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Georgia-Pacific Consumer Prods. LP v. Ratner

The trial court abused its discretion in certifying a class of property owners because the plaintiffs failed to satisfy the commonality requirement.

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The named plaintiffs in this class action own real property in Mallard Pointe, a residential neighborhood in Effingham County. Nearby, since 1986, Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products, LP has operated the Savannah River Mill, a facility that includes more than a hundred acres of sludge fields, into which Georgia-Pacific puts the solid waste generated at the Mill. As this solid waste decomposes, the plaintiffs say, hydrogen sulfide gas is released from the sludge fields. Alleging that their real property has been contaminated by this gas—and that, as a result, they have been exposed to noxious odors, their use and enjoyment of their property has been impaired, and the value of their property has diminished—the plaintiffs sued Georgia-Pacific for nuisance, trespass, and negligence. The plaintiffs sought not only to recover monetary damages for themselves, but they proposed to seek relief for a class of other nearby property owners.

The trial court permitted them to do so, certifying a class that consists of the owners of 67 parcels of real property in and around Mallard Pointe.1 Georgia-Pacific appealed the certification of the class,2 and the Court of Appeals affirmed, Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products, LP v. Ratner, 323 Ga. App. 203, 203-212 746 SE2d 829 2013, although three of its judges dissented. See id. at 213-221 Branch, J., dissenting. Upon the petition of Georgia-Pacific, we issued a writ of certiorari to review the decision of the Court of Appeals. We conclude that the trial court abused its discretion when it certified the class, and we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals.

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