In Campbell-Ewald v. Gomez, 136 S. Ct. 663 (Jan. 20, 2016), the Supreme Court resolved a split among courts and held that an unaccepted settlement offer of complete individual relief does not moot the plaintiff’s lawsuit. However, the Court expressly left open the question of “whether the result would be different if a defendant deposits the full amount of the plaintiff’s individual claim in an account payable to the plaintiff, and then the court enters judgment for the plaintiff in that amount.” 136 S. Ct. at 672.
The Ninth Circuit has recently decided this precise question. In Chen v. Allstate Insurance Co., No. 13-16816 (9th Cir. Apr. 12, 2016), the plaintiff sued for alleged violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), complaining about automated calls to his cell phone without his consent. Allstate initially made plaintiff a Rule 68 offer of judgment in the amount of $20,000, which more than satisfied his individual claim. After Gomez, Allstate took the additional step of depositing this offer in a bank escrow account. Allstate then filed a motion to dismiss plaintiff’s entire case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, arguing that under the logic of Gomez the district court should be required to enter judgment against Allstate and order payment of the $20,000 to plaintiff. The district court denied Allstate’s motion.
On appeal, the Ninth Circuit narrowly...
