The Supreme Court of the United States recently ruled that companies may not avoid class-action lawsuits by buying off individual plaintiffs through a settlement before a class of similarly harmed people can be established. Previously, this practice allowed corporations to prevent class-actions from achieving positive change on a broad scale.
Class-action lawsuits are an important type of litigation that helps people who have relatively small claims join together to hold large corporations responsible for wrongdoing. The case is Campbell-Edwald Co. v. Gomez. An article from The New York Times neatly summarizes the facts of the case and further explains the value of the class-action in balancing individuals’ rights with the power of large corporations. The article can be found at https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/21/opinion/an-important-win-in-the-supreme-court-for-class-actions.html?_r=0.
For more information about our firm’s history of helping those who have been injured, wronged or cheated, please call to request written materials or to schedule an appointment with one of our firm’s attorneys. You may reach our office at (251) 471-6191.