The question
Whether a federal court may certify a damages class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 when the class includes both injured and uninjured members.
Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings v. Davis
What the Court decided
The Court dismissed the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted, leaving the Ninth Circuit's judgment in place and deciding nothing on the merits. The plaintiffs, legally blind individuals, had sued Labcorp over self-service check-in kiosks under the ADA and California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, and the District Court certified a Rule 23 damages class. Because the case was dismissed, the question of whether a damages class may include both injured and uninjured members was left undecided.
How the justices split
DismissedPer curiam (unsigned)
Delivered by the Court
The writ of certiorari is dismissed as improvidently granted, so the Court does not decide the question presented.
Dissenting
Kavanaugh, writing alone
Kavanaugh would not dismiss. He argued the plaintiffs' mootness argument is insubstantial and the case is not moot, so the Court should decide the question presented. On the merits, he would hold that a federal court may not certify a damages class that includes both injured and uninjured members, reasoning that Rule 23 requires common questions to predominate and that they do not predominate when a damages class mixes injured and uninjured members.
How we know · 5 sourced claims
The Court dismissed the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted and did not decide the question presented.
Source: syllabus, Held
The question presented was whether a federal court may certify a Rule 23 damages class that includes both injured and uninjured class members.
Source: syllabus, Held
The decision was per curiam, with Justice Kavanaugh filing the sole dissent.
Source: syllabus, lineup
The case came to the Court from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Source: syllabus, Held
Kavanaugh would have held that a federal court may not certify a damages class that includes both injured and uninjured members because Rule 23 requires common questions to predominate.
Source: syllabus, Held