The first federal appeals court to address a growing question over whether the U.S. Supreme Court’s jurisdictional ruling in Bristol-Myers Squibb v. Superior Court of California should apply to class actions heard arguments Wednesday—but it might not come up with the answer.
Lawyers for Whole Foods Market petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to address a “novel issue of constitutional due process” created by Bristol-Myers, a 2017 decision that limited the jurisdictions where corporate defendants could be sued in “mass torts,” or cases involving the individual claims of multiple plaintiffs. Defendants across the country have argued that the ruling should apply to class actions.
