In Turbeville v. FINRA, 2017 WL 4938821 (11th Cir. Nov. 1, 2017), a panel of the Eleventh Circuit held that a former registered representative’s purported state-law claims against FINRA were properly dismissed because there exists no private right of action against FINRA, a self-regulatory organization (“SRO”), for alleged violations of its own rules. In 2009,…
Category: Jurisdiction
Primary Defendants Tied to Liability for Damages in Class Actions Seeking Monetary Relief
In an opinion published June 14, 2017, Hunter v. City of Montgomery, 2017 WL 2634162, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the lower court’s remand order under the home state exception to the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”). The central issue was the classification of a party as one of the “primary defendants” within the meaning of CAFA….
ACLU Gets Jurisdictional Discovery from Michael Jackson Because of Disputed Facts
When is a litigant entitled to jurisdictional discovery? The Eleventh Circuit addressed this issue in an opinion published June 20, 2017, ACLU of Florida, Inc. v. City of Sarasota, 2017 WL 2636542, holding that, when the jurisdictional facts are genuinely in dispute and a party does not unduly delay in seeking discovery, the court abuses its…
ADA and RA Protect Hospital Patients’ Ability to Exchange Medically Relevant Information
In Silva v. Baptist Health South Florida, Inc., 2017 WL 1830158 (11th Cir. May 8, 2017), the Eleventh Circuit clarified the standard for liability for ADA and RA effective-communication claims against hospitals. The court held that “the relevant inquiry is whether the hospitals’ failure to offer an appropriate auxiliary aid impaired the patient’s ability to…
Dual Citizenship Does Not Create CAFA Jurisdiction
Two insurance class actions will remain in state court after the Eleventh Circuit’s decision in Life of the South Insurance Co. v. Carzell, 2017 WL 1174083 (11th Cir. Mar. 29, 2017) (Marcus, J.). The court held that federal diversity jurisdiction does not exist under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) if all defendants and plaintiff…
CAFA’s Local-Controversy Provision Can’t Trump Federal-Question Jurisdiction
The Eleventh Circuit reinstated a federal RICO case but approved the denial of a motion to remand it to state court under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) in Blevins v. Aksut, No. 16-11585, 2017 WL 782288 (11th Cir. Mar. 1, 2017). The court’s opinion confirms that CAFA’s local-controversy provision, 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(4), does not strip…
Patronage Capital Class Action Removable; Dismissal Affirmed
An electric cooperative organized under state law is nonetheless entitled to remove a putative class action to federal court under the “federal officer” removal statute, according to the Eleventh Circuit in Caver v. Central Alabama Electric Cooperative, 845 F.3d 1135 (11th Cir. 2017), which also affirmed dismissal of a complaint seeking immediate return of patronage capital. Specifically,…
Direct Appeal from Bankruptcy Proceeding Transferred for Lack of Jurisdiction
Federal courts have struggled with the implications of Stern v. Marshall, 564 U.S. 462 (2011), and Wellness International Network, Ltd. v. Sharif, 135 S. Ct. 1932 (2015)—in which the Supreme Court held that the Constitution requires the parties’ consent before bankruptcy courts can finally adjudicate claims that neither “stem[] from the bankruptcy itself [n]or would necessarily…
Secondhand Knowledge Held Insufficient to Qualify False Claims Act Relator as “Original Source”
In United States ex rel. Saldivar v. Fresenius Medical Care Holdings, Inc., 2016 WL 6595937 (11th Cir. Nov. 8, 2016), the Eleventh Circuit joined the Third, Seventh, Eighth, and Tenth Circuits holding that “secondhand” knowledge is insufficient to make someone an “original source” under the False Claims Act (FCA). The plaintiff alleged in a qui…
Native American Tribes Cannot Be Sued Under the ADEA
Native American tribes enjoy sovereign immunity from suit under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634. This was the holding of the Eleventh Circuit’s published opinion in Williams v. Poarch Band of Creek Indians, 2016 WL 6081345 (11th Cir. Oct. 18, 2016). This case clarifies principles of statutory interpretation and reaffirms the…