Torres v. Botanic Tonics, LLC
- Vince Chhabria
- 3:23-cv-01460
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Torres v. Botanic Tonics, LLC, Judge Chhabria granted 7-Eleven’s request to certify an appeal of an earlier order denying its motion to dismiss.
7-Eleven, the plaintiffs, and the other defendants in Torres v. Botanic Tonics, LLC. The order allows 7-Eleven to seek Ninth Circuit review of the earlier denial of its motion to dismiss and requires discovery to continue while that request is considered.
What happened
In Torres v. Botanic Tonics, LLC, 7-Eleven asked the court to allow an appeal of an earlier order that denied its motion to dismiss. That earlier order interpreted California’s unfair-practices law and a Ninth Circuit decision about that law.
Judge Chhabria found that the legal requirements for certifying the appeal were met. He noted that other district courts had arguably interpreted the Ninth Circuit decision differently and that the Ninth Circuit had later repeated language supporting 7-Eleven’s interpretation.
Judge Chhabria granted 7-Eleven’s certification request. He ordered discovery to continue while the Ninth Circuit considers whether to allow the appeal, and said discovery involving the other defendants could continue if the appeal is allowed.
The detailed version
- Torres v. Botanic Tonics, LLC · No. 3:23-cv-01460
- Vince Chhabria
- Feb. 5, 2024
Background
The court had previously denied 7-Eleven’s motion to dismiss. That earlier order interpreted the liability standard under the unfair-practices prong of California’s Unfair Competition Law and interpreted the Ninth Circuit’s holding in Hodsdon v. Mars, Inc.
7-Eleven then moved under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) for certification of an appeal. This procedure allows a district court to certify certain legal questions for possible review by the court of appeals.
Court’s reasoning
The court found that the statutory requirements for certification were met. It explained that other district courts had arguably adopted a different interpretation of language in Hodsdon, one that aligned with 7-Eleven’s position. The court also noted that the Ninth Circuit had repeated the language relied on by 7-Eleven in a nonprecedential memorandum disposition issued around the same time as the earlier order.
Ruling and effect
Judge Vince Chhabria granted 7-Eleven’s motion for certification of an appeal of the order denying its motion to dismiss. The order did not itself decide whether the Ninth Circuit would allow the appeal. Discovery must continue while the Ninth Circuit considers 7-Eleven’s request. If the Ninth Circuit allows the appeal, discovery concerning the other defendants will likely continue as well, although the court said that issue could be revisited.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.