Supreme Court Holds Unaccepted Offers for Full Relief Do Not Moot Class Actions
Relying on “basic principles of contract law,” the Supreme Court has held that an unaccepted settlement offer and offer of judgment under Rule 68 are “legal nullit[ies]” that have no effect on whether a live controversy remains between the parties, according to an analysis written by BakerHostetler’s Jacqueline Matthews and Rand McClellan and published on JDSupra.com.
The case is Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, No. 14-857.
“The upshot of the Court’s decision is that a defendant cannot moot a putative class action by merely offering full relief to the named plaintiff on his or her individual claims,” the authors write. “The Court, however, expressly left open the question of whether payment of full individual relief could moot the case.”