Brady v. AutoZone Stores, 960 F.3d 1172 (9th Cir. 2020) - Michael Brady sued AutoZone Stores for alleged violations of Washington State’s meal break laws. After several years of litigation, the district court denied...more
On June 3, the Ninth Circuit dismissed a putative class action after the named plaintiff voluntarily settled his individual claims. In so doing, the court held that a class representative must retain a financial stake in the...more
On June 3, 2020, the Ninth Circuit dismissed a wage and hour class action on the grounds that once the class representative plaintiff settled his individual claims and no longer had any financial stake in the litigation’s...more
- The 9th Circuit has held that settlement of a plaintiff’s individual claims moots the appeal of an order denying class certification, unless the settlement agreement specifically preserves the plaintiff’s personal stake in...more
In Radha Geismann, M.D., P.C. v. ZocDoc, Inc., the Second Circuit declined to allow the defendant-appellee to moot a putative class action by depositing $20,000—in full settlement of the plaintiff-appellant’s individual...more
Just days ago I wrote about a district court opinion rejecting a tender of complete relief to pick off a named class representative’s claim in a putative TCPA class action. Well today the Second Circuit Court of Appeal has...more
Can a named class representative continue to represent a putative TCPA class action even after a Defendant pays the Plaintiff the highest amount he/she could possibly recover on their individual claim? That question was left...more
Takeaway: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in January 2016 in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez that an unaccepted Rule 68 offer of judgment has no legal effect and therefore does not serve to moot a class action. 136 S. Ct. 663...more
On June 20, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit provided guidance on attempts by defendants to moot a plaintiff’s claim by depositing with the court damages sufficient to make the plaintiff whole. The practice...more
Over the years, Rule 68 offers of judgment have been touted as a means of picking off class representatives and a potentially easy way to terminate a class or collective action before it starts. It rarely really works that...more
On June 20, 2017, the Seventh Circuit ruled that a defendant cannot moot the individual claims of a putative class representative by depositing an unaccepted settlement offer with the court covering all relief purportedly...more
Rien n’est eternel. Nothing lasts forever. In TCPAland, things don’t even last a week. Just days after a Chicago district court endorsed the tactic in A Custom Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc. v. Kabbage, Inc., 2017 U.S....more
In January 2016, the Supreme Court issued its Campbell-Ewald v. Gomez decision and definitely ruled that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68 could not be used to moot the claims of a named plaintiff. Prior to that ruling,...more
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently confronted (again) a situation where a defendant made an offer of judgment to the putative class representative to provide all of the relief available to the individual plaintiff....more
On January 20, 2016, the Supreme Court held in Campbell-Ewald v. Gomez, 136 S. Ct. 663, 672, 193 L. Ed. 2d 571 (2016) that an unaccepted pre-certification settlement offer of complete relief in a putative class action, made...more
Chief Judge Saris and Judge Sorokin of the District of Massachusetts recently tackled questions left unanswered by the Supreme Court’s opinion earlier this year in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, 136 S. Ct. 663 (2016)....more
Following an interlocutory appeal, in which the First Circuit ruled that a Rule 68 offer made prior to class certification did not moot the plaintiff’s claim, defendant returned to the Massachusetts district court seeking...more
Debt Collection Letters Now Have a Safe Harbor In The Second Circuit - Avila v. Riexinger & Associates, LLC, 15-1548, --- F.3d ---- , 2016 WL 1104776 (2d Cir. March 22, 2016) - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the...more
On April 12, 2016, in Chen, et al. v. Allstate Insurance Co., No. 13-16816, the Ninth Circuit considered whether an unaccepted offer of judgment and tender of payment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68 to fully...more
In Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, a decision released in January, a majority of the United States Supreme Court held that an unaccepted Rule 68 offer of judgment by a defendant cannot moot a putative class action....more
In Campbell-Ewald v. Gomez, 136 S. Ct. 663 (Jan. 20, 2016), the Supreme Court resolved a split among courts and held that an unaccepted settlement offer of complete individual relief does not moot the plaintiff’s lawsuit. ...more
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's holding in Campbell-Ewald Company v. Gomez that an unaccepted Rule 68 offer of complete relief does not moot a plaintiff's individual claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third...more
Nuclear Plant Maintenance Manager's Whistleblower Claim Was Properly Dismissed - Sanders v. Energy Northwest, 2016 WL 560809 (9th Cir. 2016) - David W. Sanders, a maintenance manager for Energy Northwest (a...more
Recently, a New York court held that a putative class action defendant’s depositing of funds sufficient to cover the full amount of a plaintiff’s individual claims does not moot the plaintiff’s case and therefore cannot be...more
Editor's Overview - This month's article reviews a few non-ERISA cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, which may, depending on the breadth of the decisions, impact ERISA litigation. First, in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, the...more