After granting the plaintiffs’ Rule 23(f) petition, the Ninth Circuit reversed a denial of class certification, finding that the district court had improperly weighed the merits of the plaintiffs’ Rule 23(a)(2) commonality evidence. The plaintiffs’ complaint alleged that the defendant’s criteria for promoting police officers to investigative positions created a disparate impact on those candidates over the age of 40, which violated California’s Fair Employment and ... Keep Reading »
California District Court Invalidates Opt-Outs And Orders Employer To Issue A Curative Notice To Employees Regarding A Putative Wage And Hour Class Action
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, in a wage and hour class action, found that the employer’s written communication to putative class member employees about the action, which included an opt-out declaration form, was “problematic” and “one-sided.” The court invalidated signed opt-outs, and ordered the employer to send a “curative notice” to the employees. The employer, a dental practice, described itself as a close-knit group of ... Keep Reading »
Court Rejects Two Common Methods of Proving Reliance on Class-wide Basis
Plaintiffs in a securities fraud class action containing over 2,000 individual investors were unable to convince a New York District Court that the reliance element of their claims was susceptible to a common method of proof for all putative class members thereby precluding certification under Rule 23(b)(3). Plaintiffs alleged that defendants misrepresented the involvement a certain individual, known for his investment expertise, would have in the management of their ... Keep Reading »
California District Court Finds Commonality Lacking Under Dukes Analysis; Denies Certification
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California denied certification in a false advertising case brought under California’s False Advertising Law (FAL), Consumers Legal Remedies Act (CLRA) and the Unfair Competition Law (UCL) because the plaintiff failed to satisfy Rule 23(a)’s commonality requirement. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant developed, encouraged, and promoted three Unlimited Download Websites that offered media titles for a one-time ... Keep Reading »
Courts Find Removal Is Not Permitted Under CAFA Where Plaintiff Did Not Plead A Class Action Under Rule 23 Or Comparable State Rule
District Courts continue to shape the boundaries of CAFA jurisdiction in suits that are not pleaded as class actions. For example, the District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana held that defendants could not rely on the “real party in interest” inquiry articulated in the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Mississippi ex rel. Hood v. AU Optronics Corp., 134 S.Ct. 736 (2014) to create a class action where the State did not plead one. The case arose from ... Keep Reading »
A Class Action By Any Other Name Is Still A Class Action And Subject To CAFA
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri denied a plaintiff’s motion to remand a collection action against insurers brought on behalf of a certified class that had obtained a judgment in a separate action against a mobile home park operator. After obtaining the judgment, the class representative filed a separate “equitable garnishment action” against the park operator’s insurers under a Missouri statute that provides for collection of insurance by a ... Keep Reading »
Supreme Court Accepts Certiorari In CAFA Removal Case
On April 7, 2014, the Supreme Court accepted certiorari review in Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Company LLC v. Owens, No. 13-719, to resolve a circuit split regarding whether the Class Action Fairness Act requires a removing defendant to submit evidence in support of removal at the time of the notice of removal or whether evidence can be submitted later in response to a motion to remand. The United States District Court for the District of Kansas remanded a putative ... Keep Reading »
Further Affiant Sayeth Naught: The Import Of Personal Knowledge In Class Certification Affidavits
The Eastern District of Virginia weighed in on the split among federal district courts as to whether affidavits in support of or in opposition to motions for class certification must be based on personal knowledge. The affidavit in question began with the boilerplate predicate, “I have personal knowledge of the matters discussed below,” but the affiant admitted later in deposition that he did not. In fact, the affiant conceded that he simply signed a document prepared by ... Keep Reading »
Seventh Circuit Reverses Remand Order Based On Supreme Court’s Knowles Decision
In what may become a more common trend in CAFA litigation based on the Supreme Court’s decision in Standard Fire Ins. Co. v. Knowles, ––– U.S. –––, 133 S.Ct. 1345 (2013), the Seventh Circuit reversed the district court’s order remanding the case back to state court. The district court had determined that the defendant failed to show that the amount in controversy in the litigation exceeded $5 million, as required by the Class Action Fairness Act. The district court’s ... Keep Reading »
Issue of Gmail Users’ Consent to Google’s Email-Interception Practices Defeats Class Certification
Google recently scored a big victory in its battle against claims that it is illegally intercepting and scanning the content of emails in order to provide personalized advertisements to Gmail users. Plaintiffs in the various lawsuits – which were consolidated for pretrial purposes in the Northern District of California – sought certification of classes including “education” users, who use Gmail provided by their school, as well as other direct and indirect users ... Keep Reading »