A California federal district court denied a renewed motion for certification of a nationwide class, holding that the application of California negligence and conversion law would violate the due process rights of non-Californian class members. Ms. Marsh sought to represent a nationwide class of “payday loan” applicants who were allegedly victimized by unauthorized withdrawals from their bank accounts via “remotely created checks” processed by one Texas-based ... 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.
Damage Models Create Individualized Issues For Pre-Explosion Subclass Of BP Shareholders, But Present No Impediment For Post-Explosion Subclass
The Southern District of Texas recently denied certification of a subclass of BP shareholders who purchased shares prior to the Deepwater Horizon explosion and alleged that misstatements regarding safety improvements caused them to buy BP shares at inflated prices. The court, however, certified a subclass of shareholders who purchased shares after the disaster and alleged that BP’s misstatements regarding the scope of the damage from the explosion and oil spill ... Keep Reading »
Putative Maybelline Makeup Class Fades In California District Court
The District Court for the Southern District of California denied certification in a California consumer class action in which Plaintiffs’ claimed that Maybelline falsely labeled and advertised its “SuperStay 24HR” makeup as having 24 hours of staying power. The Court found several deficiencies in the proposed class of Maybelline makeup purchasers under Rules 23(a), (b)(2) and (b)(3). First, the court found that the proposed class was overbroad because it included ... Keep Reading »
Eighth Circuit Affirms Pre-Certification, Pre-Merits Discovery Summary Judgment
The Eighth Circuit affirmed a pre-certification summary judgment in favor of Bridgestone Retail Operations in a putative class action where the Plaintiff alleged that in connection with vehicle repairs Bridgestone had violated the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (MMPA) by charging a disguised “shop supply” fee that it used for profit instead of supplies. The parties submitted a joint scheduling report that provided for discovery related to class certification ... Keep Reading »
Hershey Wins Pre-Certification Summary Judgment In California Labeling Class Action
The Northern District of California granted partial summary judgment in favor of The Hershey Company in a putative class action where the plaintiff alleged Hershey’s representations about certain of its products were unlawful and/or misleading. Plaintiff took issue with Hershey’s representations about antioxidants, nutrients, sugar, serving size, among others on its advertisements, packaging and website upon which the named Plaintiff alleged he relied when he purchased ... Keep Reading »
Speculative Expert Testimony Fails to Satisfy Plaintiff’s Light Numerosity Burden
The relatively light burden of proving numerosity under Rule 23(a) cannot be satisfied with speculative testimony, even if an expert does the speculating, says the Southern District of Florida. In a putative class action brought for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, plaintiff sought damages for receiving unwanted advertisements via text message by the defendant’s alert service. Plaintiff moved to certify a class of Florida telephone subscribers who ... Keep Reading »
Ohio District Court Strikes Impermissible “Fail-Safe” Class Allegations
In a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) case, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio struck plaintiff’s class action allegations because Plaintiff proposed a “fail-safe” class in which membership was dependent on the validity of the putative class member’s claim. A fail-safe class is impermissible because it includes only those who are entitled to relief. Either the class members win on the merits, or by virtue of losing, they are not in ... Keep Reading »
Court Strikes Class Allegations Against Lender and Foreclosure Service Providers for Failure to Satisfy Rule 23(a)(2)’s Commonality Requirement
The Northern District of Illinois recently granted a motion to strike class allegations prior to class discovery. Plaintiff mortgagor alleged, inter alia, that in foreclosure proceedings, defendants engaged in unfair and deceptive business practices in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) and Illinois Consumer Fraud Act (“ICFA”) by entering and possessing his and putative class members’ homes before the mortgagee had legal possession of the ... Keep Reading »
District Court Applies Gulf Oil to Restrict Issuance of Arbitration Agreements to Prospective Class Members
Drivers brought a putative class action suit against Uber Technologies (“Uber”), the licensor of a software application used to connect drivers for hire with passengers, alleging that Uber failed to remit to drivers the full amount of gratuities paid by passengers. The court’s recent decision involved a licensing agreement that, in the wake of pending class actions, was given to prospective drivers who downloaded the app and required that all disputes be resolved ... Keep Reading »
Court Strikes Class Action Allegations Citing Individualized Causation Issues
A Pennsylvania federal district court granted defendant CitiMortgage’s motion to strike class allegations under Rule 23(d)(1)(D), because it was clear from the complaint that plaintiffs could not meet the requirements for maintaining a class action and were unlikely to be able to substantiate their class allegations through discovery. Plaintiffs were homeowners who, after defaulting on their mortgage, commenced a class action against three defendants related to the ... Keep Reading »