As data-breach class actions have become increasingly frequent in recent years, courts continue to grapple with whether, and to what extent, these cases meet the requirements for certification of a damages class under Rule 23(b)(3). In its latest such case, Green-Cooper v. Brinker Int’l, Inc., No. 21-13146, 73 F. 4th 883 (July 11, 2023), the…
Category: Class Actions
Class Certification in Consumer-Fraud Case Depends on What Evidence—if Any—Is Required to Establish Reliance Under State Law
The Eleventh Circuit reversed and remanded class certification of most claims brought by a group of consumers who alleged their Ford Mustang Shelby GT350s were not “track ready” as advertised. The court’s decision in Tershakovec v. Ford Motor Company, No. 22-10575, — F.4th —, 2023 WL 4377585 (11th Cir. July 7, 2023), focused on the…
Single Unwanted Text Enough For TCPA Standing
In an unusual showing of unanimity, the full Eleventh Circuit held that a single unwanted text is enough to confer Article III standing to assert a claim under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Drazen v. Pinto, 2023 WL 4699939 (July 24, 2023). The original panel opinion, vacated by the grant of rehearing en banc, arose…
Court Nixes Class Settlement Approval for Lack of Representatives’ Standing to Seek Key Injunctive Relief
The Eleventh Circuit recently vacated approval of a class settlement which included, as an integral part, injunctive relief that no class representative had Article III standing to seek. Williams v. Reckitt Benckiser LLC, 2023 WL 2906311 (11th Cir. Apr. 12, 2023), was brought on behalf of a class of individuals who purchased “brain performance supplements”…
Supreme Court Denies Certiorari in Eleventh Circuit Case Banning Class-Action Incentive Payments for Plaintiffs
The Supreme Court today denied certiorari in Johnson v. Dickenson, No. 22-389, 2023 WL 2959369 (U.S. Apr. 17, 2023), declining to review the Eleventh Circuit’s decision that incentive awards in class actions are impermissible under federal law. Johnson v. NPAS Sols., LLC, 975 F.3d 1244 (11th Cir. 2020), denial of rehearing en banc, 43 F.4th…
Full Court to Rehear Uninjured Class Member TCPA Standing Case
The en banc Eleventh Circuit announced on March 13 that it would rehear Drazen v. Pinto and vacated the panel opinion. As discussed in our post on the panel decision, the case addresses whether class members who lack Article III standing with respect to the claims asserted by the class are nonetheless permitted to receive…
No Class-Action Tolling for Chiquita Terrorism Plaintiffs
The court was presented with a set of exotic facts in Garcia v. Chiquita Brands International, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 25192 (11th Cir. Sept. 8, 2022), but applied two familiar principles of civil procedure to decide the relatively narrow issues on appeal. The decision was the court’s second in the controversy arising from Chiquita’s guilty…
Settlement Class Defined to Include Uninjured Members Cannot Be Approved
An appeal concerning the meaning of coupon settlements under the Class Action Fairness Act instead produced an important opinion, Drazen v. Pinto, 2022 LEXIS 20766 (11th Cir. July 27, 2022), addressing the certification of classes that are defined to include members who have not been injured. Some background may be helpful in understanding the ruling….
En Banc Court Stands by Ban on Class-Action Incentive Payments for Plaintiffs
Nearly two years after a divided three-three judge panel held that federal law prohibits “incentive payments” to named class representatives (see our previous blog post here), the Eleventh Circuit denied a petition to rehear that case en banc. Johnson v. NPAS Solutions, LLC, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 21455 (11th Cir. Aug. 3, 2022). The denial…
“Local Controversy” CAFA Exception Not Established by Proof of Class Citizenship
An inartfully pleaded class definition coupled with a failure of proof was enough to prevent a class-action plaintiff from invoking the Class Action Fairness Act’s “local controversy” exception to avoid removal from the sheltering arms of a Florida circuit court, according to the Eleventh Circuit in Simring v. GreenSky, LLC, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 8002…