The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently held that a trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying class certification on the ground that common issues did not predominate where individual determinations of injury and causation would be required for at least 2,2017 of the 16,065 putative class members. Accordingly, the D.C. Circuit affirmed the trial court’s denial of class certification. A copy of the opinion in In re Rail Freight Fuel Surcharge Antitrust Litigation is available at: Link to Opinion. The plaintiffs were customers of the four largest freight railroads in the United States (collectively,…
Posts published in “Class Actions”
Class Actions
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently affirmed the denial of a lender’s motions to dismiss and to strike a complaint filed on behalf of a class of borrowers who entered into loan agreements with the lender and its affiliates. In so ruling, the Eleventh Circuit held that the loan agreements’ forum selection clause and class action waivers were unenforceable under Georgia’s Payday Lending Act and Industrial Loan Act, as enforcement would undermine the purpose and spirit of Georgia’s statutory scheme including to preserve class actions as a remedy. A copy of the opinion in Davis v.…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently vacated an order approving the settlement of a class action certified under Rule 23(b)(2), where the only benefit to the class was the defendant’s payment of a cy pres award to organizations that promoted data privacy. In so ruling, the Third Circuit held that the trial court did not adequately scrutinize the settlement agreement’s broad release of claims for money damages, and the parties’ designation of cy pres recipients, as required by Rule 23(e). A copy of the opinion in In re Google Inc. Cookie Placement Consumer Privacy Litigation is…
The Court of Appeal for the Second District of California affirmed an order denying class certification in a wage and hour litigation, holding that the plaintiffs’ proposed anonymous, double-blind survey and statistical sampling failed to address individualized issues for liability and damages. In so ruling, the Appellate Court held that the plaintiffs’ trial plan was unmanageable and unfair because, among other things, the proposed survey deprived the defendants of the ability to cross-examine the witnesses and to assert defenses. A copy of the opinion in McCleery v. Allstate Insurance Company is available at: Link to Opinion. In this putative class…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently reversed a trial court order remanding a case to state court for lack of jurisdiction under the federal Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) because the jurisdictional allegations pleaded provided a short and plain statement of jurisdiction. The Court held this was sufficient, even without supporting evidence, to confer jurisdiction. A copy of the opinion in Ehrman v. Cox Communications, Inc. is available at: Link to Opinion. A plaintiff filed a class action complaint against a defendant in California state court claiming the defendant “had engaged in unlawful business practices related…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held that class plaintiffs alleged a concrete and particularized harm sufficient to confer Article III standing where the defendant company’s alleged collection, use, and storage of the plaintiffs’ biometric information was the substantive harm targeted by the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), which statute protects the plaintiffs’ concrete privacy interests. The Ninth Circuit further held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in certifying the class. Accordingly, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court orders certifying the class, and denying the defendant’s motion to dismiss. A copy…
In a class action arising from a data breach at a retailer that resulted in the theft of millions of consumers’ credit card information, the U.S Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently held that the fee arrangement included as part of the settlement was a fee-shifting contract and the constructive common fund doctrine did not apply, reversing as an abuse of discretion the trial court’s use of a fee multiplier in a fee-shifting case. A copy of the opinion in Northeastern Engineers Federal Credit Union, et al. v. Home Depot, Inc., et al. is available at: Link to Opinion.…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently reversed the dismissal of a putative class action under the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act finding that the plaintiff adequately alleged that the defendant placed calls using an automated telephone dialing system. In so ruling, the Ninth Circuit joined with a similar ruling by the Fourth Circuit, and held that the TCPA’s exception for calls “made solely to collect a debt owed to or guaranteed by the United States” was incompatible with the First Amendment and severed the exception as an unconstitutional restriction on speech. A copy of the opinion in…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held that where a company provided a consumer with a receipt that displayed her entire 16-digit credit card number and credit card expiration date in violation of the federal Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA), the consumer alleged a concrete injury in fact sufficient for standing under Spokeo, notwithstanding the fact that the consumer noticed the violation immediately and kept the receipt in a safe location. Accordingly, the D.C. Circuit reversed the judgment of the trial court granting the defendant company’s motion to dismiss, and remanded…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a case for lack of jurisdiction because when the plaintiffs withdrew their class action allegations in an amended complaint, the withdrawal divested the court of jurisdiction under the federal Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA). A copy of the decision in Gale v. Chicago Title Insurance Company is available at: Link to Opinion. The plaintiff, an attorney on behalf of himself and a putative class, sued several title insurance company defendants alleging that they had tortiously interfered with business opportunities and violated Connecticut law because under Conn. Gen.…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently reversed the dismissal of a breach of contract claim in a putative class action involving short-term cash advance loans, finding that the contract at issue was ambiguous because it provided two inconsistent definitions of “annual percentage rate” that could not be reconciled. A copy of the opinion in Laskaris, et al. v. Fifth Third Bank is available at: Link to Opinion. The defendant bank created a short-term cash advance program for eligible customers who held checking accounts with the bank. Specifically, the bank would deposit loans up to $1,000 directly…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently upheld the dismissal of an alleged data breach victim’s allegations under the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, the Illinois Personal Information Protection Act, and the Illinois Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, as well as various common law claims. A copy of the opinion in Melissa Alleruzzo v. SuperValu, Inc. is available at: Link to Opinion. In June and July 2014, hundreds of retail grocery stores operated by three different entities (“grocers”) were hacked, resulting in the theft of customers’ card information, including their names, credit or debit card account…