The U.S. Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments on Issue of Whether a Named Class Representative Receiving Full Relief Precludes a Class Action From Continuing

On October 14, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez on the central issue of whether a class action suit becomes moot when the named class representative receives an offer of complete relief on his claim before the class has been certified.

On May 11, 2006, Defendant Campbell-Ewald sent Gomez an unsolicited text message as a part of a recruitment campaign for the U.S. Navy. Gomez filed a class action lawsuit under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Since then, the key issues in Gomez have greatly devolved to focus on more technical matters,.

After the defendant’s initial motion to dismiss was denied by the district court, Campbell-Ewald offered to pay Gomez the full amount he was statutorily entitled to, $1,503, a far lessor sum than it would have to pay if the class action suit was certified. At oral arguments, the U.S. Supreme Court Justices were split as to whether the offer for the full statutory sum truly afforded the plaintiff complete relief. Chief Justice Roberts appeared to favor the defense’s argument and told Plaintiff, “You won’t take ‘yes’ for an answer.”[1]

[1] http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2015/10/14/supreme-court-seems-divided-in-class-action-lawsuit-case

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