Artful attempts to appeal a class certification order beyond fourteen days will not impress the Fourth Circuit. In Nucor, the district court certified two classes relating to substantive allegations of racial discrimination. The district court then denied a motion to reconsider, triggering the fourteen day period for filing an interlocutory appeal. Defendants, however, subsequently filed three motions for decertification, and one of them succeeded in part: it ... Keep Reading »
Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal Class Action Articles
The latest class action developments and trends in Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal, including news, key cases, and strategies.
Sixth Circuit Affirms Class Certification in TCPA Case
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed class certification in a case brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), 47 U.S.C. § 227 et seq. Pennsylvania-based distributor Lake City Industrial Products engaged Business to Business Solutions (B2B), a “fax-blasting” company, to transmit approximately 10,000 faxes advertising a pipe-thread sealing tape product. American Copper & Brass, a Michigan-based equipment wholesaler with no preexisting ... Keep Reading »
7th Circuit Vacates Decision Declining To Certify Consumer Class Against Roofing Shingle Manufacturer Based On Incorrect Reading Of Comcast And Dukes
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a decision declining to certify a consumer class against IKO Manufacturing, in which the district court wrote that “commonality of damages” is essential, reasoning that the district court had incorrectly read Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 133 S. Ct. 1426 (2013), and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 131 S. Ct. 2541 (2011), to require proof “that the plaintiffs will experience common damage and that their claimed damages are not ... Keep Reading »
Second Circuit Doubles Down on Rule Preventing Non-Settling Parties from Objecting to Class Settlement
The robustness of the rule preventing non-settling defendants from objecting to a class settlement has received a boost from the Second Circuit. The class settlement at issue involved the claims of investors against a hedge fund manager for damages and restitution of lost funds as a result of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Only one provision of the settlement was at stake: whether the settlement could allow class members to submit to the jurisdiction of the district court for ... Keep Reading »
DC Circuit Holds Named Plaintiff Who Settles Individual Claims Retains Standing To Appeal Denial Of Class Certification
In Stephens, two former pilots brought a putative class action lawsuit against their employer airline and their retirement plan, alleging that a delay in paying retirement benefits and failure to pay interest during the delay violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”). Defendants maintained that the delay was necessary to calculate the amount of benefits where a beneficiary elected to receive a lump sum rather than a monthly annuity. After the ... Keep Reading »
11th Affirms Dismissal of FDCPA Class Action Based on Law Firm Collection Letter
The Eleventh Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of a putative class action brought under the FDCPA, 15 USC § 1692, against a law firm for sending a letter to a homeowner in default. Specifically, the letter did the following: stated that the law firm represented the interests of the lender, and that the homeowner could dispute the validity of the debt within 30 days of receipt of the letter; stated that failure to dispute within that period would result in the ... Keep Reading »
Preemptive Strike Terminates Nationwide Product Defect Class In Louisiana
A Louisiana District Court struck plaintiff’s class allegations in a putative nationwide class of Mercedes vehicle owners finding plaintiff failed to meet his burden of proving predominance, superiority and manageability. Plaintiff alleged that that Mercedes concealed defects in the GL model suspension system that caused the vehicles to lean and be undriveable. Plaintiff’s complaint asserted various common law product liability, warranty and fraud theories as well as ... Keep Reading »
The Eleventh Circuit Reverses CAFA-Based Remand Order
On June 5, 2014, the Eleventh Circuit decided in favor of Fifth Third Bank on its appeal of a district court order remanding a putative class action to Florida state court. The basis for the remand order had been the district court’s determination that certain of the claims asserted in the removed complaint were legally insufficient and thus the damages claimed thereunder did not satisfy the $5,000,000 amount-in-controversy requirement imposed under the Class Action ... Keep Reading »
Ninth Circuit Holds On 23(f) Appeal That District Court Abused Its Discretion By Weighing The Merits In Denying Certification
After granting the plaintiffs’ Rule 23(f) petition, the Ninth Circuit reversed a denial of class certification, finding that the district court had improperly weighed the merits of the plaintiffs’ Rule 23(a)(2) commonality evidence. The plaintiffs’ complaint alleged that the defendant’s criteria for promoting police officers to investigative positions created a disparate impact on those candidates over the age of 40, which violated California’s Fair Employment and ... Keep Reading »
Seventh Circuit Reverses Remand Order Based On Supreme Court’s Knowles Decision
In what may become a more common trend in CAFA litigation based on the Supreme Court’s decision in Standard Fire Ins. Co. v. Knowles, ––– U.S. –––, 133 S.Ct. 1345 (2013), the Seventh Circuit reversed the district court’s order remanding the case back to state court. The district court had determined that the defendant failed to show that the amount in controversy in the litigation exceeded $5 million, as required by the Class Action Fairness Act. The district court’s ... Keep Reading »