Following the Supreme Court’s landmark personal-jurisdiction decision in Bristol-Myers Squibb, federal district courts have continued to disagree about whether to apply the court’s holding to cases involving nationwide class actions. Although we believe the argument in favor of applying Bristol-Myers in the class context is overwhelming––after all, how could plaintiffs curtail defendants’ due process rights simply by invoking the procedural device of Rule 23?––the disagreement on this topic will very likely continue to deepen until it ripens into a circuit split that the court can resolve.
In Bristol-Myers Squibb, the Supreme Court held that a California state court was precluded from exercising personal jurisdiction over the defendant with respect to claims asserted by non-resident mass tort claimants. As Justice Sotomayor’s dissent noted, however, the holding of the majority did not explicitly address whether it applied to nationwide class actions.
Predictably, the majority’s silence on this issue has divided lower courts: “Whether Bristol-Myers extends to class actions is a question that has divided courts across the country.” See Chavez v. Church & Dwight Co., Inc., No. 17 C 1948, 2018 WL 2238191 at *10 (N.D. Ill. May 16, 2018), which dismissed claims of absent class members arising outside of the forum state.
While no circuit court has considered the issue, some federal district courts have applied Bristol-Myers Squibb to class actions:
- Plumber’s Local Union No. 690 Health Plan v. Apotex Corp., Civ. A. No. 16-665, 2017 WL 3129147, at *9 (E.D. Pa. July 24, 2017) (dismissing non-Pennsylvania claims for certain defendants)
- Spratley v. FCA US LLC, No. 3:17-CV-0062, 2017 WL 4023348, at *7–8 (N.D.N.Y. Sept. 12, 2017) (dismissing claims of out-of-state plaintiffs who had “shown no connection between their claims and Chrysler’s contacts with New York”)
- In re Dental Supplies Antitrust Litig., No. 16 Civ. 696 (BMC)(GRB), 2017 WL 4217115, at *9 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 2017) (“The constitutional requirements of due process does not wax and wane when the complaint is individual or on behalf of a class. Personal jurisdiction in class actions must comport with due process just the same as any other case.”)
- Maclin v. Reliable Reports of Texas, Inc., No. 1:17-CV-2612, 2018 WL 1468821 (N.D. Ohio Mar. 26, 2018) (“[T]he Court cannot envisage that the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause would have any more or less effect on the outcome respecting FLSA claims than the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause, and this district court will not limit the holding in Bristol–Myers to mass tort claims or state courts.”)
- Roy v. FedEx Ground Package Sys., Inc., No. 3:17-CV-30116-KAR, 2018 WL 2324092, at *9 (D. Mass. May 22, 2018) (rejecting argument that Bristol-Myers Squibb should be limited to cases originally filed in state court but finding the exercise of jurisdiction appropriate on the facts of the case)
- In re Nexus 6P Prods. Litig., No. 17-cv-02185-BLF, 2018 WL 827958 at *5–6 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 12, 2018) (allowing plaintiffs to re-plead complaint to...
