A federal appeals court rejected a novel “negotiation class” comprised of all cities and counties suing them over the nationwide opioid crisis settlement, according to a report in Law.com.
In the ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed U.S. District Judge Dan Polster’s 2019 approval of the nation’s first “negotiation class.” The 2-1 opinion is another rebuke to Polster, whose “clear abuse of discretion” prompted the Sixth Circuit to reverse one of his pretrial rulings on April 15.
“The primary problem here is that the negotiation class ordered by the district court simply is not authorized by the structure, framework, or language of Rule 23,” wrote Judge Eric Clay, for the majority, referring to Federal Rule 23 of Civil Procedure, which governs class actions.
