Gibbons Law Alert

Gibbons Law Alert

Category: Class Action Defense

Supreme Court Declines to Hear Challenge to New Jersey’s Requirement of Express Waiver Language for Enforcement of Arbitration Provision in Consumer Contracts

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Posted in Class Action Defense / General Litigation

On July 6, 2015

The Supreme Court of the United States declined to review the New Jersey Supreme Court decision in U.S. Legal Services Group v. Atalese, holding that an arbitration provision in a consumer contract was not enforceable because the contract’s language waiving the consumer’s right to sue was not clear and unambiguous. The New Jersey Supreme Court’s decision, which affects the enforceability of arbitration provisions interpreted under New Jersey law, directs that such provisions must clearly notify the parties of their waiver of the right to bring a lawsuit.

Class Action Certified in In re Yahoo Mail Litigation for Violations of Stored Communication Act and California’s Invasion of Privacy Act

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Posted in Class Action Defense / Privacy and Data Security

On June 25, 2015

On May 28, 2015, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in the Northern District of California certified a class of email users in a privacy action that claims Yahoo Inc. (“Yahoo”) violated the federal Stored Communications Act (“SCA”) and California’s Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”) through its practice of scanning and analyzing emails of non-Yahoo Mail subscribers in order to display targeted ads to Yahoo Mail subscribers. In re Yahoo Mail Litigation, No. 13-CV-04980-LHK, (N.D. Cal. 2015). Plaintiffs are non-Yahoo Mail subscribers who sent emails to Yahoo Mail subscribers from non-Yahoo email accounts and allege that Yahoo routinely copies and extracts key words from emails and stores this information for later use. Plaintiffs allege that Yahoo’s practices violate § 2702(a)(1) of the SCA, which prohibits, among other items, divulging the contents of a communication without consent and § 631 of CIPA, which prohibits the recording or reading of any type of communication without the prior consent of all parties.

Supreme Court Set to Weigh in on Whether Offer of Judgment for Complete Relief to Named Plaintiff in Putative Class Action Moots TCPA Claims

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Posted in Class Action Defense

On June 17, 2015

The Supreme Court of the United States has granted certiorari in Campbell-Ewald v. Gomez, which is positioned to resolve the circuit split as to whether an offer of judgment to the named plaintiff in a class action for the full amount of the plaintiff’s individual claim can moot claims brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) for that named plaintiff only and prevent the matter from proceeding to the class certification stage.

Federal Law Preempts NJ Fair Credit Report Act and TCCWNA Claims, New Jersey Court Says

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Posted in Class Action Defense

On June 9, 2015

Claims based on a retailer’s improper inclusion of too many credit card digits or a credit card expiration date on a sales receipt may not be brought under either the New Jersey Fair Credit Report Act (“NJFCRA”) or New Jersey’s Truth-in-Consumer Contract, Warranty, and Notice Act (“TCCWNA”), according to a recent ruling by the New Jersey Law Division.

New Jersey Appellate Division Says Ascertainability Not Required for Class Certification

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Posted in Class Action Defense

On June 4, 2015

As recently reported by this blog, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld and clarified the implied requirement of Rule 23 that a class be ascertainable in order to be certified. But a New Jersey appellate court recently ruled that there is no such requirement under the New Jersey Court Rules, at least where each class member holds a low-value claim.

New Jersey Appellate Panel Upholds Pre-Discovery Dismissal of Weak Class Action Claims

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Posted in Class Action Defense

On June 2, 2015

In Myska, et al. v. New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Co. et al., New Jersey’s Appellate Division recently upheld a pre-discovery striking of a complaint’s class allegations and dismissal of its Consumer Fraud Act claims because the complaint, the underlying policies, and other documents referenced by the complaint showed that class treatment was not warranted and that the plaintiffs could not prevail on their Consumer Fraud Act claims.

Third Circuit Confirms Prospective Application of New Jersey Supreme Court’s Shelton Decision, Dooming Underlying Class Action

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Posted in Class Action Defense

On May 21, 2015

In a recent precedential decision, the Third Circuit, in Bohus, et al. v. Restaurant.com, held that the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Shelton decision — responding to a question of law certified by the Third Circuit as to the proper interpretation of the Truth in Consumer Contract, Warranty, and Notice Act (“TCCWNA”) — may be applied prospectively, thus defeating the class claims and leaving only two individual claims for a $100 penalty.

Third Circuit Clarifies Apparent Confusion Regarding Rule 23(b)(3) Ascertainability Requirement

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Posted in Class Action Defense

On May 19, 2015

In Byrd v. Aaron’s Inc., the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit added to, and clarified, its “quartet” of ascertainability cases to resolve the “apparent confusion in the invocation and application of ascertainability in this Circuit.” The plaintiffs in Byrd brought a class action claiming violations of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 because laptop computers had “spyware” installed, which had captured a wide array of personal information from the users including photographs and screenshots of websites visited. Adopting the recommendation of the Magistrate Judge, the District Court denied class certification for failure to establish ascertainability, finding that the proposed classes were both “underinclusive” (i.e., did not include all individuals whose information was gathered) and overinclusive (not every computer user had data intercepted), and that it was insufficient to propose that “household members” be identified by public records. “Because the District Court confused ascertainability with other relevant inquiries under Rule 23,” it “erred in determining that the Byrds’ proposed classes were not ascertainable.”

Third Circuit Confirms That Challenged Expert Testimony Must Survive Daubert Challenges in Order to Demonstrate Conformity with Rule 23

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Posted in Class Action Defense

On April 20, 2015

Drawing upon its own precedent and that of the Supreme Court in Comcast v. Behrend, the Third Circuit recently held in In re Blood Reagents Antitrust Litig. that a district court must resolve any Daubert challenges to proffered expert testimony as part of its “rigorous analysis” of the requirements for class certification.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Holds the UTPCPA’s “Ascertainable Loss” Requirement Cannot Be Manufactured by Voluntarily Hiring Counsel and Incurring Litigation Costs

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Posted in Class Action Defense

On January 20, 2015

In Grimes v. Enterprise Leasing Co. of Phila., LLC, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that the retention of counsel to institute suit alone does not constitute “ascertainable loss” under the state’s consumer protection statute. The plaintiff in Grimes had rented a car from an Enterprise branch in Philadelphia and apparently declined to purchase Collision Damage Waiver or Loss Damage Waiver coverage.

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