Plaintiffs from California, New Jersey, and Florida claimed their 2002-2005 Ford Explorers, Mercury Mountaineers, and Lincoln Aviators suffered from a common design defect: the plastic appliqué just below the flip-glass on the rear tailgate had a tendency to crack and allow water to corrode the metal parts that hold the flip-gate in place. As a result, plaintiffs asserted the flip-glass would spontaneously shatter or fall-off, resulting in a safety hazard and diminution ... Keep Reading »
Tablet Class Damages Model Doesn’t Tabulate … For Now
The Central District of California denied certification of a class that otherwise met the requirements of Rule 23 because the damages model proposed by plaintiff’s expert did not establish a reliable method for calculating classwide damages. Plaintiff sought to certify a class of purchasers of Fuhu’s “Nabi” line of rechargeable tablets for children. Plaintiff claimed that the tablets’ charging capabilities were defective and that Fuhu misrepresented the tablets’ ... Keep Reading »
Supreme Court Confirms Enforceability of Class Action Waivers
For the second time in four years, the U.S. Supreme Court has overruled a California decision that refused to enforce an arbitration agreement with a class action waiver, holding that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) trumps California’s attempts to restrict arbitration and class action waivers in consumer and employment lawsuits. In DirecTV, Inc. v. Imburgia, Case No. 14-462, the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision authored by Justice Stephen Breyer, upheld an ... Keep Reading »
Data Breach Class Actions: 2015 Year in Review and 2016 Preview
As 2015 draws to a close, questions over standing in data breach class actions remain. Earlier this year, the Seventh Circuit denied retailer Neiman Marcus’s petition for rehearing en banc of a panel opinion holding that plaintiffs whose credit card information was stolen in a data breach had standing to sue under Article III of the United States Constitution based on alleged fear of future identity theft; in so doing, the Seventh Circuit confirmed that the circuit split ... Keep Reading »
Arbitration Awards Prove an Obstacle to Class Claims
Two recent decisions illustrate the impact arbitration provisions can have on the availability of classwide relief. In Kaspers v. Comcast Corp., plaintiff, a Comcast customer, refused to pay for certain billed services and had his debt referred to a collection agency. Plaintiff submitted the dispute to the American Arbitration Association (AAA) pursuant to a contractual arbitration provision. When the AAA refused to arbitrate due to an alleged defect in the ... Keep Reading »
California District Court Certifies Classes of Fixed Index Annuities Purchasers
The Southern District of California recently certified California and multistate classes of annuities purchasers in a case challenging the allegedly abusive design, execution, and pricing of fixed index annuities (FIA). The plaintiff, a senior who purchased an FIA issued by defendant insurer, claimed the defendant promised asset protection and guaranteed values that were vitiated by an alleged undisclosed “derivative” structure embedded in the annuities, which provided ... Keep Reading »
California Supreme Court Endorses More Consumer Class False Advertising Litigation in Organic Food Decision
“Labels matter,” the California Supreme Court began its unanimous December 3 opinion. Expect that to be the new rallying cry of plaintiff class action lawyers when suing consumer companies for alleged false advertising. The California Supreme Court held that state law claims of intentional mislabeling produce as organic are not preempted by the Organic Food Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. §§ 6501-6522). Whether this ruling will be limited to just that federal act or will have ... Keep Reading »
Missouri District Court Joins the List: Unaccepted Rule 68 Offer Does Not Moot Claims
Yet another court has found that an unaccepted Rule 68 Offer of Judgment will not moot a putative class action, even where the offer purports to satisfy all of plaintiff’s demands. Plaintiffs sued in the Eastern District of Missouri and proposed to represent a class of at least 60 former joint venture general managers of Panera Bread Company whose buyout payments from Panera were allegedly capped at an amount lower than that to which they contractually agreed. Plaintiffs ... Keep Reading »
California District Court Holds Class Action Alleging Securities Act Claims Not Removable Under SLUSA
The United States District Court for the Northern District of California recently clarified the criteria for removal of a securities class action filed in state court under the Securities Act of 1933, 15 U.S.C. §§ 77a, et seq. (the “Securities Act”). Under the Securities Act’s anti-removal provision, state and federal courts generally have concurrent jurisdiction over Securities Act claims, but a Securities Act claim initially filed in state court cannot be removed to ... Keep Reading »
Northern District of Texas Won’t Certify Class of GM Employees Alleging Religious Accommodation Claims
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas refused certify a class of GM employees alleging Title VII religious accommodation claims because the class was not ascertainable and plaintiffs failed to satisfy the numerosity and commonality requirements of Rule 23(a). Plaintiffs are members of different religious groups that observe certain holy days on which members are prevented from working and accepting compensation. They alleged that GM failed to ... Keep Reading »
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