Pitts v. Terrible Herbst, Inc.

This case was before the Ninth Circuit on any issue that has become more and more prevalent in recent years, with the increased wage and hour putative class and collective action filings.  Specifically, the issue before the Ninth Circuit was “whether a rejected offer of judgment (OJ) for the full amount of a putative class representative’s claim moots a class action complaint where the offer precedes the filing of a motion for class certification.”  The Ninth Circuit held that it does not and a defendant may not “pick off” a class by making such an offer to the named-plaintiff alone.

The procedural history in the case is worth discussing, because there were other issues, not discussed in detail, also addressed in the opinion.  The trial court had not set a bright-line deadline for filing a motion for class certification simultaneously.  And, because the defendant failed to provide plaintiff with the records pertaining to the putative class members during the initial discovery period, plaintiff filed a motion to compel and sought to extend the discovery deadline as well.  The court ultimately granted both motions.  However, while it held that the OJ did not moot the claim, it nonetheless dismissed the case, because the plaintiff had failed to move for class certification as of the initial discovery deadline.  This appeal ensued.

After reviewing surveying applicable case law from around the country, the court held that the district court below properly concluded that a defendant may not “pick off” a putative class action, by tendering payment to the named-plaintiff alone.

Other issues the court discussed included whether state law class actions (Rule 23 classes) are “inherently incompatable” with FLSA opt-in actions.  However, because the plaintiff had volutarily dismissed his FLSA claims at the lower court, the Ninth Circuit declined to address this hot-button issue, addressed earlier in the year by the Seventh Circuit and currently pending before the Third Circuit.  The court did rule however, that the court below erred in dismissing the case based on plaintiff’s perceived failure to move for class certification in a timely manner.  On this issue the Ninth Circuit opined, “[w]ithout a clear statement from the district court setting a deadline for the filing of the motion for class certification, Pitts could not predict that he was expected to file his motion by the end of the initial discovery deadline.”

Click Pitts v. Terrible Herbst, Inc. to read the entire decision.