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 »
Court Denies Class Certification Based on Judicial Estoppel
The plaintiff brought a putative class action after allegedly defaulting on charges for medical services. Shortly thereafter, the creditor assigned, placed, or transferred the debt to the defendants for collection. The defendants later sent the plaintiff a collection letter, which the plaintiff asserted did not accurately identify the creditor of the alleged debt (naming “WF, Inc – Elmwood Mem.” as the creditor). The plaintiff alleged that he did not recognize the name ... Keep Reading »
Reservation Canceled! Court Strikes Class Allegations Against American Airlines
The Northern District of Illinois recently granted defendant American Airlines’ motion to strike class allegations in a passenger’s breach of contract suit brought after American cancelled plaintiff’s flight reservation when he attempted to check in less than an hour before the scheduled departure time. The court found it was clear from the pleadings that plaintiff’s proposed nationwide class could not meet the predominance requirement of Rule 23(b)(3). In particular, ... 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 »
Enough is Enough: The Limits of Invoking Rule 23(c)(1)(C)
On September 4, Judge Rogers of the Northern District of California granted defendants’ motion to strike plaintiffs’ second renewed motion for class certification. The motion was filed by indirect purchaser plaintiffs in this lithium ion batteries antitrust litigation. The “second renewed motion,” which was in fact a third motion for class certification, cited Rule 23(c)(1)(C) as authority. Plaintiffs did not seek leave to file this third motion. In striking the ... Keep Reading »
Class Certification Denied in ‘Junk Fax’ Case in Electronic Age
On September 5, Judge Dlott (Southern District of Ohio) denied plaintiff’s motion for class certification in a case involving the “junk fax” provision of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991. Perhaps perplexed that such cases still arise, the district court explained that, “[a]lthough it seems odd that the problem persists in the electronic age, the ‘junk fax’ provision attempts to curb the inundation of unwanted faxes.” In this case, there was no dispute that ... Keep Reading »
The Eleventh Circuit Weighs in on the Intersection of Arbitration and Class Action Jurisprudence
On September 19th, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals resolved a question of first impression in the circuit: whether the availability of the class action mechanism is a question of arbitrability that presumptively should be decided by the court. The Court ruled that the availability of class arbitration presumptively should be decided by the court. But, in a second ruling that could overshadow the first for many existing arbitration agreements, the Court proceeded to ... Keep Reading »
Volkswagen Passes Fairness Test for Class Settlement in Dispute Over “Defeat Devices” to Bypass Emission Tests
Last month the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court decision approving a class settlement regarding Volkwagen’s marketing of clean diesel vehicles that used so-called “defeat devices” to circumvent emissions tests. Hundreds of “defeat device” lawsuits against Volkswagen were consolidated in the Northern District of California for pretrial proceedings. The proposed settlement provided over $10 billion in potential damages and class members’ recovery depended on whether ... Keep Reading »
Defense Victories in Genetic and Biometric Privacy Class Actions
In what may be a glimpse into the next frontier in class action litigation, two federal courts recently disposed of putative class actions alleging violations of state privacy laws involving genetic and biometric data. In a rare defense victory in a circuit favored by the plaintiff’s bar, a Ninth Circuit panel affirmed a decision by the United States District Court for the District of Alaska denying plaintiff’s motion for certification of claims under Alaska’s ... Keep Reading »
Seventh Circuit Approves Cy Pres Settlement
We previously reported on the uncertainty of cy pres settlements in class action lawsuits. Although the Supreme Court granted cert on the issue, the Seventh Circuit weighed in during the interim by approving a settlement that included a potential payout to cy pres recipients. The case arose out of a million phone calls made to consumers throughout 2011 and 2012 in which people were offered a chance to go on a free cruise if they agreed to participate in a political ... Keep Reading »
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