Opinion ID: 1817719
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Joinder and Venue

Text: ¶ 10. The standard of review regarding joinder and venue is abuse of discretion. Ill. Cent. R.R. v. Travis, 808 So.2d 928, 931 (Miss.2002). See also Janssen Pharmaceutica, Inc. v. Armond, 866 So.2d 1092 (Miss.2004). ¶ 11. Dillard's argues that the trial court abused its discretion when it failed to sever factually distinct claims against it and that the joinder of these claims into a single mass action exceeds the scope of permissible joinder under Rule 20(a) of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure. Dillard's relies on Armond to support its argument that these claims should be severed. Plaintiffs argue that the Rule 20 standard is met and that the claims arise out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences and there are questions of law or fact common to all plaintiffs. Plaintiffs argue joinder is proper because they allege a common scheme among Dillard's stores to racially profile customers, and allege a failure to enforce proper retail security protocol at Dillard's stores. ¶ 12. M.R.C.P. 20(a) states in pertinent part: All persons may join in one action as plaintiffs if they assert any right to relief jointly, severally, or in the alternative in respect of or arising out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences, and if any question of law or fact common to all these persons will arise in the action. The scope of Rule 20 was clarified by this Court's ruling in Armond, and this Court finds that Armond and its progeny control the joinder issues in the cases sub judice. In Armond, 56 plaintiffs sued for injuries they claimed were caused by a prescription medication Propulsid. Id. Armond involved 56 plaintiffs who had different medical histories, different injuries at different times, ingested different amounts of Propulsid over different periods of time, and received different advice from 42 different doctors. Id. at 1096. This Court found in Armond that there was no single transaction or occurrence or series of transactions or occurrences to satisfy Rule 20, and severed all claims. Id. at 1101. ¶ 13. Recently, this Court further clarified when joinder is appropriate under Rule 20 in Ill. Cent. R.R. v. Gregory, ___ So.2d ___, 2005 WL 613490 (Miss. March 17, 2005). In Gregory, this Court stated the following with regards to when joinder is appropriate: [The] determination includes, among other things, whether a finding of liability for one plaintiff essentially establishes a finding for all plaintiffs, indicating that proof common to all plaintiffs is significant. The appropriateness of joinder decreases as the need for additional proof increases. If plaintiffs allege a single, primary wrongful act, the proof will be common to all plaintiffs; however separate proof will be required where there are several wrongful acts by several different actors. The need for separate proof is lessened only where the different wrongful acts are similar in type and character, and occur close in time and/or place. ___ So.2d at ___, 2005 WL 613490, . This Court also stated that, as a general rule, when an act or omission of a defendant does not affect all plaintiffs in much the same way, then there is probably not a distinct litigable event. Id. at ¶ 13. ¶ 14. The cases sub judice involve over seventy plaintiffs with over fifty diverse factual allegations that occurred in thirty-two separate stores, involving a multitude of different employees and witnesses, and occurred over a seven year time period. The claims allege incidents in ten separate states: Mississippi, Alabama, Iowa, Tennessee, Texas, Florida, Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana and Kentucky. Only one plaintiff, Consuelo Jones, alleges that a tort occurred in Hinds County, and she is the only plaintiff who has sued a Hinds County resident: Jackson Police Department Officer Louie Hutchins who also worked as a security guard at Dillard's Metrocenter store. Only four plaintiffs in Scott and six in Johnson reside in Hinds County. The complaints cover a broad spectrum of issues, with a multitude of facts unique to individual plaintiffs. Five plaintiffs allege they were accused of stealing while employees of Dillard's, three of whom were terminated as a result, while the other two employees allege they were questioned regarding possible theft of merchandise from the store. Other plaintiffs allege they were not allowed to return merchandise. Some claim they were taken to back offices where they were questioned. Others allege they were forced to remove articles of clothing. Still others allege their cars were searched. Some, but not all, plaintiffs allege they were physically assaulted. Many plaintiffs claim they were allowed to leave the store after the alleged incidents, while others were arrested and jailed. Accusations of shoplifting were made by different sales clerks, security officers, and off-duty policemen who were employed by the defendant. Obviously, the majority, if not all of the claims will assuredly require separate witnesses to prove or disprove plaintiffs' allegations and Dillard's denials. ¶ 15. Plaintiffs argue that joinder is proper according to American Bankers Ins. Co. v. Alexander, 818 So.2d 1073 (Miss.2001). However, American Bankers was distinguished from Armond because in American Bankers, there was no decision to be made on a case by case basis, and there was nothing unique or individual about the defendants' treatment of any of the plaintiffs. Armond, 866 So.2d at 1092. In the cases sub judice there exists an indeterminable number of factual and legal issues which will have to be determined on a plaintiff-by-plaintiff and state-by-state basis. The interpretation and application of law from the various foreign jurisdictions will necessarily be required which would further obfuscate the proceedings. Each plaintiff has a unique set of facts, as their complaints describe a potpourri of allegations of wrongdoing and damage. ¶ 16. This Court held that American Bankers was distinguishable from Grayson v. K-Mart Corp., 849 F.Supp. 785 (N.D.Ga.1994), where a Georgia court held that eleven age discrimination claims against different stores owned by the same retail chain but involving unique circumstances, did not arise out of the same transaction or occurrence. American Bankers, 818 So.2d at 1079. In describing Grayson, this Court stated that: A joint trial of plaintiff's claims would have involved eleven different factual situations, eleven sets of work histories, eleven sets of witnesses and testimony, and the laws of four different states. The case at bar stands in stark contrast to the factual situations in Grayson. Here, each plaintiff has alleged the very same claims involving the same insurance policies. As such, the prejudice and confusion contemplated by the defendant is not sufficient to warrant separate trials. Id. The cases sub judice are analogous to Grayson and based on Armond, Gregory, and Rule 20 as amended, plaintiffs' claims do not arise out of the same transaction or occurrence and accordingly must be severed. In the Scott case, a joint trial of plaintiffs claims would involve over 20, and in Johnson over 40, different factual situations and sets of witnesses, the laws of ten different states, and claims by employees and customers of a multitude of Dillard's stores throughout the country. We reaffirm this Court's statement as found in Crossfield Products Corp. v. Irby, ___ So.2d ___, 2005 WL 246781 (Miss.2005), In the case sub judice the plaintiffs do not have a distinct litigable event that links them together. Id. at ___,  (¶ 9). Accordingly, the out-of-state plaintiffs with no connection to Mississippi and whose causes of action accrued out of state shall be dismissed without prejudice and all remaining cases without an independent basis for venue in Hinds County shall be severed and transferred to the appropriate jurisdiction where each plaintiff could have brought his or her claim without reliance on an improperly joined plaintiff. See Amchem Prods., Inc. v. Rogers, 2005 WL 613445 (Miss.2005).