Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Clarifies Class Certification Standards, Affirms in Part & Remands in Part the Certification of Nationwide Class in Dukes v. Wal-Mart

The Ninth Circuit’s en banc ruling:
1. Affirmed the district court’s certification of a class of female employees who were employed by Wal-Mart when the lawsuit
was filed in 2001 with respect to their claims for injunctive relief, declaratory relief, and back pay under
Rule 23(b)(2);
2. Reversed and remanded the district court’s class certification of the employees’ claims for punitive damages,
instructing the district court to consider whether to certify the class under newly elucidated standards of Rule 23(b)(2) or
(b)(3);
3. Reversed and remanded the claims of putative class members who no longer worked for Wal-Mart when the complaint
was filed in 2001, instructing the district court to consider whether to certify an additional class or classes under
Rule 23(b)(3); and,
4. Affirmed the district court’s decision not to certify promotion claims brought by class members who lacked objective
evidence of their interest in promotion.

See Seyfarth Shaw