PRACTITIONER BLOG
Read our analyses of developments in Impact Litigation and stay current on class action law
Female athletes from James Campbell High School score class certification after Ninth Circuit Appeal
When several students and parents from the girl’s water polo team flagged concerns of gender discrimination, the DOE retaliated against the class. The administration threatened to cancel the water polo season, increased scrutiny of the team, and mysteriously lost required team paperwork. This retaliatory conduct and the stark inequality between male and female athletes at Campbell are out of bounds under Title IX. In an upset, the District Court denied class certification in 2019 finding that the class failed to meet numerosity standards and, for the class-wide retaliation claims, that plaintiffs failed to show typicality and commonality.
Mr. T and Rule 23: How Not to File a Class Action Against Facebook
A set of recently filed class actions against three big social media platforms are getting a lot of press and, of course, caught our eye. Constitutional scholars have already had lots to say about the legal theory in those cases but, as we said, we’re all about complex civil procedure – so we asked, “can these class actions fly?” We thought these new cases might offer some teachable moments for would-be class action lawyers who may be thinking they are ready to run the gauntlet of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, the rule that governs class actions in federal court.
SCOTUS Rules on TransUnion v. Ramirez Class Action: "We Decide If It’s a Federal Case, Not Congress."
On the one hand, the outcome is hardly surprising. The conservative majority has once again limited access to the federal courts for consumers to challenge corporate malfeasance, erecting ever higher threshold procedural hurdles. On the other hand, the decision holds some interesting surprises, including a full-throated defense of the rights of the injured consumers by the dissenting Justice Thomas, joined by Justices Breyer, Kagan, and Sotomayor. The decision is well worth a close read.
Eastern District of New York Grants Class Certification to Incarcerated People Who Faced Inhumane Conditions
Plaintiffs also alleged that MDC staff failed to provide them adequate food and clothing and deprived them of access to hot water for cleaning, bathing, and laundry. Plaintiffs were forced to wash themselves in their cell sinks with cold water or forego washing for fear of getting sick. One resident suffering from ulcerative colitis had bloody bedding that had not been changed because of the lack of laundry services. Other incarcerated people with chronic medical conditions did not receive their medication and were unable to receive medical treatment. Class members also reported not being able to use their CPAP machines, not having access to mental health staff, and even enduring dirty bandages that had not been changed in weeks.