The defendant in a putative class action brought pursuant to the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA), 15 U.S.C. § 1693, et seq., tendered a Rule 68 offer of judgment to the named plaintiff before class certification briefing occurred. The defendant proposed to settle with the named plaintiff for the maximum allowable statutory damages for his individual claim, and to pay costs accrued and reasonable and necessary attorney fees, through the date of acceptance of the offer, as agreed by the parties, or to be determined by the court if agreement could not be reached.
Plaintiff moved to strike the offer, which the court denied, and moved to extend the deadline to move for class certification, which the court granted. Plaintiff then moved for class certification, and defendant moved to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The court certified the class and denied the motion to dismiss as moot. Defendant then filed a second motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, arguing the plaintiff’s individual claim and the class action suit were mooted by the unaccepted Rule 68 offer, which the court granted, vacating its prior order.
The Fifth Circuit noted that the Supreme Court in Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk, 133 S. Ct. 1523, 1528-29 (2013), declined to resolve a circuit split over “whether an unaccepted offer that fully satisfies a plaintiff’s claim is sufficient to render the claim moot” when a Fair Labor Standards Act class has not yet been certified, because that court had concluded the...
