Class Actions Brief Blog

Not every class action court filing in North and South Carolina becomes a full-length post on our blog. Here is a recap of July's filings:

Billioni v. Bryant, No. 0:14-cv-03060 (D.S.C. July 31, 2014) (alleging collective action for unpaid overtime in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and individual claims under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, the South Carolina whistleblower statute and for retaliation and wrongful termination from the York County Detention Center).

Home Loan Center v. Dijkstra, No. 14-386 (4th Cir. July 31, 2014) (appeal from U.S. District Court for ...

Experian recently petitioned the Fourth Circuit to immediately review a district court’s order certifying an 88,000-member, nationwide class of consumers who requested Experian credit reports that listed accounts with the now-defunct Advanta Bank. In this case, Dreher v. Experian Information Solutions Inc., No. 14-325 (4th Cir. July 3, 2014), Experian requested an interlocutory appeal under Rule 23(f), contending that, among other things, the district court’s order that certified a class with members that had suffered no injury and found Rule 23’s predominance ...

It is often expedient for a defendant to make an offer of judgment in order to avoid the expense of lengthy proceedings, particularly when the plaintiff’s damages claim is small. But what happens when the offer of judgment is made to a class representative? Does that mean that the individual no longer has standing? And does it make any difference if the offer is made before or after the class certification motion is filed? Judge Currie grappled with these issues last week in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case, Chatham v. GC Services, LP, No. 3:14-cv-00526 (D.S.C. July 16, 2014)