Court Opinion

ID: 9778623
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 21:14:04.577934+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:33:12.169156
License: Public Domain

GEMMILL, Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
¶ 47 I concur with my colleagues on the issues addressed in the majority opinion with the exception of the majority’s conclusion that the remedy of disgorgement is available to the State under the CFA.
¶ 48 Before addressing disgorgement, I will summarize my understanding of the intent requirement under the CFA that the State must prove on the part of AutoZone. The CFA neither imposes strict liability nor requires proof of traditional intent to deceive. Relying primarily on the language of the CFA and on our Goodyear opinion, we have concluded that the requisite intent is the intent “to do the act involved.” A retailer such as AutoZone should not be liable under the CFA for involuntary, unintended mispric-ings or missing prices. See supra ¶¶ 10-19. We have also determined that the very doing of the acts involved allows a presumption of the requisite intent, see supra ¶¶ 21-22, and therefore the State carries its initial burden by proving the mispricings or missing prices. On remand, AutoZone will have the opportunity to offer admissible evidence concerning its lack of intent.
¶ 49 The majority concludes that disgorgement is available to the State as a remedy under the CFA. See supra ¶¶ 39-43. I respectfully dissent from this conclusion. The CFA is a comprehensive set of statutes setting forth in detail a variety of remedies and penalties for violations of its provisions, yet these statutes do not describe or specifically authorize disgorgement. When the legislature has created a complete statutory scheme that does not include a particular remedy that could have easily been included, we should be very reluctant to create such a remedy by judicial interpretation. See Bal-lesteros v. Am. Standard Ins. Co. of Wis., 226 Ariz. 345, 349, ¶ 17, 248 P.3d 193, 197 (2011) (“[I]t is not our place to rewrite the statute.”); New Sun Bus. Park, LLC v. Yuma Cnty., 221 Ariz. 43, 47, ¶ 16, 209 P.3d 179, 183 (App.2009) (same); Rotolo v. San Jose Sports and Entm’t, LLC, 151 Cal. App.4th 307, 59 Cal.Rptr.3d 770, 782 (2007) (stating that courts “have no power to rewrite a statute by implying additional provi*486sions we believe would further legislative purpose” and “[t]his rule of judicial restraint is particularly appropriate where the statutes, as here, are detailed and comprehensive”).
¶ 50 Under the provisions of the CFA, the court may impose injunctive relief against companies or individuals to prevent specific conduct and may even prohibit persons from engaging altogether in a specified trade or occupation. A.R.S. § 44-1528(A)(l), (8). The court may also order restitution of money or property to the victims. A.R.S. § 44-1528(A)(2). The court may appoint a receiver to take control of the assets of an offending company or person. AR.S. § 44-1528(A)(2) and (B). The attorney general is authorized to accept an “assurance of discontinuance” of unlawful practices from violators. A.R.S. § 44-1530 (2003). Various civil penalties are created. See A.R.S. § 44-1531, -1532 (2003). But nowhere in this statutory scheme is the attorney general specifically given power to seek a disgorgement remedy nor is the court authorized to order disgorgement.
¶ 51 The legislature has acted to create a variety of remedies and penalties for violations of the CFA Now the State wants to add a disgorgement remedy that is not part of the statutory scheme. This new remedy differs from the statutory restitutionary remedy because the funds recovered will apparently go to the State, not any actual victims. Yet the legislature has already provided for specific civil penalties without any mention of disgorgement. See id. Furthermore, as Au-toZone points out, the CFA contains no provision for the handling and use of any funds that might be recovered via this new remedy. See A.R.S. § 44-1531.01(B) (Supp.2010) (directing that “investigative or court costs, attorney fees or civil penalties recovered for the state by the attorney general” from enforcing consumer fraud act be placed in the consumer protection-consumer fraud revolving fund).
¶ 52 Faced with this detailed statutory scheme enacted by the legislature regarding consumer fraud, I would leave to the legislature the creation of a new remedy such as disgorgement. We should not in essence rewrite these statutes by judicial interpretation. See Ballesteros, 226 Ariz. at 349, ¶ 17, 248 P.3d at 197; New Sun, 221 Ariz. at 47, ¶ 16, 209 P.3d at 183; Rotolo, 59 Cal.Rptr.3d at 782.
¶ 53 For these reasons, I respectfully dissent from the majority’s conclusion that the remedy of disgorgement is available to the State under the CFA.