Sixth Circuit Adopts Bright Line Test For CAFA Removals

Eyeglass case provides focus for employment class action removals

Congress enacted the Class Action Fairness Act, better known as "CAFA," to address some of the well-documented abuses of class action litigation. Among CAFA's important provisions is one permitting defendants to remove class actions to federal court when there are over 100 potential class members and the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million. 28 U.S.C. section 1332(d). A case must be removed under CAFA within 30 days after the defendant receives a document from which it can ascertain that the amount in controversy requirement has been met. 28 U.S.C. section 1446(b)(3).

From the time of CAFA's inception, plaintiffs' counsel have often looked for ways to prevent removal by, for example, failing to identify the amount in controversy or trying to stipulate that the amount of controversy is actually less than the $5 million removal threshold. Some myopic courts similarly sought to impose a high