In DeRoy v. Carnival Corp., 2020 WL 3525536 (11th Cir. June 30, 2020), the Eleventh Circuit upheld a forum-selection clause requiring litigation of claims in federal court. Plaintiff-Appellee Carmela DeRoy sued Defendant-Appellant Carnival Corporation after she injured her foot on a rug while onboard the Carnival Valor. The contract DeRoy entered into when she booked…
Category: Jurisdiction
Eleventh Circuit Reverses Forum Non Conveniens Dismissal
In Otto Candies, LLC v. Citigroup, Inc., 2020 WL 3550680 (11th Cir. July 1, 2020), the Eleventh Circuit reversed the forum non conveniens dismissal of a complaint brought by two U.S. plaintiffs, and 37 foreign plaintiffs, against U.S.-based Citigroup. The plaintiffs, asserting RICO, fraud, and other state-law claims, alleged that they had contracted with or…
Eleventh Circuit Will Not Rehear City’s Fair Housing Act Claim
The Eleventh Circuit has denied a petition to rehear en banc City of Miami Gardens v. Wells Fargo & Co., 931 F.3d 1274 (11th Cir. 2019), which dismissed for lack of standing Fair Housing Act claims brought against Wells Fargo by the City of Miami Gardens. City of Miami Gardens v. Wells Fargo & Co.,…
Undescribed “Beneficial Interest” in Property Insufficient to Confer Article III Standing to Contest Foreclosure
In Thakkar v. Bay Point Capital Partners, LP (In re Bay Circle Properties, LLC), 2020 WL 1696303 (11th Cir. Apr. 8, 2020), the Eleventh Circuit dismissed an appeal because the only appellant remaining after a settlement lacked Article III standing (and in any event failed to meet the “person aggrieved doctrine” standard for appealing a…
Foundry Employees’ Action is a “Mass Action” Subject to Removal Under the Class Action Fairness Act
The Eleventh Circuit has clarified the scope of the “local event exception” to the federal-court jurisdiction over “mass actions” conferred by the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”), holding that claims by former foundry employees against manufacturers and distributors of products used at the foundry are not within the exception. Spencer v. Specialty Foundry Prods. Inc.,…
Alleged Economic Loss from Purchasing Illegal Dietary Supplements Is Sufficient to Establish Standing
Allegations that plaintiffs suffered an economic loss when they bought dietary supplements prohibited by a federal statute are sufficient to establish standing to bring a class action against the supplement manufacturer and distributor, according to the Eleventh Circuit. In Debernardis v. IQ Formulations, LLC, 2019 WL 5996589 (11th Cir. Nov. 14, 2019), two individual plaintiffs…
Legal Challenge by Frustrated Supporters of 2016 Bernie Sanders Campaign Rejected
As the country approaches the next presidential election in 2020, the Eleventh Circuit closed the book on a putative class action filed by supporters of Bernie Sanders during his last bid for the Democratic Party’s nomination in 2016. Wilding v. DNC Services Corp., 2019 WL 5539021 (11th Cir. Oct. 28, 2019), “pit[ted] a political party…
Eleventh Circuit Splits with Ninth in Holding that Recipient of a Single Unsolicited Text Message Lacks Standing to Assert a TCPA Claim
John Salcedo received a single unsolicited text message from the firm of his former lawyer, offering a discount on future services. Salcedo sued the lawyer and the law firm, seeking statutory and treble damages for alleged violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). In his complaint, Salcedo alleged that the text message caused him…
Court Limits Review of Remand Order Based on One Defendant’s Forum Selection Clause
The Eleventh Circuit waded into a procedural thicket in Overlook Gardens Properties, LLC v. ORIX USA, L.P., 2019 WL 2590869 (11th Cir. June 25, 2019), ultimately concluding that it had no appellate jurisdiction to review an order remanding a removed case to state court . At issue was the effect of a forum selection clause…
“Once-Upon-A-Time” Injury Insufficient to Establish Article III Standing to Seek Declaratory and Injunctive Relief
The Eleventh Circuit has dismissed for lack of standing a trucking company’s suit for declaratory and injunctive relief against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA”). Flat Creek Trans., LLC v. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Admin., 2019 WL 2049770 (May 9, 2019). Flat Creek Transportation claimed that FMCSA had unfairly targeted the company for compliance…