China Agritech, Inc. v. Resh

(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.
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Walsh v. Defenders, Inc.

(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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True Health Chiropractic Inc. v. McKesson Corp.

(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.
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Langan v. Johnson and Johnson Consumer Cos., Inc.

(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

Mielo v. Steak ‘N Shake Operations, Inc.

(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

Rangel v. PLS Check Cashers of California, Inc.

(United States Ninth Circuit) – Affirmed the dismissal, on res judicata grounds, of a proposed wage-and-hour class action. While the plaintiff conceded that she was subject to a state class-action settlement that released all claims arising from the same set of allegations upon which her Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuit was based, she nonetheless contended that her FLSA action should be allowed to proceed. Agreeing with the trial court, the Ninth Circuit held that res judicata applied.
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King v. Great American Chicken Corp., Inc.

(United States Ninth Circuit) – Held that the district court erred in remanding a class action to state court under the Class Action Fairness Act’s local-controversy exception. The plaintiff argued that her wage-hour class action against a fast-food chain belonged in state court because more than two-thirds of the putative class members were California citizens. Unconvinced, the Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded for additional discovery regarding how many former employees had moved to other states, among other things.
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