Duane Morris Class Action Review - 2023 - Report - Page 87
assuming the following additional considerations are met: (1) the aggregate amount-incontroversy exceeds $5 million, and (2) the class size exceeds 100 people.
While class actions under federal statutes such as the FLSA, Title VII, and ERISA are
almost exclusively filed in federal court, the CAFA has most significantly impacted state
law wage and hour claims. In employee-friendly states such as California, the plaintiffs’
class action bar notoriously pursues wage and hour claims in state law courts. The
CAFA provides a mechanism for employers and businesses to reposition these battles
in federal court, where there will presumably be a more level playing field.
The Second Circuit over time became known as the federal circuit where securities law
became most developed. In the same vein, the Ninth Circuit has become that federal
circuit where more rulings under the CAFA are made than any other circuit in the federal
system. This manifests the high predominance of class action filings in the state court of
California, and the corresponding removal of those lawsuits to federal court pursuant to
defense motions invoking the CAFA. As a result, the Ninth Circuit’s rulings on the CAFA
has significantly impacted the development of case law jurisprudence throughout the
United States.
In 2022, courts in all 12 of the federal circuits adjudicated jurisdictional issues based on
the CAFA. Beyond the traditional wage and hour context, the CAFA rulings analyzed in
this Chapter have evolved to a variety of claims, including those under the Illinois
Biometric Information Privacy Act, 740 ILCS 14/1, et seq. (BIPA) and claims involving
tuition reimbursement for universities that were shut down during the COVID-19
pandemic. Given the increasingly transient nature of society due to the evolution of
hybrid work arrangements, jurisdictional battles under the CAFA will continue to
transform the class action landscape in the years to come.
II.
Key CAFA Rulings
Federal courts issued a myriad of decisions interpreting the CAFA throughout 2022.
This Chapter analyzes noteworthy rulings from each federal circuit regarding CAFA
jurisdiction.
A.
First Circuit
In In Re Suffolk University COVID Refund Litigation, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 200329 (D.
Mass. Nov. 3, 2022), the plaintiff filed a class action alleging claims of breach of
contract and unjust enrichment when the defendant closed its campus and transitioned
to online learning in the wake of COVID-19. The defendant moved to dismiss for lack of
jurisdiction. The court denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss. Id. at *1. First, the court
opined that its decision turned on whether the court previously concluded as a legal
determination that the plaintiff’s claims did not, and never did, constitute an actual or
potential class action. Id. at *1-2. The court explained that it made no such legal
determination in its October 11, 2022 order, and that the defendant, “boldly interpreted
this court’s order to have found that the plaintiffs could have never mustered a class that
would meet Rule 23’s requirements.” Id. at *2. The court further clarified it made no
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Duane Morris Class Action Review – 2023
