Remand Order Under Class Action Fairness Act Reversed, and Tort Matter

In Hamilton v. Palm, No. 09-3676, a diversity negligence action, alleging that plaintiff fell and was seriously injured doing roofing work and constructing an addition on property owned by defendants, the court affirmed the dismissal of the complaint is reversed where the district court made an unwarranted extension of the pleading standards of Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007), and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 S. Ct. 1937 (2009).

In Westerfeld v. Independent Processing, LLC, No. 10-2635, a class action against a Missouri limited liability company that processed residential mortgage documents, and a California limited partnership that provided residential mortgages, alleging that defendants unlawfully charged plaintiff and other Missouri residents a "broker processing fee" and an "administrative fee," respectively, in residential mortgage financing transactions, the court vacated the district court's order remanding the action to state court where the district court was required to resolve any doubt about the applicability of the Class Action Fairness Act's local-controversy exception against plaintiff, the party who sought remand and the party who bore the burden of establishing that the exception applied.

Related Resources

• Full Text of Hamilton v. Palm, No. 09-3676
• Full Text of Westerfeld v. Independent Processing, LLC, No. 10-2635