One thing, among many, that enduring the COVID-19 crisis is reminding us of is that the resilience of the human spirit is remarkable. Amidst calls for more personal protective equipment for the dedicated healthcare workers on the front lines and more ventilators for vulnerable patients fighting for their lives, company after company (and individuals) have responded by retooling their operations to manufacture the items needed to support the herculean effort to treat those infected and to stay ahead of and flatten the curve of this pandemic. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ...
After many years of battle, Whirlpool Corporation finds itself celebrating a favorable jury verdict in a class action lawsuit. A few weeks ago, a jury had the rare occasion to find for Whirlpool in Glazer v. Whirlpool Corp. (In re Whirlpool Corp. Front-Loading Washer Prods. Liability Litg.), No. 08-65000 (N.D. Ohio), one of several cases in which the company faces product liability allegations associated with mold growth in front-loading washing machines. The harsh reality for corporate defendants is that once a class is certified, the majority of cases settle because the ...
On February 24, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in three “moldy” washing machine class actions, which presented questions regarding Fed. R. Civ. P. 23’s commonality and predominance requirements as clarified by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 131 S. Ct. 2541 (2011) and Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 133 S. Ct. 1426 (2013). In a previous post, we discussed in detail the Sixth Circuit’s rationale for upholding the trial court’s certification of a liability class in Whirlpool Corp. v. Glazer, et al (No. 13-431), despite the fact that there were four different ...
Several opinions issued by the U.S. Supreme Court during the past few years have made it more difficult for plaintiffs to obtain class certification. Despite the hurdles erected by the Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 131 S. Ct. 2541 (2011) which has been seen to raise the bar for establishing the commonality necessary to obtain class certification, and Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 569 U.S. ___, 133 S. Ct. 1426 (2013) which addressed the class certification predominance requirement, cases like In re: Whirlpool Corp. Front-Loading Washer Products ...
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