In 2017, the Eighth Circuit reversed the certification of a settlement class in the Target 2013 security breach litigation. See In re Target Corp. Customer Data Sec. Breach Litig., 847 F.3d 608, 613 (8th Cir. 2017). The court remanded the case to the district court to conduct a proper class certification analysis. On remand, the district court again certified the settlement class. A second appeal was taken by two objectors and, this time, the Eighth Circuit affirmed the ... Keep Reading »
Search Results for: rule 68
Conflict of Interest Renders Spouse of Former Class Counsel Inadequate Class Representative
The Eastern District of New York recently held that a former class counsel’s spouse was an inadequate class representative due to the conflict of interest created by the relationship. The plaintiff, Dr. Eve Wexler, brought a putative class action against AT&T, alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The case was originally filed by the plaintiff’s husband, Shimshon Wexler, who was later joined by another attorney, Mr. Giardina. AT&T argued ... Keep Reading »
Lease-Termination Fee Class Fails Third Circuit Ascertainability Requirement
Using the Third Circuit’s comparatively robust ascertainability standard, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently denied certification of a class of tenants allegedly charged an improper lease-termination fee and subjected to collections calls in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692, et seq. In its order, the district court explained that under the Third Circuit’s ascertainability precedent, ... 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 »
Judge Gorsuch on Class Actions
On January 31, President Trump announced that Judge Neil Gorsuch of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals would be nominated for the United States Supreme Court. We took a look at those opinions authored by Judge Gorsuch on the Tenth Circuit that primarily addressed class action issues. These decisions confront a range of problems that arise in class action litigation. They also reveal his accessible, sometimes breezy, sometimes pointed, writing style. Four such decisions ... 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 »
Eleventh Circuit Clarifies CAFA Jurisdiction Continues After Dismissal of Class Claims
On November 22, the Eleventh Circuit clarified that Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) jurisdiction is not eliminated when the class claims are dismissed before the class is certified. The plaintiff, an Alabama trucking company that had a fuel-discount with Pilot, filed a class action alleging that Pilot systematically shortchanged trucking companies with which it had discount arrangements by failing to give them the agreed-upon benefits. The class claims were ... Keep Reading »
2016 Carlton Fields Class Action Survey Reveals Important Trends in Class Action Management
The fifth annual edition of the Carlton Fields Class Action Survey has just been released, and in this year’s survey corporate counsel report that class action spending has increased after four consecutive years of decline. Spending is also projected to increase in 2016. This marks a key turning point. The Numbers Across industries, the companies surveyed report that they spent $2.1 billion on class action lawsuits in 2015. The number of companies facing at least one ... Keep Reading »
Sample This! Tyson Employee Class Wins Significant but Narrow Supreme Court Victory
Tyson Foods lost its bid to overturn an almost $3 million class action judgment against it in a case brought by workers at an Iowa pork-processing factory who contended they did not receive overtime pay for time spent “donning and doffing” protective equipment. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment in a 6-2 decision. Because Justice Kennedy (who wrote the decision) and Justice Roberts joined the majority, the loss of Justice Scalia had no apparent impact on the ... Keep Reading »
Supreme Court’s Amgen Order Confirms That Fifth Third Bancorp’s ERISA Stock-Drop Pleading Standard Has Teeth
In a recent per curiam order granting the plan fiduciaries' petition for certiorari and reversing the Ninth Circuit, the United States Supreme Court made clear that it expects lower courts to faithfully apply the pleading requirements for ERISA "stock-drop" cases as articulated in the Court's earlier opinion in Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer, 134 S. Ct. 2459 (2014). This is welcome news for stock-drop defendants, who should still have a meaningful opportunity to ... Keep Reading »