David Marks, et al. v. United Parks & Resorts, Inc.
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Ruth Bermudez Montenegro (author)
Analysis
The court considered Defendant's motion to dismiss the Second Amended Complaint in a consumer class action alleging false advertising regarding theme park tickets. The court granted the motion in part by dismissing the CLRA and related UCL claims with prejudice, and denied the motion in part by allowing the nationwide class claims to proceed to class certification.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Defendant's request for judicial notice of website screenshots is granted.“the Court GRANTS Defendant’s request for judicial notice as to all four screenshots.” | agree with court The court correctly applied Federal Rule of Evidence 201 to take judicial notice of publicly accessible websites, which is a standard and appropriate procedure in this context. |
Plaintiffs' request for judicial notice of legislative history is denied.“the Court DENIES Plaintiffs’ request for judicial notice.” | agree with court The court found the statutory text unambiguous, rendering legislative history unnecessary. This is a correct application of statutory interpretation principles. |
Plaintiffs' CLRA claim is dismissed with prejudice.“Plaintiffs’ CLRA claim is DISMISSED with prejudice.” | agree with court The court relied on the California Supreme Court's decision in Fairbanks v. Superior Court and a consistent line of district court cases to determine that amusement park tickets are not 'goods' or 'services' under the CLRA. The reasoning is sound and follows binding state law. |
Plaintiffs' UCL claim is dismissed with prejudice to the extent it is predicated on a CLRA violation.“To the extent Plaintiffs’ UCL claim is predicated on an alleged violation of the CLRA, the UCL claim is also DISMISSED with prejudice.” | agree with court Since the underlying CLRA claim fails, the UCL claim based on that violation also fails. This is a standard derivative dismissal. |
The motion to dismiss is denied as to Plaintiffs' nationwide class claims.“the Court DENIES the Motion to Dismiss as to Plaintiffs’ nationwide class claims.” | agree with court The court determined that the issue of whether out-of-state class members have sufficient contacts with California is more appropriately resolved at the class certification stage, allowing for necessary discovery. This aligns with Ninth Circuit precedent regarding the timing of such determinations. |
The order itself: sound — The order correctly applies the Rule 12(b)(6) standard, relies on binding California Supreme Court precedent (Fairbanks) to dismiss the CLRA claim, and appropriately defers the nationwide class contact issue to the class certification stage based on Ninth Circuit precedent regarding discovery.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DAVID MARKS, et al., Case No.: 3:24-cv-01992-RBM-GC 12 Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING IN PART 13 v. AND DENYING IN PART MOTION TO DISMISS 14 UNITED PARKS & RESORTS, INC., PLAINTIFFS’ SECOND 15 Defendant. AMENDED COMPLAINT 16 [Doc. 29] 17 18 19 20 Before the Court is Defendant United Parks & Resorts, Inc.’s (“Defendant”) Motion 21 to Dismiss Second Amended Class Action Complaint (“Motion to Dismiss”). (Doc. 29.) 22 Plaintiffs David Marks and Tagui Galstian, individually and on behalf of all others 23 similarly situated (“Plaintiffs”), filed an Opposition to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss 24 (“Opposition”). (Doc. 30.) Defendant filed a Reply Memorandum in Support of 25 Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (“Reply”). (Doc. 31.) 26 The Court finds this matter suitable for determination without oral argument under 27 Civil Local Rule 7.1(d)(1). Having reviewed the pleadings above, and for the reasons 28 below, the Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 29) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. 1 I. BACKGROUND 2 A. Procedural History 3 Defendant removed this action from state court on October 25, 2024. (Doc. 1.) After 4 Defendant moved to dismiss the original Complaint (Doc. 5), Plaintiffs filed a First 5 Amended Complaint on January 21, 2025 (Doc. 11). Defendant again moved to dismiss. 6 (See Docs. 15, 20, 21.) On September 26, 2025, Judge Anello issued an Order granting in 7 part and denying in part the motion to dismiss. (Doc. 24.) This action was then transferred 8 from Judge Anello to the undersigned. (Doc. 25.) Plaintiffs filed their Second Amended 9 Complaint (“SAC”) on October 31, 2025. (Doc. 26.) Defendant’s operative Motion to 10 Dismiss (Doc. 29) was fully briefed on January 26, 2026. (See Docs. 30, 31.) 11 B. Factual Background1 12 Defendant is a theme park company that sells tickets to theme parks in California 13 including SeaWorld and Sesame Place. (SAC ¶ 1.) Generally speaking, Defendant utilizes 14 fake sales to entice consumers into purchasing tickets. For example, Defendant advertises 15 “Limited-Time” discounts from regular ticket prices, using countdown clocks and 16 language such as “HURRY, OFFER ENDS SOON!” to represent that its sales are on the 17 verge of ending. (Id. ¶¶ 4, 16–23.) But these discounts are always available. (Id.) 18 Defendant also, until about July 1, 2024, used hidden fees when selling tickets. (Id. ¶¶ 5, 19 62.) These hidden fees constitute “drip pricing”—when a company advertises “only part 20 of a product’s total price to lure in customers,” and fails to mention “other mandatory 21 charges until late in the buying process”—hiding the true price of tickets until the purchase 22 is nearly complete. (Id. ¶¶ 62–85.) 23 24 25 26 1 This section reflects the allegations in Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”) 27 (Doc. 26), not conclusions of fact or law by the Court. Well-pled factual allegations are accepted as true for purposes of the Motion to Dismiss. See Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 28 1 Plaintiffs are two purchasers of tickets sold by Defendant. On April 19, 2024, 2 Plaintiff David Marks (“Mr. Marks”) purchased two SeaWorld single-day tickets, three 3 Dine with Orcas tickets, and one parking ticket through Defendant’s website. (Id. ¶¶ 41, 4 86.) Mr. Marks and his family used these tickets to “attend[ ] the SeaWorld dolphin and 5 whale shows and interact[ ] with the SeaWorld touch pools, which were also serviced by 6 Defendant’s employees.” (Id. ¶ 28.) On the date of Mr. Marks’ purchase, Defendant 7 represented on its website that SeaWorld single-day tickets had a regular price of $114.99 8 but were on sale for the discounted price of $89.99. (Id. ¶ 41.) The tickets were always 9 sold at the purported “discounted” price and therefore, according to Plaintiffs, were never 10 discounted as advertised. (Id. ¶ 43.) Moreover, during the checkout process, Defendant 11 represented that the total of Mr. Marks’ tickets would be $312.96. (Id. ¶ 87.) But at the 12 end of the checkout, Defendant added a “Service Fee” of $22.49, making the actual ticket 13 price $341.65 (including $6.20 in tax), not $312.97, as Defendant had previously 14 represented. (Id.) 15 Similarly, Plaintiff Tagui Galstian (“Ms. Galstian”) purchased five Sesame Place 16 single-day tickets through Defendant’s website on July 29, 2023. (Id. ¶¶ 44, 89.) Ms. 17 Galstian and her family used these tickets to go “to Sesame Place’s water park area and 18 r[i]de on the water rides, which were supervised and operated by Defendant’s employees.” 19 (Id. ¶ 28.) On the date of Ms. Galstian’s purchase, Defendant represented that single-day 20 tickets to Sesame Place were on sale for a discounted price of $67.99. (Id. ¶ 48.) However, 21 these tickets are always available at a “discounted” price. (Id. ¶ 50.) Further, during the 22 checkout process, Defendant represented that the total of Ms. Galstian’s tickets would be 23 $339.95. (Id. ¶ 90.) But at the end of the checkout, Defendant added a “Service Fee” of 24 $16.99, making the actual ticket price $356.94, not $339.95, as Defendant had previously 25 represented. (Id.) 26 Plaintiffs thus assert the following claims against Defendant: (1) violation of 27 California’s False Advertising Law, Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17500 et seq. (“FAL”); 28 (2) violation of California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act (“CLRA”); (3–4) violation of 1 California’s Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17200 et seq. (“UCL”); 2 (5) breach of contract; (6) breach of express warranty; (7) quasi-contract; (8) negligent 3 misrepresentation; and (9) intentional misrepresentation. (Id. ¶¶ 103–209.) 4 C. Judge Anello’s Previous Order 5 In its first Motion to Dismiss, Defendant sought to dismiss all nine of Plaintiffs’ 6 claims. (See Doc. 24 at 4.) Judge Anello dismissed the following claims: Plaintiffs’ 7 nationwide class allegations and claims; the CLRA claim in its entirety; the UCL claim to 8 the extent it was based on an alleged violation of the CLRA; and Ms. Galstian’s breach of 9 contract, express warranty, negligent misrepresentation, and intentional misrepresentation 10 claims. (Doc. 24 at 29.) The motion to dismiss was denied as to all other claims. 11 As relevant here, Judge Anello dismissed the CLRA claim because he found that 12 tickets to amusement parks are not “goods” or “services” as required to bring them within 13 the CLRA’s ambit. (Id. at 16.) Although there “is no clear consensus among the district 14 courts on this issue, . . . this district has consistently rejected such a broad interpretation 15 and found that the sale of SeaWorld tickets is not encompassed by the CLRA.” (Id. at 12– 16 13. (collecting cases).) Judge Anello, after analyzing relevant precedent on both sides of 17 the district split and discussing statutory interpretation, concluded that (1) amusement park 18 tickets are not “goods” or “services;” and (2) even if Plaintiffs alleged that the amusement 19 parks provided entertainment and educational services once inside, the CLRA would not 20 apply because “[a]ny shows, exhibits, or performances occur regardless of whether a 21 specific consumer purchases a ticket; the ticket is merely proof of access to those 22 offerings—not [ ] the sale of ‘work [or] labor’ itself.” (Id. at 15 (quoting Fairbanks v. 23 Superior Court, 46 Cal. 4th 56, 65 (2009)).) 24 II. LEGAL STANDARD 25 A complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 26 pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). “A motion to dismiss under [Rule] 27 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted tests the legal 28 sufficiency of a claim.” Conservation Force v. Salazar, 646 F.3d 1240, 1241–42 (9th Cir. 1 2011) (internal citation omitted). An action may be dismissed for failure to allege “enough 2 facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 3 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). A claim is plausible on its face “when the plaintiff pleads factual 4 content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable 5 for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. For purposes of ruling on a Rule 6 12(b)(6) motion, the Court “accept[s] factual allegations in the complaint as true and 7 construe[s] the pleadings in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.” Manzarek 8 v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 519 F.3d 1025, 1031 (9th Cir. 2008). 9 III. DISCUSSION 10 Defendant moves to dismiss (1) Plaintiffs’ CLRA claim in its entirety; (2) Plaintiffs’ 11 UCL claim to the extent it derives from an alleged violation of the CLRA; and 12 (3) Plaintiffs’ breach of contract and quasi-contract claims to the extent those claims are 13 brought on behalf of a nationwide class. (Doc. 29 at 2.) 14 A. Judicial Notice 15 The Court may consider documents beyond the pleadings on a motion to dismiss 16 under Rule 12(b)(6) through “judicial notice under Federal Rule of Evidence 201.” Khoja 17 v. Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc., 899 F.3d 988, 998 (9th Cir. 2018). The court may take 18 judicial notice of adjudicative facts that are “not subject to reasonable dispute” because 19 they are either: (1) “generally known within the trial court’s territorial jurisdiction;” or 20 (2) “can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot 21 reasonably be questioned.” Fed. R. Evid. 201(a)–(b). 22 Defendant requests that the Court take judicial notice of two screenshots of the 23 homepage for the website https://seaworld.com and two screenshots of the homepage for 24 the website https://sesameplace.com. (See Docs. 29-2–29-3.) Because Plaintiffs do not 25 oppose the request, and because “[p]ublicly accessible websites . . . are among the proper 26 subjects of judicial notice,” Kang v. PayPal Holdings, Inc., 620 F. Supp. 3d 884, 895 (N.D. 27 Cal. 2022) (citation omitted), the Court GRANTS Defendant’s request for judicial notice 28 as to all four screenshots. 1 Plaintiffs request that the Court take judicial notice of two pieces of legislative 2 history related to an amendment to the CLRA. (See Doc. 30-1–30-3.) Defendant opposes 3 Plaintiffs’ request, arguing that legislative history need not be considered “[g]iven the 4 Court’s finding that the CLRA is not ambiguous.” (Doc. 31 at 10 n.4 (citing People v. 5 Flores, 44 Cal. App. 5th 985, 997 n.5 (2020) (denying request for judicial notice of 6 legislative history where the language of the statute was plain and unambiguous)).) 7 Because the Court does not find it necessary to analyze legislative history to rule on the 8 Motion to Dismiss (see infra Section III.B), the Court DENIES Plaintiffs’ request for 9 judicial notice. 10 B. CLRA Claim 11 The CLRA prohibits “unfair or deceptive acts or practices undertaken by any person 12 in a transaction intended to result or which results in the sale or lease of goods or services 13 to any consumer.” Cal. Civ. Code § 1770(a). “Services” are defined as “work, labor, and 14 services for other than a commercial or business use, including services furnished in 15 connection with the sale or repair of goods.” Id. § 1761(b). “Goods” are defined as 16 “tangible chattels.” Id. § 1761(a). The CLRA “shall be liberally construed and applied to 17 promote its underlying purposes, which are to protect consumers against unfair and 18 deceptive business practices and to provide efficient and economical procedures to secure 19 such protection.” Id. § 1760. But it “is not an otherwise applicable general law. . . . Rather 20 than applying to all businesses, or to business transactions in general, [the CLRA] applies 21 only to transactions for the sale or lease of consumer ‘goods’ or ‘services’ as those terms 22 are defined in the act.” Fairbanks, 46 Cal. 4th at 60–61. 23 The Court finds, consistent with Judge Anello’s reasoning and previous Order, that 24 the tickets at issue here are not “goods” or “services.” First, Plaintiffs’ conclusory 25 allegation that “[t]hese tickets are tangible chattel” does not make them so. (See SAC 26 ¶ 28.) As another court in this District already explained, “the ticket here is the physical 27 representation of an agreement for something intangible, access to [SeaWorld or Sesame 28 Place],” and is therefore not a “good” under the CLRA. Lum v. Merlin Entm’ts Grp. U.S. 1 Holdings Inc., Consolidated Case No.: 20cv01049 JAH-MSB, 2023 WL 2583307, at *10 2 (S.D. Cal. Mar. 20, 2023) (citation modified). This Court finds the same. 3 Second, although there is a split among the district courts, the Court notes that the 4 majority of courts to have considered the issue have concluded that tickets to amusement 5 parks are not “services” under the CLRA. See Hall v. Sea World Entm’t, Case No.: 3:15- 6 CV-660-CAB-RBB, 2015 WL 9659911, at *14–15 (S.D. Cal. Dec. 23, 2015); Kouball v. 7 SeaWorld Parks & Entm’t, Inc., Case No.: 20-cv-870-CAB-BGS, 2020 WL 5408918, at 8 *5 (S.D. Cal. Sept. 9, 2020); Simon v. SeaWorld Parks & Entm’t, Inc., Case No.: 3:21-cv- 9 1488-LL-MSB, 2022 WL 1594338, at *6–8 (S.D. Cal. May 19, 2022); Marks v. United 10 Parks & Resorts, Inc., Case No. 24-cv-1992-MMA-KSC, 2025 WL 2767941, at *6–8 (S.D. 11 Cal. Sept. 26, 2025). These courts have reasoned that “to hold that the tickets, or more 12 specifically the admission to the parks that the tickets provide, constitute a service requires 13 a strained and unnatural construction of the term.” Hall, 2015 WL 9659911, at *15 14 (collecting cases) (citing Wixon v. Wyndham Resort Dev. Corp., No. C 07-02361 JSW, 15 2008 WL 1777590, at *4 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 18, 2008) (holding that timeshare credits which 16 provide “a vacation license, the right to use, occupy and enjoy . . . properties” do not qualify 17 as services). The Court is persuaded by this “consistent line of cases in the Southern 18 District of California rejecting CLRA coverage for theme-park admission.” Marks, 2025 19 WL 2767941, at *8. 20 The Court is also persuaded by language from the California Supreme Court’s 21 decision in Fairbanks. There, the California Supreme Court held that life insurance 22 policies are not “services” as defined by the CLRA. 46 Cal. 4th at 65. It also rejected the 23 plaintiffs’ alternative argument that “the work or labor of life insurance agents and other 24 insurance company employees in helping consumers select policies that met their needs 25 . . . are services that are sufficient to bring life insurance within the reach” of the CLRA: 26 [A]ncillary services are provided by the sellers of virtually all intangible goods—investment securities, bank deposits accounts and loans, and so forth. 27 The sellers of virtually all these intangible items assist prospective customers 28 in selecting products that suit their needs, and they often provide additional 1 customer services related to the maintenance, value, use, redemption, resale, or repayment of the intangible item. Using the existence of these ancillary 2 services to bring intangible goods within the coverage of the [CLRA] would 3 defeat the apparent legislative intent . . . . We conclude, accordingly, that the ancillary services that insurers provide to actual and prospective purchasers 4 of life insurance do not bring the policies within the coverage of the [CLRA]. 5 Id. 6 Here, as discussed above, access to an amusement park is an intangible good. 7 Plaintiffs argue that Defendant’s employees’ provision of services in support of that 8 intangible good—for example, supervising the SeaWorld touch pools or operating the 9 Sesame Place water rides (see SAC ¶ 28)—is enough to bring their claim within the CLRA. 10 But the language above from Fairbanks appears to foreclose this argument; finding that 11 ancillary services provided relative to an intangible good are enough to state a CLRA claim 12 would be contrary to the legislature’s intent to have the CLRA apply only to “goods” or 13 “services.” Fairbanks, 46 Cal.4th at 65 (“The Consumer Legal Remedies Act is not an 14 otherwise applicable general law.”). 15 Furthermore, although Plaintiffs argue that the legislative history of the drip pricing 16 amendment to the CLRA demonstrates an intent to extend the CLRA to amusement park 17 ticketing, the Court need not reach legislative history because the text of the CLRA is 18 unambiguous. See Lopez v. Sony Elecs., Inc., 5 Cal. 5th 627, 634 (2018) (“If the statutory 19 language is clear and unambiguous our inquiry ends . . . and resort to extrinsic sources to 20 determine the Legislature’s intent is unnecessary.”) (citation modified). Indeed, in 21 Fairbanks, the California Supreme Court described the CLRA’s “statutory language [a]s 22 unambiguous” such that “there is no need to consider legislative history,” and it considered 23 the legislative history “only from an abundance of caution.” 46 Cal. 4th at 61. “When 24 statutory language is . . . unambiguous . . . courts should not indulge” in statutory 25 construction, and the Court will not here. See Delaney v. Superior Court, 50 Cal. 3d 785, 26 800 (1990) (citation modified). 27 Finally, the Court briefly addresses the Parties’ disagreement regarding the scope of 28 Judge Anello’s previous Order. (See Doc 29-1 at 8–9 (arguing that the CLRA claim was 1 dismissed with prejudice); Doc. 30 at 5–6 (arguing that the CLRA claim was dismissed 2 with leave to amend).) In the previous Order, Judge Anello concluded that “[t]o the extent 3 Plaintiffs argue that the parks provide ‘entertainment and educational services’ once inside, 4 . . . that point does not alter the character of the transaction they challenge in the FAC.” 5 (Doc. 24 at 15 (emphasis added).) Therefore, although the previous Order did not explicitly 6 forbid Plaintiffs from realleging their CLRA claim, it does raise law of the case concerns. 7 “The law of the case doctrine generally provides that when a court decides upon a 8 rule of law, that decision should continue to govern the same issues in subsequent stages 9 in the same case.” Zeyen v. Bonneville Joint Dist., #93, 114 F.4th 1129, 1136–37 (9th Cir. 10 2024) (citation modified). The doctrine “serves additional purposes when a new district 11 judge is assigned to the case and is asked to reconsider the former judge’s decision.” Id. 12 As relevant here, a second district judge should not reconsider “an interlocutory order by a 13 prior judge in the same case” unless the first decision was “clearly erroneous and its 14 enforcement would work a manifest injustice.” Id. These descriptors do not apply to Judge 15 Anello’s previous Order. To the contrary, the Court agrees with its reasoning and, as 16 discussed above in this section, independently reaches the same conclusion. 17 For the reasons above, the Court GRANTS the Motion to Dismiss as to the CLRA 18 claim. Because a ticket for entrance to an amusement park does not constitute a “good” or 19 “service” under the CLRA, Plaintiffs’ CLRA claim is DISMISSED with prejudice. 20 Additionally, to the extent that Plaintiffs’ UCL claim is predicated on an alleged violation 21 of the CLRA, the UCL claim is also DISMISSED with prejudice. See Silcox v. State 22 Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., No. 14cv2345 AJB (MDD), 2014 WL 7335741, at *5 (S.D. Cal. 23 Dec. 22, 2014) (“Where a plaintiff cannot state a claim under the ‘borrowed’ law, she 24 cannot state a UCL claim either.”) (citation modified). 25 C. Nationwide Class Claims 26 One of the five classes Plaintiffs seek to represent is a nationwide class consisting 27 of “all persons who, within the applicable statute of limitations period, purchased one or 28 more ticket advertised at a discount on the SeaWorld or Sesame Place [sic].” (See SAC 1 ¶ 96.) Judge Anello previously dismissed this class, explaining that Plaintiffs do not “have 2 standing to hypothetically assert claims on behalf of unnamed class members under 3 potentially forty-nine (49) other states’ laws that do not govern their own claims.” (Doc. 4 24 at 6–9.) Defendant argues that “[n]othing has changed,” and the Court should again 5 dismiss the nationwide class. (Doc. 29-1 at 20–22.) Plaintiffs argue that their nationwide 6 class claims should proceed because (1) Plaintiffs now seek to bring claims only under 7 California law and (2) class standing is more appropriately resolved on a motion for class 8 certification. (Doc. 30 at 12–15.) 9 The Parties agree that (1) Plaintiffs have standing to allege claims only under 10 California law and (2) the classes of California consumers who purchased admission tickets 11 to California theme parks should proceed, at least past a motion to dismiss. (See Doc. 30 12 at 12–14; Doc. 31 at 10–13.) The dispute here, then, is whether the remaining class 13 members have sufficiently significant contacts with California such that Plaintiffs can 14 constitutionally allege California law claims on their behalf. See Conde v. Sensa, Case 15 No.: 14-CV-51 JLS (WVG), 2019 WL 4277414, at *5 (S.D. Cal. Sept. 10, 2019) (“[T]he 16 class action proponent bears the initial burden of showing that California has a sufficient 17 aggregation of contacts to the claims of the putative class.”) (citing Mazza v. Am. Honda 18 Motor Co., Inc., 666 F.3d 581, 590 (2012), overruled on other grounds by Olean Wholesale 19 Grocery Coop., Inc. v. Bumble Bee Foods LLC, 31 F.4th 651 (9th Cir. 2022)). “Such a 20 showing is necessary to ensure that application of California law is constitutional.” Mazza, 21 666 F.3d at 589. 22 As currently pled, the SAC does not make this required showing. As Defendant 23 correctly notes, the SAC fails to allege that California has any connection to purported 24 class members who reside outside of California and who purchased tickets to one of 25 Defendant’s theme parks outside of California. (See Doc. 29-1 at 18–19.) Plaintiffs 26 themselves concede that for these purported class members, “discovery is necessary to 27 determine whether there are significant contacts to California,” as discovery “will reveal 28 whether Defendant’s representations emanated in part from California—for example, if 1 Defendant’s marketing executives . . . reside[ ] in California, [or] if Defendant worked with 2 a California-based company to make its misleading advertising.” (Doc. 30 at 13.) 3 However, the Court finds that maintenance of the nationwide class is an issue more 4 appropriately resolved on a motion for class certification. When Judge Anello previously 5 dismissed the nationwide class, he did so because “Plaintiffs ha[d] not even identified 6 which state laws govern their [ ] nationwide class claims.” (Doc. 24 at 7–9 (“In sum, the 7 question here is whether Plaintiffs have standing to hypothetically assert claims on behalf 8 of unnamed class members under potentially forty-nine (49) other states’ laws that do not 9 govern their own claims.”) (emphasis added).) That is no longer the question; rather, as 10 discussed above, the question is whether Plaintiffs will be able to allege sufficient contacts 11 between the purported nationwide class members and California. The Ninth Circuit has 12 found that a district court abuses its discretion under similar circumstances when it denies 13 nationwide discovery, finding that plaintiffs “must be given ‘an opportunity to present 14 evidence as to whether a class action [is] maintainable,’ and such an opportunity requires 15 ‘enough discovery to obtain the material.’” Edwards v. The First Am. Corp., 385 Fed. 16 App’x 629, 631 (9th Cir. 2010) (quoting Doninger v. Pac. Nw. Bell, Inc., 564 F.2d 1304, 17 1313 (9th Cir. 1977) (“[T]he necessary antecedent to the presentation of evidence is, in 18 most cases, enough discovery to obtain the material, especially when the information is 19 within the sole possession of the defendant.”)). Therefore, the Court DENIES the Motion 20 to Dismiss as to Plaintiffs’ nationwide class claims. Accord Timmins v. Walmart, Inc., 790 21 F. Supp. 3d 931, 940 (E.D. Cal. 2025) (declining “to limit the putative class to claims under 22 California law on behalf of other California consumers (i.e. exclude consumers outside 23 California)” because “[t]his determination is proper upon a motion for class certification, 24 not a motion to dismiss”). 25 IV. CONCLUSION 26 For the foregoing reasons, the Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 29) is GRANTED in part 27 and DENIED in part. Accordingly: 28 1 1. Defendant’s request for judicial notice is GRANTED. Plaintiffs’ request for judicial 2 notice is DENIED. 3 2. Plaintiffs’ CLRA claim is DISMISSED with prejudice. To the extent Plaintiffs’ 4 UCL claim is predicated on an alleged violation of the CLRA, the UCL claim is also 5 DISMISSED with prejudice. 6 3. The Motion to Dismiss is DENIED to the extent it seeks to dismiss Plaintiffs’ 7 nationwide class claims. 8 4. Defendant SHALL ANSWER the SAC on or before September 17, 2026. 9 IT IS SO ORDERED. 10 DATE: August 26, 2026 Cet Barrie, Wittasyyes > 12 ON. RUTH BERMGDEZ! MONTENEGRO UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 12
Cites, in this corpus
- Karim Khoja v. Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. 16-56069 · 2018-08-13
- Lopez v. Sony Electronics, Inc. S235357 · 2018-07-05
- Fairbanks v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County S157001 · 2009-04-20
- Delaney v. Superior Court S006866 · 1990-05-03