The plaintiffs brought a class action on behalf of 558 employees for violations of California wage laws.?? Applying Dukes v. Wal-Mart, the district court denied certification on the basis that the damages inquiries will be highly individualized and the class difficult to manage.
The Ninth Circuit reversed holding that individualized? damages? calculations? cannot defeat certification.?? ?The panel noted that damages calculations are almost always individualized. ?The court distinguished the U.S. Supreme Court?s recent decision in Comcast Corp.? v.? Behrend,? 133? S.? Ct.? 1246? (2013). ?Here, unlike Comcast, if putative class members prove . . . liability, damages will be calculated on the? wages ?each ?employee? lost ?due? to [employer?s] unlawful practices.?
The panel also held that the district court applied the wrong standard in finding that a class action was not the superior method for resolving the claims.?? The fact that the court would need to calculate damages on an individual basis was not sufficient ?to ?defeat ?manageability.??? ?Damages could be calculated based in large part on the employer?s payroll records.
Leyva? ?v.? ?Medline? ?Industries,? ?Inc.,? ?(9th??? ?Cir. 5/28/2013) (Pregerson, Paez, Hurvitz).