Some explanation of the class action is necessary. In the class action lawsuit, one or a handful of individuals, who are typical of a large group of individuals sharing common claims, bring the suit on behalf of themselves and as representatives of the large group of individuals that have likewise been harmed. The benefits of the class action procedure is that it allows for redress of injuries and ripoffs for which otherwise there would be no remedy.
Here's a scenario: big Mondo Corporation rips off 5 million people for $1 each month for a total of $5 million monthly of ill-gotten gains. It is not economically feasible for any one of those individuals to pursue their individual claim. A class action does make it economically feasible.
Sometimes class actions are criticized, because they yield large fees for the attorneys bringing them but relatively little for the individuals that have been harmed. Sometimes these criticisms are justified. Most often they are not. Without class actions the example I described above would have no remedy; the big Mondo Corporation would get away with essentially stealing $5 million a month from Americans. That's not right and that's why class actions are necessary.
The Supreme Court case, Campbell-Ewald v. Gomez, decided whether a corporation could get a class action dismissed if it offered to pay the individual bringing a case on the half of himself in the class the full value of the individual's claim. By 6 to 3 vote the court ruled against the corporation, a rare win for the little guy from a Supreme Court very much pro-corporation in recent years.
