On April 15, 2024, the United States Supreme Court declined certiorari in the case of National ATM Council, Inc. v. Visa Inc. The central issue raised in the petition was the depth of analysis a court must conduct at the...more
The Middle District of Tennessee recently denied a motion for class certification for a group of dental providers in a suit against SmileDirectClub (“SmileDirect”). Ciccio v. SmileDirectClub, LLC, No. 3:19-CV-00845, 2024 WL...more
In April 2021, the Ninth Circuit issued its panel opinion in Wholesale Grocery Cooperative v. Bumble Bee Foods LLC, which held that the district court erred in certifying several classes of tuna purchasers in an antitrust...more
Takeaway: Consumer class actions primarily target a damages remedy. In the antitrust context, state antitrust law provides the path to damages for indirect purchasers, because federal antitrust law bars indirect purchaser...more
A recent decision by a Washington federal district court caught my eye because it involved a circumstance I often see—a new development in the law results in a class action lawsuit being filed before the defendant has an...more
On August 16, the D.C. Circuit held in a high-profile antitrust MDL involving railroad shippers that the plaintiffs failed to satisfy Rule 23(b)(3)’s predominance requirement because their expert’s damages model calculated...more
Mirror, mirror on the class, are damages what you really asked? The Eleventh Circuit reversed an interlocutory order certifying an injunction class, rejecting the plaintiffs’ ploy “to lop off all the damages-based warts...more
Takeaway: Injunctive relief is a forward-looking remedy. A damages award compensates for past harm. This dichotomy lies at the heart of the difference between a Rule 23(b)(2) injunctive relief class and a Rule 23(b)(3)...more
Takeaway: In a prior post – Leveraging Comcast – beating predominance where challenged product has some value (April 16, 2019) – we reported on a decision by Judge Lucy Koh of the Northern District of California...more
The Southern District of California certified a food labeling class against Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. based in part upon a price premium damages model developed by an aptly named Dr. Belch....more
This edition focuses on rulings issued between November 16, 2017, and February 15, 2018. In this issue, we cover five decisions granting motions to strike/dismiss class claims, seven decisions denying such motions, 15...more
In Comcast v. Behrend, 569 U.S. 27 (2013), the United States Supreme Court clarified the requirements for establishing that classwide injury and damages predominate over individual issues for the purposes of FRCP 23(b)(3). In...more
A New Jersey district court denied certification to a putative class of Tropicana orange juice purchasers from “Members Only” or “Loyalty Card” stores in California, New York, New Jersey, and Wisconsin. Plaintiffs alleged...more
In Brazil v. Dole, No. 14-17480 (9th Cir. Sept. 30, 2016), the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part three different orders issued by the U.S. District Court for the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: African American pipefitters filed a class action against their labor union based on its allegedly discriminatory system for referring jobs to union members. Despite the fact that third-party employers...more
The Third Circuit recently affirmed the denial of class certification in a suit alleging that a law school made misrepresentations about the employment status of its graduates, thereby inducing students to pay inflated...more
In recent years, federal antitrust enforcers and businesses that accept payment cards have been waging a slow war against payment card fees and the card network rules that protect them. The payment card industry’s antitrust...more
Issues surrounding network rules made headlines recently, with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejecting a $7.25 billion deal between Visa and MasterCard and approximately 12 million merchants claiming the networks worked...more
This is the 12th edition of The Class Action Chronicle, a quarterly publication that provides an analysis of recent class action trends, along with a summary of class certification and Class Action Fairness Act rulings issued...more
A U.S. Supreme Court decision expected to potentially change (or at least clarify) the rules on the hot-button issue of statistical modeling in class actions ended up turning much more on case law specific to the Fair Labor...more
Northern District of California Judge William Orrick recently denied class certification in two food misbranding class actions challenging antioxidant claims for Bigelow green and black teas. Khasin v. R.C Bigelow Inc., Case...more
In Pulaski & Middleman, LLC v. Google, Inc., No. 12-16752, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 16723 (9th Cir. Sept. 21, 2015), a Ninth Circuit panel held that individualized damages (or restitution) calculations cannot alone defeat Rule...more
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed yesterday to hear an appeal challenging a nearly $6.0 million judgment in a collective and class action case against Tyson Foods, Inc. In Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo, a wage and hour...more
It’s hard enough to predict what the Supreme Court will do on a given case even after it has been briefed and oral argument has been heard. It’s even harder when all we have is the decision accepting certiorari, but this one...more