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 »
Federal District Courts Class Action Articles
The latest class action developments and trends in Federal District Courts, including news, key cases, and strategies.
Another Premature Motion to Strike Class Allegations Bites the Dust
Courts have been and likely always will be reluctant to strike class allegations or deny class certification before class discovery. Indeed, over-aggressive attempts to strike class allegations can often do more harm than good when the court, in denying a motion to strike, gives the plaintiff a roadmap of how to proceed at the class certification stage. Custom photography company Shutterfly was recently reminded of that tendency when a California district court denied ... Keep Reading »
High School Female Athletes Face Hurdles to Class Certification
The U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii recently denied female student-athletes’ motion for class certification under Title IX even though it rejected the defendants’ attacks on mootness and standing as well as Rule 23(a)’s requirements for commonality, typicality, and adequacy. Instead, the court found that the proposed class failed to satisfy the numerosity requirement that joinder would be impracticable. The underlying case centered on Title IX ... Keep Reading »
Not So Fast! A Class Action Is Not an Appropriate Vehicle to Avoid Your Speeding Ticket
A federal court in Massachusetts recently denied class status for a group of individuals caught driving in the fast lane. Finding that the named plaintiff failed to demonstrate typicality and predominance, the District of Massachusetts denied certification of a class of plaintiffs who received speeding tickets under a Massachusetts regulation. The plaintiff alleged that the Board of Selectmen of Hingham, Massachusetts, posted and enforced speed limit signs without ... Keep Reading »
Two Days in October Result in Two Different Rulings by District Court Judges in the Southern District of Florida Regarding Standing to Seek Injunctive Relief on Behalf of a Class
Federal district courts in Florida continue to be at odds over whether a class plaintiff who claims to have suffered a past injury based on a defendant’s violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) can pursue a claim for injunctive and declaratory relief in the absence of an allegation that the particular plaintiff is likely to suffer future injury or had suffered a past injury that is not redressable by a monetary award. Two decisions ... Keep Reading »
A Dart Across the Bow
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently underscored that removal practice under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) differs in some important respects from traditional removal practice in non-CAFA cases. It did so because, “[i]n some of our early cases interpreting CAFA, we adopted legal standards that were influenced by a general ‘presumption against federal jurisdiction.’” Now, of course, the Supreme Court in Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Co. v. Owens, 574 U.S. 81 ... Keep Reading »
Hearsay What? EDNY Finds That Class Certification Evidence Must Be Admissible
Lin v. Everyday Beauty is an Eastern District of New York decision addressing an issue that has divided district courts in the Second Circuit and elsewhere: Whether a federal court may consider inadmissible evidence when deciding a class certification motion. This district court found that it could not do so. The plaintiffs, former retail sales employees of the defendants, moved to certify a class of essentially everyone employed by the defendants, beauty supply ... Keep Reading »
Belch! Ocean Spray Price Premium Damages Model Passes Comcast Scrutiny
The Southern District of California certified a food labeling class against Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. based in part upon a price premium damages model developed by an aptly named Dr. Belch. The plaintiff, a self-proclaimed "health coach" and "label guru," alleged Ocean Spray misrepresented that many of its juice products contained no artificial flavors when in fact they contained malic and fumaric acids, synthetic chemicals that simulate the advertised flavors. She ... Keep Reading »
Third Circuit Ascertainability Requirement Satisfied in FDCPA Class Against Law Firm
Our prior blogs have discussed the Third Circuit’s “rigorous” ascertainability requirement for 23(b)(3) classes here and here. We have also explored how district courts in the Circuit, such as the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, have denied certification in reliance on that heightened standard. A recent E.D. Pa. opinion demonstrates that all is not lost for putative Third Circuit class actions when the proposed class is readily ascertainable based on objective criteria ... Keep Reading »
A Treat for Plaintiffs’ Lawyers: Middle District of Florida Finds Bristol-Myers Squibb Inapplicable to Class Actions
As we previously reported, courts continue to sift through the unsettled law left in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bristol-Myers Squibb v. Superior Court of California. The decision involved a mass tort action in which the California Supreme Court asserted specific personal jurisdiction over the claims of non-resident plaintiffs who were allegedly injured outside the state of California. The U.S. Supreme Court disagreed, holding that the exercise of ... Keep Reading »
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