Eleventh Circuit Rejects Administrative Feasibility Requirement: What Does the Future Hold for Ascertainability?
The Class Action Chronicle, courts have struggled to define the ascertainability requirement that is implicit in Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Several courts, including the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First, Third and Fourth Circuits, have required proof of administrative feasibility
i.e., that the identification of class members will be a manageable process that does not require significant individual inquiry as a prerequisite to class certification. Other courts, such as the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Circuits, have rejected that approach, finding that ascertainability does not mandate proof of administrative feasibility.
Tuesday, February 9, 2021
Highlights from this issue include:
Supreme Court grants cert in securities class action to address whether the
Basic presumption of class-wide reliance can be rebutted based on the generic nature of the alleged representation and that the statement had no price impact.
Massachusetts appellate court emphasizes that evidence is required to support class certification, even under state law.
District court in the Second Circuit holds that
Daubert analysis must be conducted at the class certification stage.
Third Circuit holds that the failure to register tires under federal law is not enough to confer standing.
Seventh Circuit holds that violations of the data retention and destruction requirements of the Biometric Information Privacy Act are sufficient for standing.
Introduction
What do you get when you cross allegedly defective refrigerators, a dangerous chemical agent, and a hotly contested topic in class action practice? The answer is: a precedential opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit that clarifies the boundaries of the ascertainability requirement and minimizes the role of “administrative feasibility” considerations in the class certification analysis.
In
Cherry v. Dometic Corp., the 11th Circuit held that “the existence of an administratively feasible method to identify absent class members” is not “a precondition for certification of a class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23.”
1 The court, however, did not discount the importance of “administrative feasibility” in the certification analysis, ruling that district courts “may consider administrative feasibility as one factor among several under Rule 23(b)(3).”
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A Chilly Reception at the 11th Circuit: The Court Narrows the Scope of the Ascertainability Requirement for Class Certification Tuesday, February 9, 2021
What do you get when you cross allegedly defective refrigerators, a dangerous chemical agent, and a hotly contested topic in class action practice? The answer is: a precedential opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit that clarifies the boundaries of the ascertainability requirement and minimizes the role of “administrative feasibility” considerations in the class certification analysis.
In
Cherry v. Dometic Corp., the 11th Circuit held that “the existence of an administratively feasible method to identify absent class members” is not “a precondition for certification of a class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23.”
Monday, February 1, 2021
A look at the most significant cases and stories in class and collective litigation last year, and the anticipated impact of these developments in 2021:
1. Pandemic-related class actions lie in wait
The COVID-19 pandemic was the most significant challenge employers had to reckon with in 2020, and COVID-19-related litigation continues to evolve alongside the ever-changing workplace. Although companies faced an onslaught of employment claims related to the pandemic and its operational and financial impact, relatively few of these were class filings.
According to the Jackson Lewis COVID-19 Employment LitWatch, there were more than 1,300 COVID-19 related employment complaints filed in federal and state courts in 2020; only 67 of those complaints were class or collective actions. However, multi-plaintiff lawsuits are expected to pick up steam in 2021, as the nation continues to contend with the most recent surge and the pandemic’s ongoing economic