an

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attempt to paper each other to death, and, in sum, violated the spirit of the Court’s

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Scheduling Order. Consequently, and pursuant to the Court’s inherent power to manage

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its docket, the Court orders as follows:

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1.

All pending motions are VACATED.

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2.

Plaintiff is ordered to refile her Motion for Class Certification no earlier than

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April 1, 2018, noticing that motion for August 9, 2018.
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Each side is permitted to file only one evidentiary motion encompassing all

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challenges to experts and/or other evidence. Such Motions shall also be

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noticed for August 9, 2018. Any evidentiary motion from Defendants shall

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be filed simultaneously with Defendants’ Opposition to Plaintiff’s

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certification motion. Any evidentiary motion from Plaintiff shall be filed

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simultaneously with Plaintiff’s Reply in support of her certification motion.

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Of course, if a party feels its issues are so complicated that they warrant additional pages, that
party may request such an enlargement, as also provided in the Court’s Scheduling Order. Id.
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See Federal Court Management Statistics, December 2017, Comparison Within Circuit, available
at http://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/data_tables/fcms_na_distcomparison1231.2017.pdf.

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4.

Not later than ten (10) days following the date this Order is electronically

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filed, the parties are directed to meet and confer and to file with the Court a

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stipulated briefing schedule (and proposed order) that ensures that all of

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the foregoing motions will be fully briefed prior to the August 9, 2018,

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hearing date.

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determines whether oral argument will be necessary.
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All motions will be submitted unless and until such time the court

The parties are further ordered to file a statement with the Court advising
when briefing is complete.

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At the time such statement is submitted, the parties are ordered to submit

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on one joint jump drive or disc, unredacted copies of all filings and

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supporting documents, organized by motion.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: March 26, 2018

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