California Supreme Court Rejects Privacy Rights Arguments of Pioneer Electronics' Defense Attorneys that Consumers Who Contacted Company and Complained about Product Defects Must Thereafter Affirmatively Consent to Release of Contact Information to Attorney Prosecuting Putative Class Action Involving the Same Product Defects In Consumers' Complaints
Plaintiff filed a putative class action against Pioneer Electronics alleging defects in DVD player, seeking to represent "persons who purchased the same model of allegedly defective DVD player." Pioneer Electronics v. Superior Court, 40 Cal.4th 360 (Cal. 2007) [Slip Opn., at 2]. During discovery, Pioneer revealed that it had received 700 - 800 consumer complaints concerning the same DVD player.
Id. Plaintiff demanded the addresses and telephone numbers of the consumers who had complained; Pioneer objected asserting the right to privacy protected by the California Constitution. Id. (citing Cal. Const., Art. I, § 1). Ultimately the trial court ordered that a letter be sent to the complaining consumers advising them that their contact information would be disclosed to plaintiff's attorney unless they affirmatively objected to such disclosure. Id., at 4. The California Court of Appeal reversed, granting Pioneer's petition for writ of mandate to compel the trial court to vacate its order and require that consumers affirmatively consent to the release of their contact information. Id., at 4-5. The California Supreme Court reversed the decision of the appellate court, reinstating the trial court's order.
The Supreme Court framed the issue as follows: "Does a complaining purchaser possess a right to privacy protecting him or her from unsolicited contact by a class action plaintiff seeking relief from the vendor to whom the purchaser's complaint was sent?" Slip Opn., at 4.
The Court noted that the decision of the Court of Appeal "would place the burden on the discovery proponent to obtain written authorization from each person whose privacy was to be invaded." Id., at 9. In contrast, plaintiff's attorney argued that "consumers who initially contacted Pioneer to express dissatisfaction with its product have a reduced expectation of privacy or confidentiality in the contact information they freely offered to Pioneer for the purpose, presumably, of allowing further communication regarding their complaints." Id., at 6.
The Supreme Court agreed, holding that "[r]evealing names, addresses and contact information on persons who have already complained about their Pioneer DVD players would not be particularly sensitive or intrusive
