The Eleventh Circuit has reportedly confirmed that after nearly 25 years of service on the Court of Appeals, Judge Charles Wilson intends to take senior status upon the confirmation of a successor presumably to be nominated by President Biden later this year. Judge Wilson is the Eleventh Circuit’s most senior judge in active service, having…
Author: Lee Peifer
Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblowers Required to Allege Fraud
The Eleventh Circuit clarified the reasonable-belief standard for whistleblowers alleging unlawful retaliation under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, in Ronnie v. Office Depot, LLC, No. 20-14214, ___ F.4th ___ (11th Cir. Sept. 25, 2023). SOX broadly prohibits discrimination against employees for providing information that they “reasonably believe[] constitutes” mail, wire, bank, or securities fraud (or a violation of…
Novel Data-Breach Claim Survives Motion to Dismiss Employee Class Action
The Eleventh Circuit revived a putative data-breach class action in Ramirez v. Paradies Shops, LLC, No. 22-12853, _ F.4th _ (11th Cir. June 5, 2023), which a district court had dismissed for failure to state a claim under Georgia law. The opinion reflects a trend of expanding privacy protection and has already been cited in…
Antitrust Claim Rejected: Parent Company Cannot “Conspire” with Majority-Owned and Controlled Subsidiary
A private-equity firm and its majority-owned subsidiary preserved a defense summary judgment on antitrust conspiracy and monopolization claims in OJ Commerce, LLC v. KidKraft, Inc., 34 F.4th 1232 (11th Cir. May 24, 2022). Building on the Supreme Court’s holding that a parent company cannot engage in unlawful “concerted activity” with a wholly owned subsidiary, Copperweld…
En Banc Court Stands by Ban on Class-Action Incentive Payments for Plaintiffs
Nearly two years after a divided three-three judge panel held that federal law prohibits “incentive payments” to named class representatives (see our previous blog post here), the Eleventh Circuit denied a petition to rehear that case en banc. Johnson v. NPAS Solutions, LLC, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 21455 (11th Cir. Aug. 3, 2022). The denial…
Nancy Gbana Abudu Nominated to Fill Georgia Seat on Court
On December 23, 2021, President Biden nominated Nancy Gbana Abudu to replace Judge Beverly Martin on the Eleventh Circuit. The nominee is currently Deputy Legal Director and Director for Strategic Litigation at the Southern Poverty Law Center. Previously, she served as Legal Director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and Senior Staff Counsel…
Federal Presumption of Arbitrability Limited to Disputes That Are Immediate, Foreseeable Results of Contractual Performance
After concluding that the most natural reading of an arbitration agreement did not cover the dispute in Calderon v. Sixt Rent a Car, LLC, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 20854 (11th Cir. July 14, 2021), the Eleventh Circuit held more broadly that the Federal Arbitration Act’s strong presumption of arbitrability applies only if “the dispute in…
Public Accommodations Under ADA Limited to Actual, Physical Places, with Website Accessibility Claims Permitted Only for Intangible Barriers to Access
The fact that a website was incompatible with screen-reader software for visually impaired users was held insufficient (without more) to state a claim for public-accommodation discrimination under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, in Gil v. Winn-Dixie Stores. Inc., 2021 WL 1289906 (11th Cir. Apr. 7, 2021). The Eleventh Circuit held in a…
General Statistical Evidence of “Local Controversy” Held Insufficient for Jurisdiction Under Class Action Fairness Act
Can class-action plaintiffs avoid federal court by relying on general economic studies and population statistics to prove that their case should be in state court? Not in the Eleventh Circuit. In Smith v. Marcus & Millichap, Inc., 2021 WL 939184 (11th Cir. Mar. 12, 2021), the court held that “studies, surveys, and census data—which do…
Eleventh Circuit Bans Incentive Payments to Lead Plaintiffs in Class Actions
In what appears to be a first, the Eleventh Circuit recently held that federal law prohibits so-called “incentive payments” to class representatives, even as part of an agreed settlement. The court acknowledged that it was forging a new path in Johnson v. NPAS Solutions, LLC, 975 F.3d 1244, 1248–49 (11th Cir. 2020)—identifying errors that it…