Selecting a named plaintiff in a putative class action can be one of the most important, but overlooked, decisions that a plaintiff’s counsel makes. Picking the wrong plaintiff can lead to delay, dismissal of claims, denial of class certification in some circumstances, and motions for sanctions. The high-profile putative class action against Mark Cuban, the “Shark Tank” multimillionaire entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team, illustrates all of these ... Keep Reading »
Cy Pres Settlements in the Ninth Circuit – A View From the Street
Cy pres-only class action settlements are alive and well in the Ninth Circuit, where a unanimous panel of the court recently affirmed a settlement that provides no monetary relief whatsoever to the class, but awarded millions of dollars in attorneys’ fees to class counsel and distributed monetary relief to nine, third-party cy pres recipients. The case, In re Google Inc. Street View Electronic Communications Litigation, revolved around the collection of private data by ... Keep Reading »
Sixth Circuit Rejects a Novel Concept: Certification of “Negotiation Class” in Opioid Multidistrict Litigation
The Sixth Circuit recently addressed whether a novel negotiation class could be certified to facilitate possible future settlement negotiations in multidistrict litigation (MDL). The Sixth Circuit's decision arises from the opioid MDL in the Northern District of Ohio, on which we previously reported. In June 2019, 51 of the plaintiff cities and counties moved to certify a "negotiation class" under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3). The plaintiffs sought to ... Keep Reading »
New Putative Class Action in South Florida Tackles COVID-19 Outbreak Head-On
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, class action litigation of various types has been initiated, ranging from consumer to employment class actions. Most of these class actions seemingly relate to companies' reactions to the pandemic, but a recent class action filed in the Southern District of Florida addresses the COVID-19 pandemic head-on. In early March, a complaint was filed by Logan Alters and other named plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and others similarly ... Keep Reading »
Report on Current Class Action Issues Plaguing Life Insurers
As Justice Hugo Black said in 1944, “Perhaps no modern commercial enterprise directly affects so many persons in all walks of life as does the insurance business.” Even so, the evolving threat of class action lawsuits brings heightened concerns for the life insurance industry. And as shown by the prevalence of life insurance class actions over the past years, class actions against life insurers come in all shapes and sizes. In “Class Action Roundup,” Carlton Fields ... Keep Reading »
Opt-Out Arbitration Program Binds Employees in Wage and Hour Class Action
A recent decision by a Wisconsin district court illustrates the impact of an arbitration agreement on class actions. The plaintiffs alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state wage and overtime laws, claiming that employees were not compensated for 15 minutes of activity at the start of every workday and that actual pay was understated for purposes of calculating overtime. The defendants moved to compel arbitration on an individual basis. The ... Keep Reading »
Question of Consent Turns Putative TCPA Fax Class Action Into Junk
A recent decision by a Connecticut district court reiterates that the issue of consent may foreclose class certification in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) junk fax cases. The action was one of several putative class actions brought by Gorss Motels Inc. against suppliers to Wyndham hotels and its various franchisees. Gorss was a former corporate owner of a Wyndham franchise hotel. Defendant Otis Elevator Co. had a contract with a subsidiary of Wyndham as an ... Keep Reading »
Inexperienced Class Counsel Stalls Class Certification While Defendants Attempt to Employ EEOC Conciliation Agreement Against Class
The Northern District of Illinois recently denied a motion for class certification based largely on the inexperience of class counsel, and simultaneously denied the defendant’s motion to deny class certification. The plaintiffs sought to represent a class of all present and former female employees who worked at a Chicago area Ford Motor Company facility beginning in 2012. Plaintiffs filed a 123-count complaint alleging a wide range of claims, including sexual harassment, ... Keep Reading »
No Refund For You! Voluntary Payment Defense Precludes Class Certification in Florida Red Light Camera Case
Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal (“Fifth DCA”) upheld a denial of certification in a putative class action seeking refunds of fines paid under a red light camera ordinance, ruling that the application of the voluntary payment defense precluded findings of commonality, typicality, predominance, and superiority. At issue was the City of Orlando’s (“City”) issuance of fines pursuant to an ordinance that allowed for the use of cameras to record vehicles failing to ... Keep Reading »
Put This in Your Pipe: Supreme Court Rules 9-0 That American Pipe Tolling Does Not Permit Filing of Serial Class Actions Beyond the Statute of Limitations
As we previously reported, last year the Ninth Circuit in Resh v. China Agritech, Inc., No. 15-55432, 2017 WL 2261024 (9th Cir. May 24, 2017), joined a circuit split when it held that the statute of limitations did not bar a third successive putative class action alleging securities fraud claims against a fertilizer manufacturer. The Ninth Circuit’s decision would have expanded the American Pipe equitable tolling rule to allow absent members of an uncertified class to ... Keep Reading »