The Northern District of California recently certified a class of employees in an action against an auto parts store for failure to reimburse expenses. Plaintiff alleged that the defendant required certain management-level employees—specifically, store managers, assistant store managers, and retail service specialists—to make daily bank deposits but did not reimburse them when they used personal vehicles to do so. Though the company had a standard policy regarding ... Keep Reading »
Federal District Courts Class Action Articles
The latest class action developments and trends in Federal District Courts, including news, key cases, and strategies.
No Automatic Certification For Robosigning Class
In this multidistrict litigation, plaintiffs sought certification of two classes of Arizona property owners challenging the operation of the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) in transferring the beneficial interest under their deeds of trust. Plaintiffs alleged that these mortgage transactions misrepresented MERS’s authority as a beneficiary, contained false statements, and were robosigned. The court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss and plaintiffs ... Keep Reading »
CAFA Settlement Trap: States As Absent Class Members
Will a Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) notice of settlement bind a state as an absent class member? A Pennsylvania federal district court recently offered guidance on this issue. The case involved allegations that the defendant pharmaceutical company illegally delayed the introduction of a cheaper, generic version of its nasal inflammation drug Flonase by filing a sham citizen petition with the Food and Drug Administration. In June 2013, the court approved a ... Keep Reading »
Don’t Tip Just Yet: Uber Taxi Class Gets Limited Certification
A federal judge in San Francisco recently certified a limited class in a lawsuit against Uber under the California Unfair Competition Law (UCL) and the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act (CLRA). The plaintiff sought to certify a class of all Uber customers who used a traditional taxi from April 2012 to March 2013. However, after examining the claims under Rule 23 and both the UCL and CLRA, the court certified a class consisting of only those customers who received ... Keep Reading »
Michigan District Court Holds TCPA “Junk Fax” Class Ascertainable, Certifies Class
The Eastern District of Michigan recently certified a class of plaintiffs suing under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), rejecting the defendants’ arguments that: (1) there would be “significant issues” identifying class members because the faxes at issue were sent nearly a decade ago; and (2) some putative class members may have had prior business relationships with the defendants and thus may have consented to receipt of the faxes. The defendants had hired a ... Keep Reading »
California Court Gives Ford SUV Tailgate Class the Boot
Plaintiffs from California, New Jersey, and Florida claimed their 2002-2005 Ford Explorers, Mercury Mountaineers, and Lincoln Aviators suffered from a common design defect: the plastic appliqué just below the flip-glass on the rear tailgate had a tendency to crack and allow water to corrode the metal parts that hold the flip-gate in place. As a result, plaintiffs asserted the flip-glass would spontaneously shatter or fall-off, resulting in a safety hazard and diminution ... Keep Reading »
Tablet Class Damages Model Doesn’t Tabulate … For Now
The Central District of California denied certification of a class that otherwise met the requirements of Rule 23 because the damages model proposed by plaintiff’s expert did not establish a reliable method for calculating classwide damages. Plaintiff sought to certify a class of purchasers of Fuhu’s “Nabi” line of rechargeable tablets for children. Plaintiff claimed that the tablets’ charging capabilities were defective and that Fuhu misrepresented the tablets’ ... Keep Reading »
Data Breach Class Actions: 2015 Year in Review and 2016 Preview
As 2015 draws to a close, questions over standing in data breach class actions remain. Earlier this year, the Seventh Circuit denied retailer Neiman Marcus’s petition for rehearing en banc of a panel opinion holding that plaintiffs whose credit card information was stolen in a data breach had standing to sue under Article III of the United States Constitution based on alleged fear of future identity theft; in so doing, the Seventh Circuit confirmed that the circuit split ... Keep Reading »
Arbitration Awards Prove an Obstacle to Class Claims
Two recent decisions illustrate the impact arbitration provisions can have on the availability of classwide relief. In Kaspers v. Comcast Corp., plaintiff, a Comcast customer, refused to pay for certain billed services and had his debt referred to a collection agency. Plaintiff submitted the dispute to the American Arbitration Association (AAA) pursuant to a contractual arbitration provision. When the AAA refused to arbitrate due to an alleged defect in the ... Keep Reading »
California District Court Certifies Classes of Fixed Index Annuities Purchasers
The Southern District of California recently certified California and multistate classes of annuities purchasers in a case challenging the allegedly abusive design, execution, and pricing of fixed index annuities (FIA). The plaintiff, a senior who purchased an FIA issued by defendant insurer, claimed the defendant promised asset protection and guaranteed values that were vitiated by an alleged undisclosed “derivative” structure embedded in the annuities, which provided ... Keep Reading »
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