The Second Circuit Holds That Comcast Does Not Require Automatic Denial Of Rule 23(B)(3) Class Certification In Cases Presenting Individualized Damages Issues

In Roach v. T.L. Cannon Corp., No. 13-3070-cv, 2015 WL 528125 (2d Cir. Feb. 10, 2015), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 133 S. Ct. 1426 (2013), does not require district courts to first find that damages are capable of classwide measurement before certifying classes under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3).  Under existing Second Circuit Rule 23(b)(3) precedent, individualized damages inquiries do not automatically preclude class certification if, in the case as a whole, individual questions do not predominate over any common questions.  In Roach, the Second Circuit read Comcast as not overruling this precedent.  Roach confirms that, in the Second Circuit, individualized damages issues are not per se dispositive of Rule 23(b)(3)'s predominance test.