A federal magistrate judge abused her discretion in approving a class action settlement that gave no compensation to a class of 4 million people and provided “worthless” injunctive relief, an appeals court ruled on Wednesday.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Crawford in the Southern District of California had jurisdiction to approve a settlement against debt collector ARS National Services Inc. but unanimously reversed and remanded the agreement’s approval because it gave no benefit to the class.
