Revenge of Dukes - Another One Bites the Dust

Relying on Wal-Mart v. Dukes, the US District Court for the Central District of California in Aburto v. Verizon California, Inc. has found no “commonality” in Rule 23 class claims brought by a Verizon “First Level Manager” in its fiber-optic cable workgroup. Since the claims were raised under California law and not under the FLSA, the “relatively lenient” collective action certification rubric did not apply, so traditional Rule 23 class principles were in play. Plaintiff failed to satisfy the court that common, class-wide questions of law and fact predominated; instead, individual assessments would need to be made, thus dooming the class action. Expect an appeal.

Click here to read the full opinion.