Spokeo v. Robins – which confirmed that a plaintiff’s allegation of a defendant’s statutory violation without accompanying concrete harm fails to satisfy Article III’s “case or controversy” requirement – has brought the issue of standing to the forefront in a variety of class action cases. Standing has become a frequent weapon in the defense’s arsenal, both as an initial hurdle for a class plaintiff to overcome, and as a basis for resisting class certification by demanding that each putative class member demonstrate actual, concrete injury. A recent decision by the Seventh Circuit, however, reminds us that there can be a downside to a successful standing challenge: the permanent loss of a federal forum for adjudication of the claim.

Collier v. SP Plus Corporation involved a class action brought against the operator of public parking facilities, claiming that the receipts generated by the defendant contained the expiration dates of consumers’ credit and debit cards, in violation of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA). Plaintiffs alleged willful violation of FACTA and sought statutory and actual damages. Their complaint, however, did not describe any concrete harm resulting from the alleged statutory violation. SP Plus removed the case to federal court, invoking the court’s federal question jurisdiction under FACTA, and then moved to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1), contending that plaintiffs lacked Article III standing because they alleged no injury in fact.  Plaintiffs responded by moving to remand the case to state court, contending that SP Plus had failed to establish subject matter jurisdiction. The district court denied the motion to remand, and granted plaintiffs leave to amend to make factual allegations in support of their request for actual damages. When plaintiffs did not amend their complaint, the trial court dismissed the case with prejudice. Plaintiffs appealed to the Seventh Circuit.

The appeals court reversed. The court agreed that plaintiffs’ complaint did not allege an actual injury sufficient to establish Article III standing under Spokeo. Nonetheless, relying on the mandatory language of 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c), the court held that remand to state court was the only permissible option upon a finding of lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The court also noted that even if a dismissal had been proper, it should have been one without prejudice, as a jurisdictional dismissal is not an adjudication on the merits. In a parting shot, the court expressed displeasure that the defendant had removed the case to federal court and then promptly attacked federal jurisdiction; SP Plus’s “dubious strategy has resulted in a significant waste of federal judicial resources, much of which was avoidable.”

There are several takeaways from this decision:

• From the defense perspective, seeking a Rule 12(b)(1) jurisdictional dismissal in a case removed from state court is strategically risky. The weight of authority (which Collier reflects) and the language of 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c) instruct that a successful challenge to plaintiff’s standing will result in a remand to state court. And the benefit of a federal court’s ruling of “no Article III standing” is far from clear, unless the state court’s standing jurisprudence mirrors Article III. Even then, as a non-final (and, at best, appealable by permission only) ruling, it is difficult to imagine that a state court would consider the remand order to be preclusive. There is authority in some circuits that a district court can dismiss rather than remand to state court if remand would be futile, i.e., if it is clear that the state court would likewise dismiss for lack of standing. But making that showing is likely to be difficult, as many states’ standing rules differ from federal standards. And – as Collier also teaches – a jurisdictional dismissal by the federal court should be one without prejudice, leaving the plaintiff free to refile the case in state court anyway.
• Of course, ignoring standing altogether does not eliminates the trap. The plaintiff himself can raise the issue in an effort to have the case remanded. And as the late, great Dan Meador taught many of us in his Federal Courts class, “even the janitor can raise subject matter jurisdiction.” But beyond those scenarios, the defendant is better served by saving its standing arguments for class certification, in particular the argument that each class member must show actual injury, thus defeating commonality, typicality and predominance. Not all courts have bought into the concept that every member of the class must have standing, but arguing these issues under the Rule 23 factors can create traction for the defense while minimizing the risk of remand.
• Collier also serves as a reminder that federal jurisdictional statutes (including the Class Action Fairness Act) may be of limited utility to the defendant facing a class action involving statutory violations without actual injury. Federal district courts have a duty independent of any Congressional enactment to determine whether an action involves an actual “case or controversy” under Article III.
• Defense counsel’s natural instinct in “touch foul” class actions is to argue early and often that “plaintiff hasn’t been hurt at all.” In class cases removed from state court, however, it may be wise to curb that instinct. Attacking standing can result in the defendant being left to the tender mercies of the state court where plaintiff’s counsel initially chose to bring the suit.