Opinion
No. 02 C 8435
February 7, 2003
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
According to the complaint, plaintiff, inspired by Marshall Fields' flyer advertising an All-Clad grill pan regularly sold for $130 as on sale for $39.99, embarked on a determined effort to buy one. Despite a number of efforts to do so, he was unable to find any available. This lawsuit followed. A week later he obtained an ex parte order forbidding defendant from destroying any records that pertain to any putative class members or which indicate the identity of any putative class members, or which may assist in identifying any such members. The class is defined as "all persons unable to purchase an advertised product of the Defendant's [sic] during their sale period because the product was not in stock."
Defendant now seeks to amend the protective order to confine putative class members to all persons unable to purchase the All Clad grill pan regularly priced at $130 that defendant Marshall Fields advertised as being on sale for $39.99 during the August 4, 2002 through August 10, 2002 sale period, because the product was not in stock. Its motion, in essence, raises concerns about the scope of this lawsuit. While we agree with plaintiff that such a motion is an inappropriate means of determining class issues, we are mindful of the extraordinary scope of the present order. It requires defendant to safeguard waiting lists over an indefinite period from every Marshall Fields and Target store in the United States. But this lawsuit is about an unsuccessful search for a particular item after receipt of a specific Chicagoland Marshall Fields flyer.
Perhaps defendant's conduct with respect to other advertised products may be relevant and perhaps the appropriate class may extend beyond disappointed All-Clad grill pan seekers. But we think that universe cannot, in any event, extend as broadly as the present order suggests. For now we amend the order to confine putative class members to all persons unable to purchase at any Chicagoland Marshall Fields store any of the items advertised in the August 2002 flyer because the product was not in stock.