A magistrate judge in Kansas denied the defendant’s request to conduct discovery of putative class members via a voluntary questionnaire. Plaintiff Hapka filed a class action against home health care provider CareCentrix stemming from a 2016 data breach of employees’ personal information, including wage and tax statements. Plaintiff alleged a fraudulent tax return was filed in her name following the cyberattack and that she continued to be at a heightened risk for tax ... Keep Reading »
Search Results for: rule 23
Consolidated Cholesterol Drug Cases Lack Critical Mass for CAFA Jurisdiction
The Central District of California district court recently weighed in on the limits of mass action jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA). The matter began as various individual state court actions alleging that a cholesterol medication caused women taking the drug to suffer from Type II diabetes; after the state court granted a request for “coordination” of the cases, defendant pharmaceutical company removed the cases to federal court based on CAFA’s ... Keep Reading »
Class Notice Online Works Just Fine
In a case involving alleged violations of ERISA and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, the District Court of the Western District of Kentucky certified a class of Anthem Health Plan insureds who were denied coverage or reimbursement for Applied Behavior Analysis, a particular treatment for Autism Spectrum Disorders. The court then ordered plaintiff to submit a proposed draft notice to be sent to class members. The parties agreed (for the most part) on the ... Keep Reading »
California Court Rejects Attempt to Overturn Judgment Based on Spokeo
A defendant who lost a bench trial in a certified class case alleging that it violated the Electronic Funds Transfer Act by forcing the plaintiff and class to use electronic funds transfer services to obtain loans sought to upend the verdict by arguing that the Supreme Court’s recent Spokeo decision made clear the plaintiff lacked Article III standing to sue. The court rejected that argument. In Spokeo, the Supreme Court ruled that for Article III standing to exist, a ... Keep Reading »
A Tale of Two Orders: Different Results for Motions to Strike Class Allegations
The Southern District of California and the Northern District of Illinois recently entered orders addressing motions to strike class allegations—with very different results for the respective defendants. Although the claims and facts at issue in each case may warrant the different results, a contrast in approaches is evident. In Kim v. Shellpoint Partners, LLC, No. 15CV611-LAB (BLM), 2016 WL 1241541 (S.D. Cal. Mar. 30, 2016), the Southern District of California ... Keep Reading »
Will Tender of Full Amount of Named Plaintiff’s Claim Moot a TCPA Class Action?
In Campbell-Ewald Co. v Gomez, 136 S.Ct. 663 (2016), the Supreme Court held that Rule 68 offers of judgment to a class representative do not moot a class action. See https://classifiedclassaction.com/supreme-court-rules-unaccepted-rule-68-offer-judgment-cannot-moot-class-action/. The Supreme Court left open the possibility that an actual tender of the full amount of plaintiff’s claim, evidencing an intent to pay – as opposed to a mere contract offer, would moot the ... Keep Reading »
No Party for IRS: Court Certifies Class of Conservative Nonprofits
If you thought that the political controversy over alleged IRS targeting of Tea Party organizations was confined to the media, think again – the issue has reached the courts. The Southern District of Ohio recently granted class certification in a lawsuit brought by organizations alleging they were targeted by the IRS. Plaintiff groups, which applied for exemption from federal taxes under 26 U.S.C. §§ 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4), claim that the IRS improperly flagged their ... Keep Reading »
Seventh Circuit Petitioned for Rehearing En Banc to Determine Whether Data Breach Class Claims Survive Clapper, Satisfy Article III Standing Requirements
In January 2014, luxury retailer Neiman Marcus disclosed that it had suffered a cyberattack in which hackers may have gained access to 350,000 credit and debit cards used at its stores in late 2013. Plaintiffs, all of whom made credit or debit card purchases from the retailer during the relevant time period, filed a putative class action lawsuit on behalf of themselves and all other customers whose card information may have been compromised. Neiman Marcus moved to ... 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 »
DC Circuit Holds Named Plaintiff Who Settles Individual Claims Retains Standing To Appeal Denial Of Class Certification
In Stephens, two former pilots brought a putative class action lawsuit against their employer airline and their retirement plan, alleging that a delay in paying retirement benefits and failure to pay interest during the delay violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”). Defendants maintained that the delay was necessary to calculate the amount of benefits where a beneficiary elected to receive a lump sum rather than a monthly annuity. After the ... Keep Reading »