Here’s the situation: You’re facing a class action in federal court in which the plaintiffs define the putative class so broadly as to encompass many people who weren’t injured by the alleged wrongdoing. For example, consider a false-advertising class action on behalf of “all purchasers” of a product that the vast majority of purchasers would… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: predominance
Supreme Court Reverses Certification of Antitrust Class Action Where Class Failed To Prove That Damages Could Be Determined On A Classwide Basis
Posted in Antitrust, Class Certification, Predominance, U.S. Supreme CourtAn important and recurring issue in class actions is whether a district court must consider particular merits issues when deciding whether to certify a class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. Today, in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend (pdf), No. 11-864, the Supreme Court reversed the certification of an antitrust class action because the district court… Continue Reading
Supreme Court Denies Review In NECA-IBEW Case
Posted in Adequacy, Class Certification, Commonality, Predominance, Securities, TypicalityWe’ve been blogging about the Second Circuit’s decision in NECA-IBEW Health & Welfare Fund v. Goldman Sachs (pdf), which held that a named plaintiff in a securities fraud suit might have standing in some situations to assert class action claims regarding securities that he or she never purchased. Yesterday, the Supreme Court denied (pdf) Goldman’s petition… Continue Reading
Lipton v. Chattem, Inc.: Federal District Court Denies Certification On Adequacy Grounds
Posted in Adequacy, Class Certification, Predominance, SuperiorityThe requirement that the named plaintiff must be an adequate class representative is not often the basis for denying class certification. But a recent decision from the Northern District of Illinois in a false-advertising class action illustrates the importance of taking discovery on facts that are relevant to the adequacy standard. In Lipton v. Chattem,… Continue Reading
Plaintiffs Seek to Revive Securities Fraud Class Actions Under Second Circuit’s “Class Standing” Doctrine
Posted in Class Action Trends, SecuritiesI previously blogged about the Second Circuit’s troubling decision in NECA-IBEW Health & Welfare Fund v. Goldman Sachs & Co. (pdf), 693 F.3d 145 (2d Cir. 2012), which invented a “class standing” doctrine allowing a named plaintiff in a class action to assert Securities Act claims regarding securities that he or she never purchased. In the… Continue Reading
Seventh Circuit: A “Shapeless, Free-Wheeling” Trial Plan Is Grounds for Decertifying Class
Posted in Class Certification, Employment, Predominance, Rule 23(b)(2), SuperiorityThe Seventh Circuit’s recent decision in Espenscheid v. DirectSat USA, LLC—authored by Judge Posner—is full of good news for employers and other class-action defendants. The case is a hybrid collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act (pdf) and opt-out Rule 23(b)(3) class action asserting state-law wage-and-hour claims. The plaintiffs—a group of home satellite-dish installers who… Continue Reading
Can a Product-Liability Class that Is Full of Uninjured Members Be Certified?
Posted in Class Certification, Predominance, SuperiorityThe answer is a resounding “no,” says Judge Cormac Carney of the Central District of California in a recent significant decision in litigation over the third generation Toyota Prius and 2010 Lexus HS250h vehicles (In re Toyota Motor Corp. Hybrid Brake Mktg., Sales Practices & Prods. Liab. Litig. (pdf), No. SAML 10-2172-CJC (C.D. Cal. Jan. 9,… Continue Reading
Balthazor: Individualized Questions as to Consent Torpedo Attempt to Certify TCPA Class Action
Posted in Class Certification, PredominanceReaders of this blog are likely familiar with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TPCA”), the law that prohibits certain types of calls using an automatic telephone dialing system or prerecorded message. The plaintiffs’ bar has filed numerous class actions seeking statutory damages under the TCPA. Businesses facing these actions should be alert for opportunities to… Continue Reading
Expelliarmus! Eleventh Circuit Disarms False-Advertising Class Action Against Makers of Fantasy Video Game
Posted in Ascertainability, Class Certification, PredominancePlaintiffs who wish to bring product-liability and consumer-fraud class actions against businesses often overreach when defining the proposed class in order to raise the stakes—and hence the settlement pressure—on the defendant. A recent unpublished decision by the Eleventh Circuit, Walewski v. Zenimax Media, Inc. (pdf), No. 12-11843, is yet another example of the growing consensus rejecting… Continue Reading
Class Action Plaintiffs Can’t Have It Both Ways When Opposing Motions to Compel Arbitration
Posted in Arbitration, Class Certification, Motions Practice, Numerosity, Predominance, TypicalityIn litigation—as in war—it is natural to focus on winning today’s skirmish and to defer planning for battles that might not happen for weeks or months. But that shortsightedness can lead to strategic blunders—as one class action plaintiff suing Capital One Bank and credit counseling agency InCharge Debt Solutions recently learned the hard way. In King… Continue Reading
Brinker’s Impact on Certification of Meal-Break Class Actions in California
Posted in Class Certification, Employment, PredominanceClass actions alleging that employers’ meal-break policies violate California law have long been a favorite of the plaintiffs’ bar. Earlier this year, however, the California Supreme Court handed employers a victory in Brinker Restaurant Corp v. Superior Court, 53 Cal. 4th 1004 (Cal. 2012), holding that the obligation under the California Labor Code to provide… Continue Reading
Wall Street Journal Editorial Calls for Supreme Court Review in Whirlpool Corp. v. Glazer
Posted in Appeals, Class Certification, Commonality, Predominance, U.S. Supreme CourtThe Wall Street Journal recently published an editorial urging the Supreme Court to grant the petition for certiorari (pdf) in Whirlpool Corp. v. Glazer—a petition filed by my colleagues Stephen Shapiro, Jeffrey Sarles, and Tim Bishop. The petition seeks review of a decision by the Sixth Circuit (pdf), which affirmed the certification of a class of Ohio… Continue Reading