CALIFORNIA CLASS ACTION LAW

Tag: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

April 12, 2013

Ninth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of State Law Claims, Holding That FLSA Collective Actions and State Law Class Actions are Not Inherently Incompatible

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English: Stanford Memorial Church, Stanford University, Stanford, California. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Agreeing with other circuits, the Ninth Circuit held today that FLSA collective actions and state law class actions are not inherently incompatible.  Bush v. Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc., No. 11-16892, __ F.3d __ (9th Cir. Apr. 12, 2013).  The district court dismissed warehouse workers’ claims for unpaid wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act and Nevada state law.  The Ninth Circuit reversed the dismissal of state law claims on the basis that they would be certified using different class certification procedures than the federal wage-and-hour claims.  Agreeing with other circuits, the panel held that a FLSA collective action and a state law class action are not inherently incompatible as a matter of law even though plaintiffs must opt into a collective action under the FLSA but must opt out of a class action under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23.

You can read more about the ruling here.

Judges

Before: Jerome Farris, Sidney R. Thomas, and N. Randy Smith, Circuit Judges. Opinion by Judge Thomas.

The case was argued and submitted at Stanford Law School.

By CHARLES H. JUNG

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March 16, 2012

Ninth Circuit Holds that FAA Under Concepcion Broadly Preempts State Law Invalidating Class-Action Waivers in Arbitration Agreements

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The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in a published opinion today, held that the Federal Arbitration Act broadly preempts state law invalidating class-action waivers in arbitration agreements, even where the waivers would preclude effective vindication of statutory rights.  The opinion can be found here: http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2012/03/16/09-35563.pdf.

More on this later.

By CHARLES JUNG

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October 13, 2010

Ninth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Individual Claims Where Plaintiff Received an Offer of Judgment for More Than Amount He Was Entitled to Recover

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The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a dismissal of individual claims in a class action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, were the named plaintiff received an offer of judgment for more than he was entitled to recover.  Marschall v. Recovery Solution Specialists, Inc., No. 08-55247, 2010 WL 3937992 (9th Cir. Oct. 5, 2010) (slip op.).

Plaintiff Carl N. Marschall appealed pro se from a district court’s judgment dismissing his action brought under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) and the California Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“Rosenthal Act”).  Id. *1.  Reviewing de novo, the Ninth Circuit found that the district court properly dismissed Marschall’s individual claims against Recovery Solution Specialists, Inc. (“RSS”) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because RSS’s offer of judgment was for more than Marschall was legally entitled to recover. Id. (citing 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a); Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1788.17 and 1788.30(b); Chang v. United States, 327 F.3d 911, 919 (9th Cir.2003) (case is moot where there remains “no effective relief … for the court to provide”)).

The Ninth Circuit also affirmed dismissal of the class claims against RSS because Marschall had a “reasonable opportunity to file a motion for class certification but failed to do so.” Id. (citing C.D. Cal. R. 23-3; Ghazali v. Moran, 46 F.3d 52, 53 (9th Cir. 1995) (per curiam) (“Only in rare cases will we question the exercise of discretion in connection with the application of local rules.”)). Read the rest of this entry »

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September 30, 2010

Ninth Circuit Affirms in All Respects Trial Court’s Entry of Judgment and Award of Attorneys Fees After Jury and Bench Trial of California Labor Code Class Action and FLSA Collective Action Claims

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On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed in “all respects” the trial court’s grant of partial summary judgment to plaintiffs, a judgment after jury and bench trials, and an award of attorney’s fees to plaintiffs.  Wang v. Chinese Daily News, Inc., Nos. 08-55483, 08-56740, — F.3d —-, 2010 WL 3733568 (9th Cir. Sept. 27, 2010).  Among other things, the Ninth Circuit held that plaintiff newspaper reporters were non-exempt. (Thank you to Randy Renick for bringing this case to my attention.)

Background

Employees of Chinese Daily News, Inc. (“CDN”), a Chinese-language newspaper, filed suit against CDN on behalf of current, former, and future CDN employees based in CDN’s San Francisco and Monterey Park (Los Angeles), California locations.  Id. *1.  Plaintiffs claimed violations of the FLSA, California’s Labor Code, and California’s Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200, alleging that employees were made to work in excess of eight hours per day and forty hours per week. Id. They further alleged that they were wrongfully denied overtime compensation, meal and rest breaks, accurate and itemized wage statements, and penalties for wages due but not promptly paid at termination. Id. The district court certified the FLSA claim as a collective action, and it certified the state-law claims as a class action under Rule 23(b)(2) and, alternatively, under Rule 23(b)(3). Id. Read the rest of this entry »

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September 7, 2010

Central District Remands Class Action for Defendant’s Failure to Prove Amount in Controversy Under CAFA

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The Central District remanded a putative minimum wage and overtime class action suit in Munoz v. Central Parking Sys., Inc., No. CV 10-6172 PA (RCx), 2010 WL 3432239 (C.D. Cal. Aug. 30, 2010) (unpublished).

Plaintiff’s Complaint attempted to avoid removal, stating “[i]t is believed that the total sum owed to the Class alleged herein is less than $5 million, based upon the anticipated size of the Class and the amount in controversy for each member of the Class.”  Id. *1. Read the rest of this entry »

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September 3, 2010

Southern District Grants Stay Pending Appeal of Denial of Class-Wide Arbitration

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The Southern District of California granted a stay of proceedings pending appeal of the trial court’s refusal to compel class-wide arbitration.  Del Rio v. CreditAnswers, LLC, No. 10cv346-WQH-BLM, 2010 WL 3418430 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 26, 2010) (slip op.). Read the rest of this entry »

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September 1, 2010

Ninth Circuit Holds That Optimistic Statements & “Poor Business Decisions” Fail to Satisfy PLSRA’s Heightened Pleading Standards

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The Ninth Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, held that plaintiffs in a securities fraud class action failed to meet the PSLRA’s heightened pleading requirements where the complaint did not contain factual allegations sufficient to demonstrate that the Defendants’ statements regarding a marketing initiative were untrue.  In re Jones Soda Company Securities Litigation, No. 09-35732, 2010 WL 3394274 (9th Cir. Aug. 30, 2010). Read the rest of this entry »

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August 30, 2010

Wal-Mart Files Its Cert Petition in Dukes v. Wal-Mart

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Wal-Mart filed its cert petition last week of Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 603 F.3d 571 (9th Cir. Apr. 26, 2010).  Sitting en banc, Ninth Circuit affirmed District Judge Martin J. Jenkins’ order certifying a Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2) class of current employees with respect to their claims for inclutive relief, declaratory relief, and back pay.  The petition presents 2 questions:

I. Whether claims for monetary relief can be certified under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2)—which by its terms is limited to injunctive or corresponding declaratory relief—and, if so, under what circumstances. Read the rest of this entry »

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August 27, 2010

Southern District Remands California Securities Law Class Action, Declining to Combine 2 Similar Cases for Purposes of CAFA Jurisdiction

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In Royalty Alliance, Inc. v. Tarsadia Hotel, et al., Nos. 09CV2739 DMS (CAB), 10CV1231 DMS (CAB), 2010 WL 3339202 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 23, 2010) (slip op.), the court remanded a securities class action to state court and also rejected defendant’s request that the court consider two similar class actions for the purpose of evaluating CAFA jurisdiction. Read the rest of this entry »

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August 21, 2010

Ninth Circuit Holds That Incomplete Disclosures About Sales Force Performance Are Not Material Omissions

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In In re Cutera Securities Litigation, 610 F.3d 1103 (9th Cir. 2010), a fraud-on-the-market class action suit, plaintiff investors appealed the dismissal of their securities fraud class action against Cutera, Inc., its chief executive officer, Kevin Connors, and its chief financial officer, Robert J. Santilli, under §§ 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  The investors alleged that Cutera provided false and misleading revenue projections and failed to disclose material information about the shortcomings of Cutera’s sales staff.

Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker of the Northern District of California dismissed without prejudice for failure to state claim. Investors appealed.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed, concluding that Cutera’s alleged incomplete disclosures about its sales force are not material omissions made in violation of the securities laws, and that Cutera’s earnings projections fall within the statutory safe harbor for forward-looking projections under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (“PSLRA“), 15 U.S.C. § 78u-5. Read the rest of this entry »

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