The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California certified a California-only subclass of purchasers of allegedly mislabeled KitchenAid refrigerators but denied plaintiffs' motion to certify a 32-state and District of Columbia class, holding that Rule 23(b)(3)'s predominance and superiority requirements were not met due to material variations in applicable state warranty law. Plaintiffs alleged that they had purchased refrigerators with an Energy Star ... Keep Reading »
Manufacturing & Products Class Action Articles
The latest class action developments and trends in the manfucturing and products industry, including news, key cases, and strategies.
Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad: Kansas District Court Certifies Settlement Class and Grants Preliminary Approval but Rejects Notice by Publication
A boy fell through the vinyl guardrail his father installed on the second story deck of their home. After settling his son's personal injury claims, the father sued Home Depot and the guardrail manufacturer on behalf of himself and other Kansas purchasers for breach of warranty and violations of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act alleging that the guardrail brackets were defective. The district court certified a class, and the Tenth Circuit granted the parties' Rule ... Keep Reading »
Third Circuit to Plaintiffs’ Bar: Expert Testimony Necessary for Certification Must Satisfy Daubert
Plaintiff purchasers of traditional blood reagents, products that test the compatibility of donor blood with recipients, brought putative class actions claiming that two defendant companies conspired to fix prices in violation of antitrust law. Numerous lawsuits were consolidated in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (and one of the defendants subsequently settled with the plaintiffs). The district court found that plaintiffs had satisfied the requirements of ... Keep Reading »
Town Gets Schooled on Class Definition in PCB Contamination Case
The Town of Lexington, Massachusetts filed a putative class action in 2012 on behalf of itself and alleged similarly situated Massachusetts school districts that have one or more buildings with airborne polychlorinated-biphenyl (PCB) levels above the public health levels established by the EPA. From the outset of the litigation, defendants argued this proposed class was not ascertainable, as implicitly required by Rule 23, because it was impossible to identify the class ... Keep Reading »
Ninth Circuit Reverses Order Striking Class Allegations in Microsoft Xbox Case
The Ninth Circuit reversed an order striking class allegations against Microsoft reasoning that the Washington district court misapplied its precedent and thereby abused its discretion. Plaintiffs alleged that a design defect in Microsoft’s Xbox 360 video game console made it unable to withstand vibrations during normal game playing conditions and caused game discs to become scratched and unplayable. Microsoft countered that the majority of Xbox units do not manifest the ... Keep Reading »
Running on Empty: Defective Gas Class Sputters in Louisiana District Court
The Middle District of Louisiana denied certification of a putative class bringing claims for redhibition and unjust enrichment against Exxon Mobil Corporation ("Exxon"). Plaintiffs allegedly purchased gasoline refined at Exxon’s Baton Rouge terminal that Exxon conceded contained a resin accidentally introduced during the refining process. The parties disputed whether the resin fully combusted during normal engine operations or remained in the engine causing damage and ... Keep Reading »
GCs facing more bet-the-company and higher exposure class actions
Across industries, companies spent $2 billion on class action lawsuits in 2014, slightly less than the $2.1 billion they spent in 2013. This year, spending is expected to return to 2013 levels. Companies’ class action dockets increased on average by one new case in 2014, bringing the average number of class actions managed to five. This total is expected to remain constant in 2015, as the number of new matters is likely to be offset by those resolved. As before, ... Keep Reading »
Ninth Circuit Holds California Can’t Double-Dip By Seeking Restitution for Citizens Bound By Class Settlement
In the wake of a nationwide class action settlement of litigation against a manufacturer of a test claimed to accurately predict the gender of a fetus, the State of California (“State”) brought an enforcement action against the manufacturer for restitution for California citizens who purchased the test, as well as for civil penalties and injunctive relief. The defendant manufacturer removed to federal court and sought an injunction under the Anti-Injunction Act, arguing ... Keep Reading »
District Court Cleans Up Whirlpool Washing Machine Class Definition
Having requested and obtained certification of a class of consumers who had purchased a number of Whirlpool Duet model washers allegedly susceptible to serious mold problems, Plaintiffs later sought to limit the class so as to exclude certain models. Whirlpool opposed the modification and, instead, sought decertification. The Northern District of Ohio granted Plaintiffs’ motion in part, modifying the class, and denied Whirlpool’s motion to decertify. In setting ... Keep Reading »
Fourth Circuit Vacates Certification of Five Classes as “Manifestly Improper”
Plaintiffs, alleged owners of an interest in coalbed methane gas (“CBM”), brought five related putative class actions against defendants, CBM producers, for alleged failure to pay royalties and for a declaration that owners of gas estates – not owners of coal estates – were the owners of CBM. The district court granted plaintiffs’ class certification motions, and defendants appealed. Finding that class certification was “manifestly improper,” the Fourth Circuit granted ... Keep Reading »
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