Opinion
CASE NO. 5:12-cv-02724 LHK
05-13-2013
CHRIS WERDEBAUGH, individually and on behalf of other similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. BLUE DIAMOND GROWERS, Defendant.
HANSON BRIDGETT LLP LAWRENCE M. CIRELLI, SBN 114710 MEGAN OLIVER THOMPSON, SBN 256654 GEOFFREY R. PITTMAN, SBN 253876 Attorneys for Defendant Blue Diamond Growers PRATT & ASSOCIATES BEN F. PIERCE GORE, SBN 128515 LOVELACE LAW FIRM, P.A. DEWITT M. LOVELACE (admitted pro hac vice) Attorneys for Plaintiff Chris Werdebaugh
HANSON BRIDGETT LLP
LAWRENCE M. CIRELLI, SBN 114710
MEGAN OLIVER THOMPSON, SBN 256654
GEOFFREY R. PITTMAN, SBN 253876
Attorneys for Defendant Blue Diamond
Growers
PRATT & ASSOCIATES
BEN F. PIERCE GORE, SBN 128515
LOVELACE LAW FIRM, P.A.
DEWITT M. LOVELACE (admitted pro hac vice)
Attorneys for Plaintiff Chris Werdebaugh
STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED]
ORDER REGARDING AMENDED
COMPLAINT AND DISMISSAL WITH
PREJUDICE OF SONG-BEVERLY ACT
AND MAGNUSON-MOSS ACT CLAIMS
Judge: Hon. Lucy H. Koh
Pursuant to the Court's Minute and Case Management Order dated May 1, 2013, the parties hereby stipulate and agree as follows:
WHEREAS, Blue Diamond contends that Plaintiff's Complaint is deficient in several respects and should be dismissed in its entirety;
WHEREAS, pursuant to the May 1, 2013 Minute and Case Management Order, the Court ordered the parties to meet and confer to discuss Blue Diamond's concerns regarding the sufficiency of the allegations in the Complaint and further ordered Blue Diamond to identify deficiencies in the Complaint that Plaintiffs will attempt to cure in an amended complaint;
WHEREAS, the parties have so met and conferred as required by the Court's May 1, 2013 Order;
WHEREAS, without waiving its alternative arguments for dismissal of each and every cause of action in the Complaint, Blue Diamond contends that Plaintiff's first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth causes of action fail to meet the pleading requirement of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a), as well as the heightened pleading requirement of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b). Accordingly, Blue Diamond identifies the following deficiencies in the allegations related to these causes of action:
• The Complaint fails to specify which Blue Diamond products are at issue in this case, i.e., which products, if any, were purchased by Plaintiff and when.
• The Complaint fails to specify which allegedly unlawful representations appeared on the particular Blue Diamond products allegedly purchased by Plaintiff.
• The Complaint fails to specify the particular state or federal regulations that Blue Diamond allegedly violated with respect to specific Blue Diamond products.
• The Complaint fails to specify how Blue Diamond allegedly violated particular state or federal regulations with respect to specific Blue Diamond products.
• The Complaint fails to clearly specify the particular statements Plaintiff relied upon when purchasing the identified Blue Diamond products and when Plaintiff so relied.
• The Complaint fails to sufficiently identify which particular Blue Diamond statements are allegedly likely to deceive reasonable consumers.
• The allegations referring generically to "Misbranded Food Products" are insufficient to specifically identify either the products at issue or the particular state or federal regulations allegedly violated.
THEREFORE, the parties hereby stipulate and agree as follows:
1. Plaintiff agrees to attempt to cure the above-identified deficiencies in the Complaint with an amended complaint to be filed by May 24, 2013.
2. Plaintiff agrees to dismiss with prejudice both the eighth cause of action for violation of the Song-Beverly Act and the ninth cause of action for violation of the Magnuson-Moss Act.
IT IS SO STIPULATED.
PRATT & ASSOCIATES
By: ____________
Ben F. Pierce Gore
Attorneys for Plaintiff Chris Werdebaugh
HANSON BRIDGETT LLP
By: ____________
Megan Oliver Thompson
Attorneys for Defendant Blue Diamond Growers
PURSUANT TO STIPULATION, IT IS SO ORDERED.
____________
Hon. Lucy H. Koh
United States District/Magistrate Judge