NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MAR 7 2019
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
TATIANA KOROLSHTEYN, on behalf of No. 17-56435
herself and all others similarly situated,
D.C. No. 3:15-cv-00709-CAB
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v. MEMORANDUM*
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
and NBTY, INC.,
Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of California
Cathy Ann Bencivengo, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted November 9, 2018
Submission Vacated November 13, 2018
Resubmitted February 20, 2019
Portland, Oregon
Before: TALLMAN and IKUTA, Circuit Judges, and BOUGH,** District Judge.
Tatiana Korolshteyn and other putative class action plaintiffs appeal an
adverse summary judgment entered by the district court in favor of Costco
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
**
The Honorable Stephen R. Bough, United States District Judge for the
Western District of Missouri, sitting by designation.
Wholesale Corporation and NBTY and a denial of Daubert motions in a diversity
class action. The class alleges that appellees violated California’s Unfair
Competition Law (“UCL”) and Consumer Legal Remedies Act (“CLRA”) by
falsely advertising the benefits of TruNature Ginkgo Biloba with Vinpocetine.
Both parties had introduced expert testimony supporting their respective claims
and the district court denied appellants’ Daubert motions to exclude the testimony
of three of the appellees’ expert witnesses. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.
§ 1291. We review summary judgment de novo. See Edwards v. Wells Fargo &
Co., 606 F.3d 555, 557 (9th Cir. 2010). We review a district court’s admission of
scientific evidence for abuse of discretion. See Gen. Elec. Co. v. Joiner, 522 U.S.
136, 146 (1997). Because the district court did not have the benefit of a recently
released decision of our court, we reverse the district court’s grant of summary
judgment, affirm the denial of the Daubert motions, and remand for further
proceedings.1
Based on the recently released opinion, the district court erred in granting
summary judgment by failing to apply the appropriate substantive evidentiary
standard of a preponderance to claims brought under California’s consumer
1
The motion to file and request to extend time for filing an Amicus Curiae by the
Consumer Attorneys of California in support of appellants is denied as moot
following the panel’s reversal of summary judgment and the Court’s recent
decision in Sonner v. Schwabe N. Am., Inc., 911 F.3d 989 (9th Cir. 2018)
confirming the appropriate standard of proof in UCL and CLRA claims.
2
protection laws. See Sonner v. Schwabe N. Am., Inc., 911 F.3d 989, 992 (9th Cir.
2018). The appropriate evidentiary standard must be applied in determining
whether a factual dispute must be submitted to a jury. See Anderson v. Liberty
Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986). The district court applied a tougher,
conclusive standard, holding that the existence of scientific studies supporting the
alleged benefits of the product precluded the appellants from conclusively proving
falsity in the appellees’ product labeling. We therefore remand so that the district
court may apply the newly clarified standard. See Sonner at 992.
The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying appellants’ Daubert
motions and admitting the testimony of appellees’ expert witnesses. Concerns
regarding the admission of “shaky” evidence are resolved through the trial process
through “[v]igorous cross-examination, presentation of contrary evidence, and
careful instruction on the burden of proof.” Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharm., Inc.,
509 U.S. 579, 596 (1993). We affirm the district court’s denial of appellants’
Daubert motions.
REVERSED IN PART, AFFIRMED IN PART, and REMANDED.
Each party shall bear its own costs on appeal.
3
Tatiana Korolshteyn v. Costco
Combined Opinion