This week the D.C. Circuit and Seventh Circuit issued decisions addressing a question that has been hotly debated by class action lawyers on the plaintiffs’ and defense sides: whether the Supreme Court’s decision on personal jurisdiction in Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of California, 137 S. Ct. 1773 (2017) (blog post) applies to class actions, and if so, how. Bristol-Myers held that in a mass action, a California state court lacked personal jurisdiction (specific jurisdiction) over claims made by non-California residents that involved no harm in California and no harm to California residents. Following that decision, defendants have argued that trial courts lack jurisdiction over putative class members, or over claims alleged on their behalf, that lack sufficient connection to the forum jurisdiction. The first appellate decisions on these issues came down this week. Thus far, defendants have not prevailed, but I think the litigation of these issues is far from over.

In Molock v. Whole Foods Market Group, Inc., No. 18-7162, 2020 WL 1146733 (D.C. Cir. Mar. 10, 2020), the plaintiff employees sought to bring a nationwide class action for alleged lost wages. The district court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss based on Bristol-Myers, and an interlocutory appeal was allowed. The D.C. Circuit, in a 2-1 decision, ruled that the question of whether and how Bristol-Myers applies to class actions is premature prior to a decision on class certification because, until a class is certified, putative class members are not parties. The majority relied on Smith v. Bayer Corp. and Standard Fire Ins. Co. v. Knowles, both of which recognized that putative class members cannot be bound by decisions made or actions taken in a putative class suit that has not yet been certified as a class action. The majority did not interpret Whole Foods’ position as asserting that there was a lack of jurisdiction over specific claims, and therefore did not address that question. I read Molock as potentially supporting an argument by defendants that, at class certification, the scope of any certified class should be limited to claims arising out of harm in jurisdictions where a named plaintiff was harmed. The line of argument would be that a class action must be litigated in a manner that ultimately leads to a binding outcome on the absent class members, which logically requires personal jurisdiction over the absent class members and the claims asserted on their behalf.

Judge Silberman of the D.C. Circuit dissented on various grounds, and would have ruled in favor of the defendant. He viewed Whole Foods’ argument as focusing not on whether there was personal jurisdiction over the absent putative class members, but rather seeking dismissal of those claims alleged by the named plaintiffs that related to injuries occurring outside the District of Columbia. He pointed out that courts have generally recognized and decided motions to dismiss or strike a portion of alleged class claims. Judge Silberman expressed a practical concern that, if adjudication of the scope of the class in this respect is postponed until class certification, a defendant can be subjected to unduly burdensome discovery (the majority opinion recognizes, however, that the district court could decide the Bristol-Myers issue in the context of a discovery dispute). Judge Silberman would have reached the merits of the Bristol-Myers issue and held that a named plaintiff cannot pursue claims of putative class members with no connection to the forum state. His reasoning included that: (1) personal jurisdiction must be analyzed on a claim-by-claim basis; (2) logically, a class action is a type of joinder and should not be treated differently than a mass action on this issue; (3) Rule 23 cannot alter jurisdictional requirements; and (4) Congress, in Rule 4(k)(1)(A), has limited federal district courts’ exercise of personal jurisdiction to that of a state court where the district court is located. Judge Silberman also would have concluded that absent class members are parties for purposes of personal jurisdiction over a defendant.

In Mussat v. IQVIA, Inc., No. 19-1204 (7th Cir. Mar. 11, 2020), the plaintiff filed a putative nationwide class action under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The district court granted the defendant’s motion to strike the class definition insofar as it alleged a nationwide class, based on Bristol-Myers. The Seventh Circuit agreed to hear an appeal from this ruling under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(f), and held that Bristol-Myers did not apply to a nationwide class action in federal court under a federal statute. The Seventh Circuit wrote that “[o]nce certified, the class as a whole is the litigating entity, and its affiliation with a forum depends only on the named plaintiffs.” Slip op. at 5 (citation omitted). The Seventh Circuit did not address the issue raised by the D.C. Circuit about whether adjudication of this issue was premature where no class had been certified. The Seventh Circuit noted that the Supreme Court had repeatedly adjudicated nationwide class action cases without addressing the Bristol-Myers issue (although the issue does not appear to have been raised by parties in any of those cases), and that the Supreme Court stated in Bristol-Myers that it was applying “settled principles of personal jurisdiction.” Slip op. at 7. The Seventh Circuit also noted that absent class members are not treated as parties for ordinary diversity jurisdiction purposes, or in determining venue. The Seventh Circuit also analogized class actions to situations where an executor, administrator or trustee sues in a representative capacity, and courts analyze personal jurisdiction only with respect to the representative.

These are complicated issues and it will be interesting to see how the law develops as additional circuits are asked to weigh in. I expect the Supreme Court will take this up within the next few years. There are additional issues in play that were not raised or addressed by the D.C. Circuit or the Seventh Circuit. One of those that comes to mind is the fact that the Class Action Fairness Act (which is the basis for subject matter jurisdiction in many federal court class actions) requires consideration of the citizenship of putative class members for various purposes, including exceptions to jurisdiction. See 28 U.S.C. 1332(d)(3), (4). Putative class member claims are also aggregated for determining whether the amount in controversy requirement is satisfied. Id. § 1332(d)(6). These provisions seem to run counter to part of the Seventh Circuit’s reasoning that putative class members should be treated as irrelevant for jurisdictional purposes.

As highlighted by these decisions, there are strategic decisions defendants need to make in deciding how (and whether) to litigate this issue. One strategic decision is whether to present the question as an issue of personal jurisdiction over the absent class members themselves, or over a certain portion of the claims asserted by the named plaintiff against the defendant (i.e., the “out-of-state” claims), or both. Another strategic consideration is whether or how any positions taken might impact a class action settlement later in the litigation.

 

 

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Photo of Wystan Ackerman Wystan Ackerman

I am a partner at the law firm of Robinson+Cole in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.  My contact information is on the contact page of my blog.  I really enjoy receiving questions, comments, suggestions and even criticism from readers.  So please e-mail me if you…

I am a partner at the law firm of Robinson+Cole in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.  My contact information is on the contact page of my blog.  I really enjoy receiving questions, comments, suggestions and even criticism from readers.  So please e-mail me if you have something to say.  For those looking for my detailed law firm bio, click here.  If you want a more light-hearted and hopefully more interesting summary, read on:

People often ask about my unusual first name, Wystan.  It’s pronounced WISS-ten.  It’s not Winston.  There is no “n” in the middle.  It comes from my father’s favorite poet, W.H. (Wystan Hugh) Auden.  I’ve grown to like the fact that because my name is unusual people tend to remember it better, even if they don’t pronounce it right (and there is no need for anyone to use my last name because I’m always the only Wystan).

I grew up in Deep River, Connecticut, a small town on the west side of the Connecticut River in the south central part of the state.  I’ve always had strong interests in history, politics and baseball.  My heroes growing up were Abraham Lincoln and Wade Boggs (at that time the third baseman for the Boston Red Sox).  I think it was my early fascination with Lincoln that drove me to practice law.  I went to high school at The Williams School in New London, Connecticut, where I edited the school newspaper, played baseball, and was primarily responsible for the installation of a flag pole near the school entrance (it seemed like every other school had one but until my class raised the money and bought one at my urging, Williams had no flag pole).  As a high school senior, my interest in history and politics led me to score high enough on a test of those subjects to be chosen as one of Connecticut’s two delegates to the U.S. Senate Youth Program, which further solidified my interest in law and government.  One of my mentors at Williams was of the view that there were far too many lawyers and I should find something more useful to do, but if I really had to be a lawyer there was always room for one more.  I eventually decided to be that “one more.”  I went on to Bowdoin College, where I wrote for the Bowdoin Orient and majored in government, but took a lot of math classes because I found college math interesting and challenging.  I then went to Columbia Law School, where I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the minions who spent their time fastidiously cite-checking and Blue booking hundred-plus-page articles in the Columbia Law Review.  I also interned in the chambers of then-Judge Sonia Sotomayor when she was a relatively new judge on the Second Circuit, my only connection to someone who now has one-ninth of the last word on what constitutes the law of our land.  I graduated from Columbia in 2001, then worked at Skadden Arps in Boston before returning to Connecticut and joining Robinson+Cole, one of the largest Connecticut-based law firms.  At the end of 2008, I was elected a partner at Robinson+Cole.

I’ve worked on class actions since the start of my career at Skadden.  Being in the insurance capital of Hartford, we have a national insurance litigation practice and I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work on some prominent class actions arising from the 2004 hurricanes in Florida and later Hurricane Katrina, including cases involving the applicability of the flood exclusion, statutes known as valued policy laws, and various other issues.  My interest and experience in class actions gradually led me to focus on that area.

In Connecticut courts I’ve defended various kinds of class actions that go beyond insurance, including cases involving products liability, securities, financial services and consumer contracts.

My insurance class action practice usually takes me outside of Connecticut.  I’ve had the pleasure of working on cases in various federal and state courts and collaborating with great lawyers across the country.  While class actions are an increasingly large part of my practice, I don’t do exclusively class action work.  The rest of my practice involves litigating insurance coverage cases, often at the appellate level.  That also frequently takes me outside of Connecticut.  A highlight of my career thus far was working on Standard Fire Ins. Co. v. Knowles, the U.S. Supreme Court’s first Class Action Fairness Act case.  I was Counsel of Record for Standard Fire on the cert petition, and had the pleasure of working with Ted Boutrous on the merits briefing and oral argument.

I started this blog because writing is one of my favorite things to do and I enjoy following developments in class action law, writing about them and engaging in discussion with others who have an in interest in this area.  It’s a welcome break from day-to-day practice, keeps me current, broadens my network and results in some new business.

When I’m not at my desk or flying around the country trying to save insurance companies from the plaintiffs’ bar, or attending a conference on class actions or insurance litigation (for more on those, see the Seminars/Programs page of this blog), I often can be found playing or reading with my young daughter, helping my wife with her real estate and mortgage businesses, reading a book about history or politics, or watching the Boston Red Sox (I managed to find bleacher seats for Game 2 of the 2004 World Series when Curt Schilling pitched with the bloody sock).  When the weather is good I also love to take the ferry to Block Island, Rhode Island and ride a bike or walk the trails there. If you go, I highly recommend the Clay Head Trail.