Nearly three years after its decision in Johnson v. NPAS Solutions LLC, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals remains the only circuit in the nation to categorically bar class representatives from receiving incentive awards. The U.S. Supreme Court recently denied a petition for certiorari to review the Eleventh Circuit’s first-in-the-nation decision in Johnson. Three other circuits, the First, Second, and Ninth Circuits, have explicitly rejected the Eleventh Circuit’s ... Keep Reading »
United States Supreme Court Class Action Articles
The latest class action developments and trends in the United States Supreme Court, including news, key cases, and strategies.
Delivery in 30 Minutes or Less: Supreme Court Punts on Who Qualifies Under FAA Exemption for Interstate Commerce Workers
In Domino’s Pizza LLC v. Carmona, Domino’s petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify whether drivers making only in-state deliveries of goods, ordered by in-state customers from an in-state warehouse, engaged in interstate or foreign commerce, exempting them from arbitration under Section 1 of the Federal Arbitration Act. The Supreme Court on October 17, 2022, granted Domino’s petition for certiorari, vacated the Ninth Circuit’s ruling allowing the drivers to ... Keep Reading »
PAGA Claims Sent Down the River: Supreme Court Gives California Employers Major Victory in Viking Cruises Arbitration Case
Representative actions brought under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) have been the bane of that state’s labor lawyers’ existence since PAGA’s enactment in 2004. Thanks to this week’s Supreme Court decision in Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, forward-thinking clients can say goodbye to all that. The PAGA Predicament PAGA enlists employees as private attorneys general to enforce California labor law. By its terms, PAGA authorizes an “aggrieved ... Keep Reading »
Supreme Court: “Unharmed” Class Members Are Not Entitled to Damages; $40M TransUnion Judgment Reversed
On June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its highly anticipated decision in TransUnion v. Ramirez, a case addressing Article III standing in the context of a class action. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a split decision, had approved a $40 million award to a class of 8,185 individuals alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, despite serious questions regarding whether a large percentage of class members had suffered any real injury. The class ... Keep Reading »
Article III and Rule 23: Do We Stand Together or All on Our Own?
On December 16, 2020, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez to review the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Ramirez v. TransUnion LLC. Specifically, the Supreme Court granted certiorari for the following question: Whether either Article III or Rule 23 permits a damages class action where the vast majority of the class suffered no actual injury, let alone an injury anything like what the class representative suffered. The Supreme Court’s certiorari ... Keep Reading »
Supreme Court Declines to Remove Loophole in CAFA
On May 28, 2019, Justice Clarence Thomas — joined by unlikely allies Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan — wrote the 5-4 majority opinion holding that third-party counterclaim defendants in class actions do not have the authority to remove claims to federal court under either the general removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a), or § 1453(b) of the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA). In this pro-consumer ruling, Justice Thomas declined to close an emerging ... Keep Reading »
Lights Out on Classwide Arbitration: The Supreme Court Rules in Lamps Plus That Ambiguity in Agreements Is Not Enough to Permit Classwide Arbitration
Recently, the Supreme Court extended its prior rulings looking skeptically at the idea of classwide arbitration, holding that even when an agreement is “ambiguous” about the availability of classwide arbitration, such arbitration is still barred. Nine years ago, in Stolt-Nielsen S.A. v. AnimalFeeds International Corp., 559 U.S. 662 (2010), the Court had ruled that classwide arbitration may not be compelled when an agreement is “silent” on the availability of such ... Keep Reading »
Chaos in Gaos: Supreme Court Avoids Cy Pres Ruling and Remands Google Settlement for Standing Analysis
On March 20, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a per curiam opinion vacating the decision of the Ninth Circuit in Frank v. Gaos. The Court granted certiorari to evaluate a cy pres settlement in a class action. The district court approved a settlement fund granting $8.5 million in monetary relief in a suit brought by plaintiffs alleging that Google’s privacy practices violated the Stored Communications Act. The class included tens of millions of Google users. Because ... Keep Reading »
Employers and Employees Look Ahead to Potential Impact of SCOTUS Rulings on Arbitrations vs Class Action Cases
Carlton Fields Shareholder Julianna Thomas McCabe was quoted by CNBC in an article about whether the U.S. Supreme Court will make it harder for workers to take their employers to court. A fair arbitration is better and faster than a trial for both parties, said McCabe, who leads the firm’s National Class Actions practice group. McCabe told CNBC the Supreme Court appears “extremely interested in this issue” ahead of oral argument in Henry Schein Inc. v. Archer and White ... Keep Reading »
Tenth Circuit Finds Plaintiffs’ Settle and Dismiss Strategy Unappealing
Following Supreme Court precedent, the Tenth Circuit recently held that plaintiffs’ settlement and voluntary dismissal of their claims did not transform the court’s interlocutory order denying class certification into a final, appealable order under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Plaintiff trusts brought a putative class action against an energy company, alleging various claims related to royalty interests under gas leases, and sought to certify a class. The district court denied ... Keep Reading »
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