China Agritech: The Supreme Court Ends Class Action "Stacking"

This week, in the closely watched case of China Agritech v. Resh,¹ the U.S. Supreme Court issued an important class action ruling, holding that the tolling principles announced in its earlier American Pipe decision² do not allow absent class members to file follow-on class action lawsuits where the statute of limitations has otherwise expired on their claims.

As we have previously noted, the question of whether American Pipe tolling applies to subsequent class action filings, not just subsequent individual actions, is important because the answer dictates whether American Pipe tolling principles enable the filing of successive (stacked) class actions in a seemingly endless effort to finally achieve certification under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23.