In a consolidated appeal of two cases filed against banking institutions, the Eleventh Circuit expressed frustration over being “forced to review a judgment that should never have been entered.” Estate of Bass v. Regions Bank, Inc., 2020 WL 284094 (11th Cir. Jan. 21, 2020). Rather than striking the complaints as impermissible shotgun pleadings and allowing…
Tag: Fed. R. Civ. P. 12
Eleventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal With Prejudice of Auto Shops’ RICO Complaint Against Insurers
The Eleventh Circuit has affirmed the dismissal with prejudice of a putative class action brought by auto body collision repair shops against dozens of insurers and alleging RICO violations, fraud, and unjust enrichment. Crawford’s Auto Center, Inc. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 2019 WL 6974428 (Dec. 20, 2019). The plaintiffs alleged that the…
No TCPA Liability for Faxes That Do Not Market a Product
“Unsolicited advertisements” prohibited by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) do not include faxes that merely facilitate the purchase of a product but do not promote the sale of products, the Eleventh Circuit confirmed in Florence Endocrine Clinic, PLLC v. Arriva Medical, LLC, 2017 WL 2415966 (11th Cir. June 5, 2017). The defendant was a…
No ERISA Claims for Multi-Employer Pension Fund Contributor
Responding to a pension fund’s dire financial condition, its board passed an amendment requiring employers withdrawing from the fund to pay a portion of the fund’s deficiency. One contributing employer, WestRock, then sought a declaratory judgment that the amendment violated ERISA, arguing on appeal that it had a claim under 29 U.S.C. §§ 1132(a)(10) or 1451(a)….
Dismissal of VPPA Class Action Against CNN Affirmed, But Spokeo Standing Upheld
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a putative class action against CNN in a case concerning the CNN app that the plaintiff downloaded to his iPhone. Perry v. Cable News Network, Inc., 2017 WL 1505064 (11th Cir. Apr. 27, 2017). The plaintiff Perry alleged that CNN violated the Video Privacy Protection Act (“VPPA”) by…
Unlawful and Non-Competitive Parallel Conduct is Still Insufficient to State a RICO Claim
The Eleventh Circuit relied on Twombly’s heightened pleading standard in affirming a dismissal for failure to state a RICO claim in Almanza v. United Airlines, 2017 WL 957191 (11th Cir. Mar. 13, 2017). The plaintiff Mexican nationals, representing a putative class, were charged a tourism tax by the defendant airlines as part of their airfare,…
Patronage Capital Class Action Removable; Dismissal Affirmed
An electric cooperative organized under state law is nonetheless entitled to remove a putative class action to federal court under the “federal officer” removal statute, according to the Eleventh Circuit in Caver v. Central Alabama Electric Cooperative, 845 F.3d 1135 (11th Cir. 2017), which also affirmed dismissal of a complaint seeking immediate return of patronage capital. Specifically,…
Civil RICO Class Action Dismissal Affirmed
A civil RICO class action challenging Spirit Airlines’ “Passenger Usage Fee” landed for a second time in the Eleventh Circuit and this time the airline fared better: the court affirmed the dismissal of the amended complaint in a major opinion on RICO pleading standards authored by Judge Stanley Marcus. Ray v. Spirit Airlines, Inc., 2016…