Brief Fact Summary. Defendants, Thone-Poulenc Rorer, Inc. et al., petitioned for mandamus relief after the district court judge allowed a class certification for Plaintiffs, Wadleigh et al.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. Class action certification may be unacceptable in situations where a defendant is likely to win, and wherein a plaintiff will be awarded a large sum if they prevail, and irreparable harm would come to the defendant if the plaintiffs won the class action suit.
The common law is not a brooding omnipresence in the sky, but the articulate voice of some sovereign or quasi sovereign that can be identified.
View Full Point of LawIssue. The issue is whether the mandamus relief should be granted and the class certification be denied.
Held. The Court held for Defendants and granted the mandamus relief. The Court believed that the district court judge did not follow Fed. R. Civ. P. 23. The district court was going to certify a class action with respect to particular issues, but the Court denied the District Court’s baseless procedural construct. The cases were factually dissimilar, but other factors were just as important. First, the threat of a class action victory for Plaintiffs means that Defendants have to settle beforehand despite their favorable outcomes in the prior cases. Although it may be difficult for the parties to hold numerous suits in courts throughout the country, the court reasoned that Plaintiffs would receive an award large enough to merit bringing separate claims.
Discussion. The Court was certain that Defendant would already lose substantially by the class certification because they would most likely settle rather than risk a favorable outcome for Plaintiffs. This outcome would have, in the Court’s reasoning, a great amount of injustice.