Ninth Circuit Reverses Class Certification In Joint Supplement Case Because Not All Class Members Saw Misrepresentation

The Ninth Circuit has held that a district court abused its discretion in certifying a class based on allegedly false health claims because not all class members saw the advertising. The Ninth Circuit said that the trial court thus erred in ruling that the predominance requirement was satisfied: "[I]n order for the issue to predominate, it must at least be common and there must be cohesion among the class members. It is upon those rocks that the district court's certification founders." Cabral v. Supple LLC, No. 13-55943 (9th Cir. June 23, 2015) (citations omitted).

The district court held that the common issue that predominated was whether the defendant, Supple LLC, had misrepresented to the class members that its dietary supplement, which contained glucosamine hydrochloride and chondroitin sulfate, was "'clinically proven effective in treating joint pain.'" But that claim was not made in all the advertising for the product. The Ninth Circuit noted that while