Daniel Levin, Bethany Kristovich and Colin Devine Pen Article on the Supreme Court’s Upcoming Decision on an Important Class Certification Rule

Munger, Tolles & Olson partners Daniel Levin, Bethany Kristovich and Colin Devine authored an article published in Reuters and Westlaw Today titled, “Supreme Court May Limit Class Certification Through Article III Standing Requirement.”

The article delves into a pivotal question that the Supreme Court is set to decide: Can a class be certified if some members did not suffer any injury and therefore lack Article III standing? The decision could provide defendants with a powerful tool to avoid certification or force plaintiffs to narrow class definitions, according to the authors.

The case the Supreme Court will address this important question in is Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings v. Davis, an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) discrimination lawsuit alleging that self-check-in kiosks in Labcorp’s diagnostic labs were inaccessible to blind patients. Before the case reached the Supreme Court, the district court certified a class of all blind patients who tested at labs with kiosks, despite Labcorp presenting evidence that some class members preferred checking in with a human receptionist and thus suffered no injury.

In the article, the authors detail how circuit courts are split on whether the presence of uninjured class members defeats certification. They note that the Ninth Circuit’s view, which allows certification with any number of uninjured class members as long as one or more central issues are common, departs from other circuits that prohibit certification where the class includes members who did not suffer any injury.

“Whatever approach the Supreme Court adopts will have far-reaching implications for class certification,” the authors write. It could adopt a “purist” approach that prohibits certification of classes containing uninjured members, or a “flexible” approach that leaves the determination to district courts, they said.

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