(United States Supreme Court) – Holding that a putative class member may not, in lieu of promptly joining an existing suit or promptly filing an individual claim, commence a class action anew beyond the time allowed by the applicable statute of limitations and reversing and remanding the Ninth Circuit’s reversal of a District Court dismissal of an untimely class complaint.
FindLaw Opinion Summaries – Class Action
(United States Third Circuit) – Affirmed an order remanding a consumer class action to state court. The defendant home security equipment businesses had removed the case to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act, but the plaintiffs showed that an exception to CAFA jurisdiction applied. The Third Circuit noted that under the local-controversy exception, a district court must decline to exercise jurisdiction over a class action involving a uniquely local controversy, as defined in the statute.
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(United States Ninth Circuit) – Affirmed the approval of a consumer class action settlement in a case where Volkswagen entered into the $ 10-billion settlement with a class of consumers after the automaker admitted that it had installed devices in certain 2009 – 2015 diesel model diesel cars for the purpose of cheating on U.S. emissions tests. The Ninth Circuit held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in certifying a settlement class or approving the settlement as … Read the rest
(United States Ninth Circuit) – Reversed the denial of class certification in an action where a healthcare company was accused of unlawfully sending unsolicited faxed advertisements in violation of the U.S. Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The district court denied the motion for class certification on the ground that individual issues would predominate over issues common to the putative class. On an interlocutory appeal, the Ninth Circuit disagreed and remanded for further proceedings.
FindLaw Opinion Summaries – Class Action
(California Court of Appeal) – Reversed the denial of class certification in a case involving tax refund claims filed by limited liability companies (LLCs) which sought refunds of a levy they had paid pursuant to a California tax statute that was later determined to be unconstitutional. When the district court denied the LLCs’ motion for class certification on multiple grounds including predominance and superiority, they appealed. Agreeing with the LLCs that this case was suitable for treatment on a classwide … Read the rest
(United States Second Circuit) – Vacated the certification of a consumer class action alleging that Johnson & Johnson deceptively labeled several of its baby bath products as being natural when they were not. The district court had certified a class consisting of consumers who purchased the products in eighteen states. On appeal, the Second Circuit was not convinced that the district court had carefully considered the material differences in the state laws at issue before concluding that their similarities predominated … Read the rest
(United States Third Circuit) – Reversed the certification of a class in a lawsuit alleging that a restaurant chain violated the Americans with Disabilities Act because its parking lots were difficult to ambulate in a wheelchair. The 500-location restaurant chain contended that the plaintiffs had failed to satisfy some of the requirements for class certification under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a). Agreeing, the Third Circuit reversed and remanded to the district court to reconsider if a class should be certified.… Read the rest
(California Court of Appeal) – Reversed decertification of a class of retired University of California employees who claimed they were denied promised health insurance benefits. The retirees, who had worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, appealed the trial court’s ruling that decertified the class for lack of commonality. On appeal, the First Appellate District held that the trial court’s decertification ruling had relied on erroneous legal standards.
FindLaw Opinion Summaries – Class Action