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A federal judge is considering a motion filed by Change.org to dismiss a class action lawsuit accusing the site of collecting and misusing millions of dollars intended to help seek racial justice for George Floyd.
The motion seeks dismissal of the case entirely or, alternatively, that the judge strike the class action allegations put forth in the complaint.
Judge Edward M. Chen is considering the motion, which was submitted during a hearing held Tuesday via Zoom.
The motion was submitted in response to a class action lawsuit filed in June.
The plaintiff, Sean. D. Randall, signed a petition on Change.org seeking justice for George Floyd, a Black man who was killed at the hands of Minneapolis police in late May. Floyd’s death led to demonstrations for racial justice throughout the world.
When Randall signed the petition in early June, he was prompted to donate a small amount; he decided to make a $3 donation.
Randall alleges the donation screen made promises about how the money would be used, such as for national billboards about the petition, increasing social media presence and more.
However, he says, he has seen no evidence the donations were used for these purposes.
Change.org later removed the donation option.
The defendant argues the case should be dismissed because Randall’s claim of breach of contract “fails to plead the required elements.”
Change.org also argues that at the very least, the class action allegations should be dropped “because Randall cannot possibly establish that class treatment of this case is appropriate” under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
The defendant maintains that “even a cursory view” of the contract that exists between the parties “makes it clear that Randall’s theories of breach have no grounding in the actual terms of that instrument and should be dismissed.”
While Change.org agrees on some of the facts — that Randall signed the George Floyd racial justice petition, that he was solicited for a donation and that he donated $3 — it disagrees about the promises made to donors.
Change.org maintains it promised to display an ad for the petition 12.5 times for every $1 donated by Randall. He donated $3, which equals 38 ad displays, all of which Change.org says were provided, along with additional billboard and social media ads.
The defendant says Randall’s initial accusation that the site “pocketed” his $3 as profit was baseless.
Indeed, Randall’s second amended complaint no longer accuses Change.org of keeping the money as profit, but rather “tweaks his theory of breach” to plead around a declaration by the site’s chief operating officer that documented how the money was spent, the motion to dismiss argues.
Change.org says Randall’s breach of contract argument “ignores that the solicitation materials expressly stated — in multiple places — that the advertising displays he purchased could appear ‘on Change.org.’”
Randall also claimed the contract was breached because Change.org donated some of his money to various racial justice programs instead of using the whole amount to advertise the George Floyd petition.
However, Change.org argues, the site never promised the funds would be used exclusively for advertising that particular petition. Once it spent the money on the 38 ad displays, its contractual obligations were met.
According to the motion to dismiss, the George Floyd petition is Change.org’s most popular, having been signed by 20 million people. People signing the petition have donated about $7.7 million in order to further promote it.
Those who have signed a similar racial justice petition, for police shooting victim Breonna Taylor, have donated an additional $2 million, the motion says.
In addition, the motion to dismiss says, even if the breach claims were founded, dismissal of the case would still be required because “Randall fails to plead any actual damages resulting from the alleged breach.”
Not only is his second amended complaint “utterly devoid” of allegations relating to damages, the motion says, it’s also not evident how the plaintiff could have been damaged in the first place.
At the very least, Change.org argues, the class allegations should be dropped.
“It is manifest that Randall’s idiosyncratic theories of breach cannot satisfy Rule 23’s ‘stringent requirements’ for class certification, and no amount of discovery could possibly change that,” the motion to dismiss says. “The Court should therefore make clear that, to the extent this case proceeds, it may do so only as a $3 individual claim.”
Do you think the class action allegations against Change.org should be dismissed? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
Randall and the proposed Class are represented by Robert B. Salgado, Dargan Ware, John E. Norris and Andrew Wheeler-Berliner of Davis & Norris LLP.
The George Floyd Racial Justice Change.org Class Action Lawsuit is Sean D. Randall, et al. v. Change.org PCB, Case No. 3:20-cv-03863-EMC, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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add me please