Counsel hoping for Supreme Court guidance on standing issues dividing the circuit courts will have to wait a bit longer. On February 20, the Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari in Attias v. CareFirst to resolve a circuit split over whether allegations of fear of future identity theft in the wake of a data breach satisfy the standing requirements of Article III of the United States Constitution. In the absence of Supreme Court guidance on this issue, we ... Keep Reading »
Class Action Standing Articles
The latest class action standing developments and trends, including news, key cases, and strategies.
Supreme Court Says No More Spokeo: Portents for Other Standing Cases?
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari in Spokeo II. As we previously reported, Spokeo II asked the Court to determine, in light of conflicting circuit court decisions, whether intangible harm to a statutorily-protected interest constitutes injury in fact even when a plaintiff cannot allege “real-world” harm or the imminent risk thereof. Does the denial indicate a reluctance to weigh in on thorny standing issues – or simply a ... Keep Reading »
Fall Data Breach Roundup and 2018 Preview: Supreme Court, OPM, Equifax and More!
As 2017 draws to a close, data breach class actions abound, while questions regarding what suffices for Article III standing in these cases remain—with litigants hoping the Supreme Court will soon weigh in. Earlier this year, as previously reported, the D.C. Circuit decided Attias v. CareFirst, No. 16-7108 (Aug. 1, 2017), a putative class action filed after the health insurance company suffered a data breach that affected more than one million records. After the D.C. ... Keep Reading »
401K Not OK: ERISA Class Certified Under Rule 23(b)(1)(B)
A New York district court granted certification in an ERISA class action brought by employees of Deutsche Bank alleging the individual fiduciaries of the company’s retirement plan engaged in self-dealing and mismanagement of its 401K plan. The court certified the class under Rule 23(b)(1)(B), which authorizes class actions when prosecuting separate actions would create a risk of decisions that would be dispositive of the interest of other members not parties to the ... Keep Reading »
Which Comes First Standing or Class Certification? Northern District of Illinois Weighs In
The Northern District of Illinois recently waded into the conflict between standing and class certification when it held that a putative class representative must demonstrate standing to assert each claim before the motion for class certification. In the case, plaintiff Michael Muir filed a putative class action against herbal supplement manufacturer Nature’s Bounty for claims related to an alleged misrepresentation regarding an ingredient’s prevalence in the supplement. ... Keep Reading »
Ninth Circuit Says Plaintiff Might Get Fooled Again
Last week the Ninth Circuit reopened a key avenue in consumer false advertising class actions – injunctive relief. A growing number of trial courts had dismissed those claims, reasoning that plaintiffs who know of the alleged fraud aren’t at risk of being fooled again. No more. In Davidson v. Kimberly-Clark Corporation, the Ninth Circuit held that a plaintiff who alleges that so-called “flushable wipes” are not actually flushable has standing to sue the seller of these ... Keep Reading »
The Continuing Saga of Standing in Data Breach Class Actions: The 8th Circuit Weighs In
We previously reported on the developing circuit split over Article III standing in data breach class action cases. In August, the D.C. Circuit Court joined the Sixth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits in finding that the injury-in-fact requirement for Article III standing can be satisfied by fear of identity theft following a data breach. Now, the Eighth Circuit has weighed in with two new decisions that evidence a narrower, more nuanced approach to the standing issue. In ... Keep Reading »
Still Standing: Ninth Circuit Again Finds Standing in Spokeo Remand
The Ninth Circuit recently issued its latest opinion in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, the closely-watched putative class action dating back to 2010. The plaintiff initiated the lawsuit against Spokeo, which aggregates publicly available data about individuals on its website, alleging the company published inaccurate information about him, including his age, wealth, marital status, educational history, and profession. He claimed that this conduct violated the Fair Credit ... Keep Reading »
Objectively Non-Flushable? The Northern District of California Certifies Consumer Class Regarding Charmin Freshmates
Using the familiar “reasonable consumer standard” that applies in many jurisdictions regarding allegedly deceptive sales practices, a judge of the Northern District of California recently certified a class action of California consumers who purchased Charmin/Proctor & Gamble’s “Freshmates” brand of “flushable” bathroom wet-wipes between April 6, 2011, and August 3, 2017. The class claims centered on the allegation that Freshmates were not “flushable” as advertised ... Keep Reading »
Are DC Federal Courts the Next Hotbed for Data Breach Class Actions?
We have previously reported on the evolving circuit split over standing in data breach class actions. On August 1st, a three judge panel for the District of Columbia Circuit became the latest to weigh in on the issue. In Attias v. CareFirst, the DC Circuit panel joined the Sixth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits in finding that fear of future identity theft in the wake of a data breach satisfied the injury in fact requirement for standing under Article III of the United ... Keep Reading »