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Class Actions Face New Test in Supreme Court Next Term

Class actions will face a new test in the U.S. Supreme Court next year after the justices granted certiorari on two issues:

1) Can workers at an Iowa meatpacking plant rely on statistical sampling to establish liability and damages regarding wages?

2) Can a class be certified when it contains membesr who weren't injured and have no legal right to damages?

Reuters' Alison Frankel says in her analysis that class action lawyers "could be looking back with nostalgia and regret at the good old days when they only had to worry about Wal-Mart v. Dukes and Comcast v. Behrend."

Frankel notes that the Supreme Court also has taken up Spokeo v. Robins, presenting "the question of whether Congress can confer constitutional standing on otherwise uninjured class members by providing a private right to recover statutory damages for violations of consumer laws."

The Supreme Court also has taken up Campbell-Ewald v. Gomez, presenting the issue of whether defendants can stop class actions by offering lead plaintiffs a settlement that addresses their full damages.