Questions Presented
1. Whether the Rule 23(b)(3) predominance requirement can be satisfied when the court has not found that the aggregate of common liability issues predominates over the aggregate of individualized issues at trial and when neither injury nor damages can be proven on a classwide basis.
2. Whether a class may be certified when most members have never experienced the alleged defect and both fact of injury and damages would have to be litigated on a member-by-member basis.
Case Updates
Cert. petition denied
February 24, 2014
U.S. Chamber asks U.S. Supreme Court to review Sixth Circuit class certification ruling
November 06, 2013
The U.S. Chamber asked the U.S. Supreme Court to grant the cert. petition to review this Sixth Circuit case and a similar case out of the Seventh Circuit, Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Butler (II), to clarify whether these circuits properly ordered the proposed product liability class actions to be certified. In this case, plaintiffs filed class action alleging defective design and warning claims on behalf of buyers of front-loading washing machines sold by the petitioner in Ohio. Although the Sixth Circuit initially ordered the classes certified under Rule 23, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated that decision and remanded the case to the Sixth Circuit in light of the Court's decision in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend. The Chamber's brief argues that on remand, the Sixth Circuit misapplied the Supreme Court's class action jurisprudence, sweeping aside individual questions that make these claims unfit for class certification.
Case Documents
- Certiorari Petition -- Whirlpool Corp. v. Glazer (II) (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- U.S. Chamber Amicus Brief in Support of Certiorari Petitions -- Sears, Roebuck and Co. v. Butler (II) and Whirlpool Corp. v. Glazer (II) (U.S. Supreme Court)_0.pdf
- AHAM Amicus Brief in Support of Certiorari Petitions -- Sears, Roebuck and Co. v. Butler (II) and Whirlpool Corp. v. Glazer (II) (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- DRI Amicus Brief in Support of Certiorari Petitions -- Sears, Roebuck and Co. v. Butler (II) and Whirlpool Corp. v. Glazer (II) (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- PLAC Amicus Brief in Support of Certiorari Petition -- Whirlpool Corp. v. Glazer (II) (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- PLF Amicus Brief in Support of Certiorari Petitions -- Sears, Roebuck and Co. v. Butler (II) and Whirlpool Corp. v. Glazer (II) (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- RLC Amicus Brief in Support of Certiorari Petitions -- Sears, Roebuck and Co. v. Butler (II) and Whirlpool Corp. v. Glazer (II) (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- TechAmerica, et al. Amicus Brief in Support of Certiorari Petitions -- Sears, Roebuck and Co. v. Butler (II) and Whirlpool Corp. v. Glazer (II) (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- WLF Amicus Brief in Support of Certiorari Petitions -- Sears, Roebuck and Co. v. Butler (II) and Whirlpool Corp. v. Glazer (II) (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Brief in Opposition -- Sears, Roebuck and Co. v. Butler (II) and Whirlpool Corp. v. Glazer (II) (U.S. Supreme Court)_0.pdf
- Reply Brief for Petitioners -- Sears, Roebuck and Co. v. Butler (II) and Whirlpool Corp. v. Glazer (II) (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf