Blaszkowski et al v. Mars Inc. et al

Filing 287

MOTION Motion for Leave to Take Limited Jurisdictional Discovery by New Albertson's Inc.. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A)(Poyer, Joshua)

Blaszkowski et al v. Mars Inc. et al

Doc. 287

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA RENEE BLASZKOWSKI, et al., Individually and on behalf of others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. MARS INC., et al. Defendant. § § § § § § § § § § § §

Civil Action No. 07-cv-21221-CMA

DEFENDANT NEW ALBERTSONS, INC.'S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO TAKE LIMITED JURISDICTIONAL DISCOVERY

Defendant, New Albertsons, Inc. ("New Albertsons"), respectfully submits this motion to take limited jurisdictional discovery of the named Florida Plaintiffs, Patricia Davis ("Patricia Davis") and Raul Isern ("Raul Isern") (sometimes collectively "Plaintiffs"), and states:1 Argument Plaintiffs' jurisdictional allegations concerning New Albertsons are non-specific, conclusory, and generically applied to several Defendant Retailers.2 Second Amended Class Action Complaint ¶¶ 51 - 60. [D.E. 260]. They read as follows: New Albertsons is registered to do business in Florida and has a registered agent in Florida upon which service has been executed. [New] Albertson's conducts business in Florida and places products in the stream of commerce that reach Florida consumers. New Albertsons is in the business of manufacturing, producing, distributing, advertising and/or selling its own brand of pet food
1

New Albertsons seeks leave to serve jurisdictional discovery on account of the Court's July 6, 2007 Order staying discovery pending the outcome of the motion to dismiss. [D.E. 130]. 2 Plaintiffs identify the Defendant Retailers as Target Corp., Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Publix Supermarkets, Inc., Albertsons, LLC, New Albertsons, Inc., The Kroger Co. of Ohio, Safeway, Inc., H.E. Butt Grocery Company, Meijer Inc., and The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company.

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products in Florida, as well as distributing, advertising and/or selling the Defendant Manufacturers' pet food products in Florida, which has injured the Plaintiffs in Florida. New Albertson's markets and sells its own brands and the Defendants' brands of commercial pet food in Florida. New Albertsons adopts the marketing representations of the Defendant Manufacturers by placing point of purchase advertising at or near the Defendant Manufacturers' pet food in its retail stores with the intent to induce consumers to purchase its products. Second Amended Class Action Complaint ¶ 55. [D.E. 260]. The omissions are glaring. For example, the Second Amended Class Action Complaint does not describe what, if anything, any Plaintiff purchased from New Albertsons in Florida. It does not describe which of New Albertsons products, if any, injured any Plaintiff, let alone a Florida Plaintiff.3 New Albertsons is entitled to determine whether Plaintiffs' nonspecific allegations provide the basis for the exercise of personal jurisdiction and which, if any, of the two named plaintiffs who live in Florida were allegedly injured by New Albertsons in Florida. In considering the elements of the constitutional limits of specific personal jurisdiction, it is the named class representatives whose claims must satisfy these elements in order for the Court to have personal jurisdiction over the defendants. Williams v. Firstplus Home Loan Trust 1996-2, 209 F.R.D. 404 (W.D. Tenn., 2002); Barry v. Mtg. Serv. Acquisition Corp., 909 F. Supp. 65 (D. R.I., 1995). See also Selman v. Harvard Medical School, 494 F. Supp. 603, 613

(S.D.N.Y. 1980) ("It is clear that the named class representative himself must satisfy all jurisdictional prerequisites [under the New York long-arm statute] before the action can go forward"). There is, however, a simple and efficient manner in which to answer those questions. On October 30, 2007, the Court granted plaintiffs leave to conduct personal jurisdiction with regards to New Albertsons. [D.E. 251]. If this Court were to permit New Albertsons a reciprocal right to conduct very limited jurisdictional discovery, New Albertsons could

For the reasons set forth in Defendants' Omnibus Motion to Dismiss, these defects, and others, are fatal and warrant dismissal of this case, in its entirety.

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determine whether its conduct injured any Plaintiff in Florida to the extent it deserves to be hailed before this State's courts. If there is merit to Plaintiffs' allegations, Plaintiffs have no reason to pointlessly hide those facts. The inverse, however, is that New Albertsons is entitled to know whether Plaintiffs' jurisdictional allegations are as baseless as they are generic. Again, the scope of the jurisdictional discovery would be limited both in terms of intended recipients, Patricia Davis and Raul Isern, the only two named Florida Plaintiffs, and topical breadth. Those topics would be limited to those set forth in the seven proposed

interrogatories, per each named Florida Plaintiff, Patricia Davis and Raul Isern, attached hereto as Exhibit A. In addition, New Albertsons proposes to proceed only by service of a limited set of interrogatories in lieu of either requests for production or depositions duces tecum, which, incidentally, New Albertsons believes to be the most efficient manner of moving forward for both Plaintiffs and Defendants at this early stage, recognizing the short amount of time the Parties have to complete this phase of discovery. In this instance, limited interrogatories are a more efficient method of obtaining limited information in lieu of depositions. As pointed out in New Albertsons contemporaneous Motion for Leave to Provide Interrogatory Answers in lieu of 30(b)(6) Witnesses for Jurisdictional Discovery or, in the Alternative, for a Protective Order as to Specific Topics and Document Requests, Plaintiffs should have little difficulty answering New Albertsons simple, targeted interrogatories and the answers would provide New Albertsons with the clarity to which they are entitled. WHEREFORE, New Albertsons, Inc., respectfully requests leave of this Court to serve limited jurisdictional discovery.

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RULE 7.1 CERTIFICATION Pursuant to S.D. Fla. L.R. 7.1., the undersigned certifies that counsel for New Albertsons has conferred with plaintiffs' counsel in a good faith effort to resolve by agreement the issues raised in this Motion, but has been unable to do so. Dated: December 18, 2007. Respectfully submitted, /s Craig P. Kalil Craig P. Kalil Fla. Bar No. 607282 Joshua D. Poyer Fla. Bar No. 653349 2250 Sun Trust International Center One Southeast Third Avenue Miami, Florida 33131 Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] W. Randolph Teslik Pro Hac Vice Andrew J. Dober Pro Hac Vice Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP 1333 New Hampshire Ave., NW Washington, DC 20036 202-887-4000 202-887-4288 Attorneys for NEW ALBERTSONS, INC. CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing Corporate Disclosure Statement was filed with the Clerk of the Court by the CM/ECF filing system on December 18, 2007, which will send notice to all counsel or parties of record on the attached service list. s/ Joshua D. Poyer Joshua D. Poyer

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SERVICE LIST CATHERINE J. MACIVOR [e-mail] JEFFREY B. MALTZMAN [e-mail] JEFFREY E. FOREMAN [e-mail] DARREN W. FRIEDMAN [e-mail] MALTZMAN FOREMAN, PA One Biscayne Tower 2 South Biscayne Boulevard -Suite 2300 Miami, Florida 33131 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Plaintiffs KATHLEEN S. PHANG [e-mail] CHARLES PHILIP FLICK [e-mail] Seipp, Flick & Kissane Two Alhambra Plaza -Suite 800 Miami, Florida 33134-5241 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorney for Defendant Target Corp. ALAN GRAHAM GREER [e-mail] Richman Greer Weil Brumbaugh Mirabito & Christensen 201 South Biscayne Boulevard ­ STE 1000 Miami, Florida 33131 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Defendant Proctor and Gamble Co. PHILIP A. SECHLER [e-mail] THOMAS G. HENTOFF [e-mail] DANE H. BUTSWINKAS [e-mail] CHRISTOPHER M. D'ANGELO [e-mail] PATRICK J. HOULIHAN [e-mail] Williams & Connolly LLP 725 12th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20005 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Defendant Mars, Inc. OMAR ORTEGA [e-mail] Dorta and Ortega, P.A. Douglas Entrance 800 S. Douglas Road, Suite 149 Coral Gables, Florida 33134 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Defendant Mars, Inc. JOHN J. KUSTER [e-mail] JAMES D. ARDEN [e-mail] Sidley Austin LLP 787 Seventh Avenue New York, NY 10019 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Defendant Colgate Palmolive Company

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D. JEFFREY IRELAND [e-mail] BRIAN D. WRIGHT [e-mail] LAURA A. SANOM [e-mail] Faruki Ireland & Cox P.L.L. 500 Courthouse Plaza, S.W. 10 North Ludlow St. Dayton, OH 45402 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Defendant Proctor and Gamble Co. SHERRIL M. COLOMBO [e-mail] Cozen O'Connor 200 South Biscayne Boulevard Suite 4410 Miami, Florida 33131-2303 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Defendant Del Monte Foods, Co. JOHN J. McDONOUGH [e-mail] RICHARD FAMA [e-mail] Cozen O'Connor 45 Broadway New York, NY 10006 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Defendant Del Monte Foods Co. JOHN F. MULLEN [e-mail] Cozen O'Connor The Atrium ­ 3rd Floor 1900 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Defendant Del Monte Foods Co.

OLGA M. VIEIRA [e-mail] BENJAMINE REID [e-mail] Carlton Fields, PA 100 SE 2nd Street - #4000 Miami, FL 33131 Tel: [phone] / Fax: Attorneys for Defendant Colgate Palmolive Company KARA L. McCALL [e-mail] Sidley Austin, LLP One South Dearborn Chicago, Illinios 60603 Tel: [phone] / Fax: Attorneys for Defendant Colgate Palmolive Company ROBERT C. TROYER [e-mail] Hogan & Hartson LLP One Tabor Center -Suite 1500 1200 Seventeenth Street Denver, CO 80202 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Nestle U.S.A., Inc. MIRANDA L. BERGE [e-mail] CRAIG A. HOOVER [e-mail] Hogan & Hartson, LLP 555 13th Street, NW Washington, DC 20004 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Nestle U.S.A., Inc.

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CHARLES ABBOTT [e-mail] BEN BRODERICK [e-mail] GARY L. JUSTICE [e-mail] WILLIAM EDWARD WEGNER [e-mail] GAIL E. LEES [e-mail] Gibson Dunn & Crutcher L.L.P 333 S. Grand Avenue -Suite 4600 Los Angeles, CA 90071 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Defendant Nutro Products Inc. CAROL A. LICKO [e-mail] Hogan & Hartson L.L.P Mellon Financial Center 1111 Brickell Avenue, Suite 1900 Miami, Florida 33131 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Nestle U.S.A., Inc. MARTY STEINBERG [e-mail] ADRIANA RIVIERE-BADELL [e-mail] Hunton & Williams, LLP 1111 Brickell Avenue - #2500 Miami, Florida 33131 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Defendant Nutro Products Inc.

JOHN B. T. MURRAY, JR. [e-mail] Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP 1900 Phillips Point West 777 South Flagler Drive - #1900 West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Defendants Petco Animal Supplies, Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. HUGH J. TURNER JR. [e-mail] Akerman Senterfitt & Eidson Las Olas Centre II, Suite 1600 350 East Las Olas Blvd. Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33301-2229 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Defendant Publix Supermarkets, Inc. ROLANDO ANDRES DIAZ [e-mail] MARIA KAYANAN [e-mail] CASSIDY YEN DANG [e-mail] Kubicki Draper, P.A. 25 West Flagler Street - Penthouse Miami, Florida 33130 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Defendant Pet Supermarket, Inc. ROBIN LEA HANGER [e-mail] Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, LLP 200 S. Biscayne Boulevard ­ 40th Floor Miami, Florida 33131-2398 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Defendants Petco Animal Supplies, Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

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SUSAN ELIZABETH MORTENSEN [e-mail] Coffey Burlington 2699 S. Bayshore Drive - Penthouse Miami, Florida 33133 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Defendant Petsmart, Inc. ALEXANDER SHAKNES [e-mail] AMY W. SCHULMAN [e-mail] DLA PIPER US LLP 1251 Avenue of the Americas New York, New York 10020-1104 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Menu Foods Income Fund and Menu Foods, Inc. WILLIAM C. MARTIN [e-mail] DLA PIPER US LLP 203 North LaSalle Street - #1900 Chicago, Illinois 60601-1293 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Menu Foods Income Fund and Menu Foods, Inc. MICHAEL K. KENNEDY [e-mail] MICHAEL R. ROSS [e-mail] Gallagher and Kennedy, PA 2575 E. Camelback Road - #1100 Phoenix, Arizona 85016 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Defendant Petsmart, Inc.

LONNIE L. SIMPSON [e-mail] S. DOUGLAS KNOX [e-mail] DLA PIPER US LLP 101 E. Kennedy Boulevard - #2000 Tampa, Florida 33602 Tel: [phone]/ Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Menu Foods Income Fund and Menu Foods, Inc. ROBERT D. MCINTOSH [e-mail] ADORNO & YOSS LLP 888 SE 3rd Avenue, Suite 500 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316-1159 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Defendants Menu Foods, Inc. and Menu Foods Income Fund RALPH G. PATINO [e-mail] DOMINICK V. TAMARAZZO [e-mail] CARLOS B. SALUP [e-mail] PATINO & ASSOCIATES, P.A. 225 Alcazar Avenue Coral Gables, Florida 33134 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Co-Defendant Pet Supplies "Plus" and Pet Supplies Plus/USA, Inc. C. RICHARD FULMER, Jr. [e-mail] Fulmer LeRoy Albee Baumann & Glass, PLC 2866 East Oakland Park Boulevard Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33306 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for The Kroger Co. of Ohio

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JAMES K. REUSS [e-mail] Lane Alton & Horst, LLC Two Miranova Place, Suite 500 Columbus, Ohio 43215 Attorneys for The Kroger Co. of Ohio MARCOS DANIEL JIMENEZ [e-mail] ROBERT J. ALWINE II [e-mail] Kenny Nachwalter, P.A. 201 South Biscayne Boulevard 1100 Miami Center Miami, Florida 33131-4327 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Safewy Inc. and The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC ROBERT VALADEZ [e-mail] JAVIER THOMAS DURAN [e-mail] Shelton & Valadez, P.C. 600 Navarro, Suite 500 San Antonio, Texas 78205 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Defendant H.E. Butt Grocery Co. JASON JOFFE [e-mail] Square Sanders & Dempsy, LLP 200 South Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 4000 Miami, Florida 33131 Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Defendant Meijer, Inc.