A New Jersey District Court followed Spokeo’s Article III standing analysis and dismissed claims by three putative class representatives against Michaels Stores. Plaintiffs claimed that Michaels’ online employment application violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and similar New Jersey and California state laws by failing to provide notice of the store’s intent to obtain a background check in a dedicated, stand-alone document. Plaintiffs conceded their ... 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.
Ascertainability and Predominance Foil Certification of Spyware Invasion of Privacy Class
A Georgia district court denied certification of a multi-state common law invasion of privacy class in which plaintiff sought damages and an injunction against the lessor of computers allegedly containing unauthorized spyware. The court held that the class members could not be ascertained in an objective and administratively feasible manner. The court also held that common issues did not predominate over individual issues with regard to numerous variations in applicable ... Keep Reading »
What are Interim Class Counsel and When Should They be Appointed?
Even before certification of a class under Rule 23(a)-(b), the district court has authority to appoint “interim counsel” under Rule 23(g)(3) “to act on behalf of a putative class before determining whether to certify the action as a class action.” However, as the District of New Jersey recently explained, “neither the federal rules nor the Advisory Committee Notes expressly” state the analysis used to determine when “interim counsel” should be appointed and which counsel ... Keep Reading »
TCPA Class Certified Based Largely on “Concrete Injury” Determination
Following the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Spokeo Inc. v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540, 1549 (2016) – which held that Article III standing requires a concrete injury, even when an injury has otherwise been established for statutory purposes – there has been a debate as to what constitutes Article III “concrete injury” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA), 47 U.S.C. § 227. With certain exceptions, the TCPA creates a statutory cause of ... Keep Reading »
The Future of Standing in Data Breach Class Actions
In today’s world, as technology costs decrease and personal information becomes more valuable on the black market, data breaches have seemingly joined the ranks of death and taxes as certainties. Add to that litigation: companies suffering data breaches face exposure to lawsuits by consumers, employees, and even financial institutions. One particular concern for companies is the possibility of costly consumer class actions. Though such lawsuits still account for fewer ... Keep Reading »
Spokeo Gets Lyft Off
The Northern District of California dismissed a Fair Credit Reporting Act case against Lyft upon finding that plaintiff lacked Article III standing based on the Supreme Court's decision in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540 (2016). The court found that plaintiff did not suffer any actual injury, or a real threat of such injury, as a result of Lyft’s alleged FCRA violations. The court’s ruling was consistent with several recent district courts’ decisions based on ... Keep Reading »
District Courts Find Impermissible “Fail-Safe” Class Definitions But Deny Motions to Strike Class Allegations
Two recent decisions from the Eastern District of Illinois involving the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), decided a day apart, provided valuable insight as how this court will respond to motions to strike class allegations that include impermissible “fail-safe” class definitions. Although both courts found that plaintiffs proposed fail-safe classes, the courts denied defendants’ respective motions to strike class allegations and provided plaintiffs leave to ... Keep Reading »
California Court Applies Strict Scrutiny to Reject Uber Class Settlement
A Northern District of California judge refused to preliminarily approve a class settlement of Uber customers who used its “Rideshare Services” in which Uber would have paid class members $28.5 million. The court was concerned about several things. First, the settlement divided the settlement fund among class members on a per capita basis, which resulted in the compensation of some members who weren’t injured at the expense of persons who had been injured. Second, ... Keep Reading »
Disgruntled Timeshare Owner’s Bid for Class Arbitration Thwarted
On August 30, the Northern District of California thwarted a disgruntled timeshare owner’s attempt to arbitrate her dispute against a timeshare developer on a classwide basis. A timeshare purchaser alleged that Wyndham, the timeshare developer, improperly changed her “use year” and demanded an arbitration. Wyndham responded by filing a declaratory judgment action against the purchaser and also filed a motion to compel the purchaser to arbitrate her individual claims and ... Keep Reading »
Cy Pres Standard Dispute Settled With Reasonable Approximation
The District Court for the Southern District of New York recently addressed whether the “next best” or “reasonable approximation” standard should apply when the court evaluates proposed cy pres designations in class action settlements. Observing that the Second Circuit had not definitively resolved this issue to date, the district court engaged in a thorough evaluation of the origins, justifications, and policy implications of the two standards. In the end, the court ... Keep Reading »
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