Cole et al v. Keystone RV Company LLC

Filing 190

ORDER denying Defendant's 182 Motion to Sever Misjoined Plaintiffs. Signed by Judge Thomas S. Zilly.(MW)

Case 3:18-cv-05182-TSZ Document 190 Filed 10/14/20 Page 1 of 4

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HONORABLE THOMAS S. ZILLY

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT TACOMA

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JUDITH COLE, et. al.,

CASE NO. C18-5182TSZ

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Plaintiffs,
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ORDER

v.
KEYSTONE RV COMPANY,

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Defendant.

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THIS MATTER is before the Court on Defendant Keystone’s Motion to Sever Misjoined
Plaintiffs [Dkt. # 182].
Plaintiffs Judith Cole, Louis Michael, and David Johnson each purchased new or used

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Keystone recreational vehicles from Keystone dealers. All three claim they were not effectively

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warned of the risk of injury resulting from the ordinary use of their RVs; specifically, the effects

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of prolonged occupancy on indoor air quality due to moisture, mold, and formaldehyde. They

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sued in 2018, asserting claims under the Washington Auto Dealers Practice Act (ADPA), the

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Consumer Protection Act, and the UCC. Plaintiffs sought to represent a class of similarly

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situated Keystone purchasers damaged by Keystone’s failure to warn of the dangers of prolonged

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occupancy in their Keystone RVs. They seek economic damages for the difference between the

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value as represented and the actual value of the RVs they purchased.

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In August 2018, Court Dismissed the AFDA claims as time-barred, and provided the

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plaintiffs an opportunity to amend their UCC claims to make them plausible, which they did not

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do. It also denied Keystone’s Rule 20 Motion to Sever the plaintiffs’ remaining CPA claims,

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determining they were “charitably” read as an assertion of a series of common occurrences and

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that they presented common issues of fact and law. [Dkt. # 24].

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In July 2020, the Court denied Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification. [Dkt. # 173]. It

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determined that while they met the “numerosity” requirement, they could not meet Rule 23(a)’s

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“commonality” and Rule 23(b)(3)’s “predominance” requirements. It also determined that the

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named plaintiffs’ claims were not “typical” of the proposed class, and that class resolution was

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not “superior” to individual litigation. It concluded that the three plaintiffs’ individual claims

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were triable, but not as a class action.

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Keystone now argues that the three individual claims should be tried separately. It argues

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they do not arise from the same transaction and that any common questions are outweighed by

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individual factual and legal inquiries.

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Under Rule 20, plaintiffs may join in one action if:

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(A) they assert any right to relief jointly, severally, or in the alternative
with respect to or arising out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of
transactions or occurrences; and
(B) any question of law or fact common to all plaintiffs will arise in the
action.

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Fed. R. Civ. P. 20(a). As Keystone correctly points out, under Rule 21, mis-joined plaintiffs may

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be severed at any stage of the litigation, so long as no substantial right will be prejudiced by the

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severance. [Dkt. # 182, citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 21; Coughlin v. Rogers, 130 F.3d 1348, 1351 (9th

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Cir. 1997)]. See also Acevedo v. Allsup’s Convenience Stores, Inc., 600 F.3d 516, 522 (5th Cir.

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2010) (“[D]istrict courts have considerable discretion to deny joinder when it would not

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facilitate judicial economy and when different witnesses and documentary proof would be

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required for the plaintiffs’ claims.”)(emphasis added).

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Plaintiffs argue that the Court has already rejected Keystone’s argument for severance,

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notwithstanding the denial of class certification. Plaintiffs emphasize that “On the whole, ‘[t]he

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transaction and common-question requirements prescribed by Rule 20(a) are not rigid tests,’ but

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rather ‘are flexible concepts used by the courts to implement the purpose of Rule 20 and

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therefore are to be read as broadly as possible whenever doing so is likely to promote judicial

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economy.’” [Dkt. # 185 at 5 (citing Almont Ambulatory Surgery Center, LLC v. UnitedHealth

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Group, Inc., 99 F. Supp. 3d 1110, 1187 (C.D. Cal 2015) (internal citations omitted)].

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Plaintiffs argue that their claims arise from the same series of transactions—their

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respective purchases of Keystone RVs without adequate warnings about the dangers of

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prolonged occupancy. They argue persuasively that their expert witnesses’ (Buscher, Gill, and

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Walker) testimony will be similar, if not identical, in each trial. They argue that judicial economy

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would be served by a single trial with one jury and much of the same evidence, rather than three

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overlapping trials. They claim they would be prejudiced by severance at this late date.

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The Court agrees. It is true that the case involves three separate, if similar, transactions,

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and the facts surrounding the three plaintiffs’ RV purchase are not identical. Each will have to

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testify about what they were told, how they used and maintained their Keystone RVs, and the

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like. But the expert testimony about the adequacy of warnings, the effects of mold and

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formaldehyde and the impact on the RVs’ value, will be the same. The jury instructions are

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likely to be identical. Judicial economy would not be served by conducting three essentially

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identical trials, particularly when trial time is scarce.

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Separate trials would prejudice the plaintiffs, and they would put an unnecessary strain on
the Court. Defendant Keystone’s Motion to Sever Misjoined Plaintiffs [Dkt. # 182] is DENIED.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated this 14th day of October, 2020.

A

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Thomas S. Zilly
United States District Judge

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