I’m embarrassingly late in reporting on them, but I would be remiss if I did not mention two key recent United States Circuit Courts of Appeals decisions addressing the legal standards governing class certification under FRCP 23:
In American Honda Motor Co. v. Allen, No. 09-8051 (7th Cir., April 7, 2010) the Seventh Circuit held that a district court abused its discretion by failing to conduct a Daubert inquiry into the admissibility of expert testimony before relying on that testimony in determining that the plaintiff had met his burden of establishing the elements of class certification.
Meanwhile, in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Nos. 04-16688 and 04-16720 (9th Cir., April 26, 2010) (en banc), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals clarified that circuit’s standards for conducting the “rigorous analysis” necessary to determine whether the elements of Rule 23 are satisfied. Following extensive discussion of the history of class certification standards both outside and within the Ninth Circuit, the court articulated class certification standards that essentially mirror those recognized in the Second Circuit’s decision in In re IPO Securities Litigation, 471 F.3d 24 (2d Cir. 2006). However, applying those standards, the court came to a very different result, affirming certification of a nationwide class of thousands of female employees seeking injunctive and declaratory relief, back pay, and punitive damages arising out of allegedly common, discriminatory employment practices.
Both decisions are worthy of careful reading and study, and you will no doubt hear more about both decisions in the weeks and months ahead.
