Supreme Court favors class-action plaintiff

WASHINGTON — In a victory for class-action plaintiffs, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled 6-3 that courts may not dismiss lawsuits simply because a defendant has offered to give the lead plaintiff everything he sought.

A contrary decision would have allowed companies accused of minor but mass wrongdoing to pick off plaintiffs one by one, frustrating their ability to band together to sue over their claims.

Gomez sued under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which allows people who receive unwanted text messages to recover up to $1,500, and he sought to represent a class of people who had received the message.

A Navy contractor, the Campbell Ewald Co., offered to settle the case for $1,503 for each unsolicited text, court costs and a promise to stop sending such messages.

While a class lacks independent status until certified,” she wrote, “a would-be class representative with a live claim of her own must be accorded a fair opportunity to show that certification is warranted.

Roberts, joined by Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito, said the majority had run afoul of the constitutional requirement that federal courts may hear only live cases and controversies.

The problem for Gomez is that the federal courts exist to resolve real disputes,” the chief justice wrote, “not to rule on a plaintiff’s entitlement to relief already there for the taking.

Bouaphakeo, No. 14-1146, concerns an attempt by thousands of workers at an Iowa pork processing plant to band together in a single lawsuit seeking overtime pay.