Apple Inc. v. Superior Court

Case Updates

The petition was denied.

In a letter filed jointly with the California Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Chamber asked the California Supreme Court to grant Apple’s petition for review and clarify whether courts must adhere to the stringent requirements for class certification in class action lawsuits. The amicus letter asserts that an order erroneously granting class certification “dramatically affects the stakes for defendants” since it “magnifies and strengthens the number of unmeritorious claims,” “makes it more likely that a defendant will be found liable,” “results in significantly higher damage awards,” and “creates insurmountable pressure to settle.”

In this case, the trial court certified a sweeping wage and hour class of over 18,000 Apple employees by accepting plaintiffs’ unsubstantiated allegations of uniform unlawful policies and by expressly deeming Apple’s evidence of compliance with the law as irrelevant. The letter points out that the trial court significantly departed from existing class certification standards when it granted class certification. The decision must be reviewed so as not to appreciably lower the bar for class certification in other pending and future putative class actions.

Jeremy B. Rosen and Felix Shafir of Horvitz & Levy LLP served as counsel to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center.