Unlawful and Non-Competitive Parallel Conduct is Still Insufficient to State a RICO Claim
Posted on Mar 16, 2017 in Civil Procedure, Class Actions | Comments Off on Unlawful and Non-Competitive Parallel Conduct is Still Insufficient to State a RICO Claim
The Eleventh Circuit relied on Twombly’s heightened pleading standard in affirming a dismissal for failure to state a RICO claim in Almanza v. United Airlines, 2017 WL 957191 (11th Cir. Mar. 13, 2017). The plaintiff Mexican nationals, representing a putative class, were charged a tourism tax by the defendant airlines as part of their airfare, purportedly required under Mexican law,...
CAFA’s Local-Controversy Provision Can’t Trump Federal-Question Jurisdiction
Posted on Mar 7, 2017 in Civil Procedure, Class Actions, Jurisdiction | Comments Off on 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 federal courts of jurisdiction over...
Civil RICO Class Action Dismissal Affirmed
Posted on Sep 7, 2016 in Civil Procedure, Class Actions, Consumer Protection | Comments Off on Civil RICO Class Action Dismissal Affirmed
A civil RICO class action challenging Spirit Airlines’ “Passenger Usage Fee” landed for a second time in the Eleventh Circuit and this time the airline fared better: the court affirmed the dismissal of the amended complaint in a major opinion on RICO pleading standards authored by Judge Stanley Marcus. Ray v. Spirit Airlines, Inc., 2016 WL 4578347 (11th Cir. Sept. 2, 2016). The named...