Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_16-cv-02086/USCOURTS-cand-3_16-cv-02086-1/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 470
Nature of Suit: Civil (Rico)
Cause of Action: 18:1962 Racketeering (RICO) Act

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United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

IN RE: VOLKSWAGEN “CLEAN DIESEL” 

MARKETING, SALES PRACTICES, AND 

PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION

_____________________________________/

This Order Relates To:

MDL Dkt. Nos. 6358, 6359

Napleton, No. 3:16-cv-2086-CRB

_____________________________________/

MDL No. 2672 CRB (JSC)

ORDER RE: (1) MOTION FOR ENTRY 

OF LONE PINE CASE MANAGEMENT 

ORDER, (2) ADMINISTRATIVE 

MOTION TO FILE UNDER SEAL

1. In the Volkswagen franchise dealers’ putative class action against Bosch, Bosch has 

filed a motion for entry of a Lone Pine case management order. See Lore v. Lone Pine Corp., No. 

L-33606-85, 1986 WL 637507 (N.J. Super. Ct. Law Div. Nov. 18, 1986). In support of the 

motion, Bosch argues (i) that the evidence produced in discovery proves that the three named 

plaintiffs have no recoverable damages, (ii) that it is correspondingly doubtful that any of the 

putative class members have recoverable damages, and (iii) that before the parties embark on 

further expensive litigation, the Court should require putative class counsel to circulate a Lone 

Pine questionnaire to each putative class member to elicit information about the factual basis for 

any damages they have in this matter. With its motion, Bosch has included a proposed Lone Pine

questionnaire. (See MDL Dkt. No. 6359-2.)

Discovery from absent class members is generally discouraged, see McPhail v. First 

Command Fin. Planning, Inc., 251 F.R.D. 514, 517 (S.D. Cal. 2008) (collecting cases), and the 

Court concludes that such discovery is currently unnecessary here. There is no need to canvass 

absent class members about their damages at least until Bosch proves (as it claims) that the three 

named plaintiffs have no recoverable damages. To prove that the named plaintiffs lack 

recoverable damages, Bosch should file a motion for summary judgment. Bosch has leave to file

Case 3:16-cv-02086-CRB Document 133 Filed 07/22/19 Page 1 of 2
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United States District Court

Northern District of California

such a motion, but its request for a Lone Pine order is premature. The Court DENIES Bosch’s 

motion for entry of a Lone Pine order and VACATES the scheduled hearing on the motion. 

2. In a separate motion, Bosch seeks leave to file under seal portions of its motion for 

entry of a Lone Pine order and to seal entirely Exhibits A–W to that motion. (See MDL Dkt. No. 

6358.) As Plaintiffs’ counsel explains in a declaration supporting the motion to seal, the exhibits 

contain confidential sales figures, profit margins, costs, and other accounting information for 

certain Volkswagen dealerships. (See MDL Dkt. No. 6371.) 

Bosch’s motion for entry of a Lone Pine order is a nondispositive motion that relates only 

tangentially to the merits of the case, so the “good cause” standard applies to Bosch’s request to 

seal portions of that motion and the exhibits accompanying it. See Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler 

Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1097, 1101 (9th Cir. 2016). The good cause standard is satisfied. The 

documents that Bosch seeks to seal include confidential business information, and the disclosure

of that information could cause commercial or competitive harm. Further, the confidential 

information is so prevalent in the documents in question that redactions would be unworkable. 

The one exception is Attachment 22 to Bosch’s motion to seal, which is a copy of a release 

of claims that Direct B, LLC (dba Brandon Volkswagen) completed as part of the class action 

settlement between the franchise dealers and Volkswagen in this MDL. (See MDL Dkt. No. 6358-

24.) The release does not include confidential business information, and Plaintiffs have not 

identified good cause for sealing it. The release must therefore be filed publicly. 

Bosch’s motion to seal is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: July 22, 2019

CHARLES R. BREYER

United States District Judge

Case 3:16-cv-02086-CRB Document 133 Filed 07/22/19 Page 2 of 2