Amicus Brief: Olean Wholesale Grocery Cooperative, Inc. v. Bumble Bee Foods LLC
COSAL wrote a brief to explain why the en banc panel should affirm the District Court’s decision to grant class certification in Olean Wholesale Grocery Cooperative v. Bumble Bee Foods. According to Rule 23, common issues predominate even if some class members are uninjured. Therefore, contrary to Defendant’s assertions, not all plaintiffs have to prove a common injury before certifying the class. As such, COSAL said that certification was still correct because the percentage of uninjured members does not equate to predominance. In another attempt to hinder certification, Defendants incorrectly stated that Plaintiffs lose Article III standing if they lose any elements of their claim. However, to have standing, Plaintiffs do not need to succeed in their case, they just need to have interest in it. Even if such were not the case, certification should not be denied for all class members just because some lack Article III standing. Additionally, Defendants suggested that plaintiffs improperly utilized representative evidence. However, all members relied on the same evidence and both individuals and classes would have to use this same information as well. Consequently, COSAL urged the Ninth Circuit to affirm class certification. This brief was written by Deborah Elman, Chad Holtzman, Lin Chan, and Kyle Oxford.
