OPINION OF THE COURT
SCIRICA, Circuit Judge.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68 permits defendants to serve an offer of judgment on an opposing party. The issue in this case, before us on interlocutory appeal from the denial of a motion to dismiss, is whether an unaccepted offer of judgment under Rule 68, made before a plaintiff files a motion for class certification under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, moots the plaintiff's entire action, including the putative class claims, and thereby deprives a court of federal subject-matter jurisdiction. Because the Supreme Court's recent decision in Campbell-Ewald Company v. Gomez, ___ U.S. ___, 136 S.Ct. 663, 193 L.Ed.2d 571 (2016), holds that an unaccepted offer does not make such a case moot, we will affirm the trial court's order denying defendants' motion to dismiss.
I.
Ari Weitzner, M.D., is a physician who practices in Brooklyn, New York. Weitzner v. Sanofi Pasteur, Inc., 7 F.Supp.3d 460, 461 (M.D.Pa.2014), appeal docketed, No. 14-3423 (3d Cir. July 30, 2014). On November 26, 2011, Weitzner and his professional corporation, Ari Weitzner, M.D., P.C., filed a putative class action against Sanofi Pasteur Inc. and Vaxserve Inc. Id. Plaintiffs allege that "[b]eginning at least as early as April 21, 2004, Defendants transmitted more than 10,000 facsimiles to Plaintiffs and the other members of the Class ... without the prior express invitation or permission of Plaintiffs and the other members of the Class." J.A. Vol. II at 39a-40a ¶¶ 10, 12. Plaintiffs contend these transmissions violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"), 47 U.S.C. § 227.
On November 15, 2013 — after plaintiffs filed the putative class action, and with no motion for class certification filed — defendants made offers of judgment under Rule 68
Defendants contended these offers would "satisfy the claims" of the named plaintiffs and "provide [those] Plaintiff[s] with the maximum relief available under the law to which [those plaintiffs] would be entitled were they to prevail in this case." Id. at 95a-96a. Plaintiffs did not respond to the offers. Weitzner, 7 F.Supp.3d at 462. On December 4, 2013 — more than fourteen days after defendants made their offers — defendants moved to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), contending their unaccepted offers mooted the case. J.A. Vol. II 77a-83a. Plaintiffs still had not moved (and have not subsequently moved) for class certification.
On March 12, 2014, the trial judge denied defendants' motion to dismiss. Weitzner, 7 F.Supp.3d at 460, 461. He concluded the offers would provide complete relief to plaintiffs in their individual capacities. Id. at 465. But following Weiss v. Regal Collections, 385 F.3d 337 (3d Cir.2004), he held plaintiffs' action could proceed because they had not engaged in "undue delay" in failing to file their motion for class certification and a successful class certification motion would "`relate ... back to the filing of the class complaint.'" Weitzner, 7 F.Supp.3d at 465 (quoting Weiss, 385 F.3d at 348). Accordingly, the trial judge held, "`[b]y relating class certification back to the filing of a class complaint, the class representative would retain standing to litigate class certification though his individual claim is moot.'" Id. (quoting Weiss, 385 F.3d at 348). The trial judge also rejected defendants' argument that the Supreme Court's decision in Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk, ___ U.S. ___, 133 S.Ct. 1523, 185 L.Ed.2d 636 (2013), undermined Weiss, "given the fact that Weiss concerned a putative Rule 23 class action and Genesis Healthcare involved a [Fair Labor Standards Act] action." Weitzner, 7 F.Supp.3d at 467.
Subsequently, defendants moved to certify the trial judge's order for interlocutory appeal. Weitzner v. Sanofi Pasteur, Inc., No. 3:11-cv-2198, 2014 WL 1786500, at *1 (M.D.Pa. May 5, 2014). The trial judge certified his order denying defendants' motion to dismiss so we could review the following question:
Id.
II.
We exercise plenary review over whether subject-matter jurisdiction exists. Tellado v. IndyMac Mortg. Servs., 707 F.3d 275, 279 (3d Cir.2013). We also exercise
III.
Campbell-Ewald involved a class action filed by Jose Gomez, alleging the Campbell-Ewald Company, an advertising and marketing communications agency, violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by using an automatic dialing system to send text messages to cellular telephones without the recipients' prior express consent. 136 S.Ct. at 666-67. Campbell-Ewald filed an offer of judgment under Rule 68 in an attempt to settle Gomez's individual claim. Id. at 667. After Gomez did not accept the settlement offer and allowed Campbell-Ewald's Rule 68 submission to lapse after the fourteen days specified in the Rule, Campbell-Ewald moved to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(1), contending the unaccepted offer made the case moot. Id. at 668.
The Court held "an unaccepted offer to satisfy [a] named plaintiff's individual claim [is not] sufficient to render a case moot when the complaint seeks relief on behalf of the plaintiff and a class of persons similarly situated." Id. at 666. It further stated that "in accord with Rule 68 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure... an unaccepted settlement offer has no force." Id.
These holdings resolve the question presented to us on interlocutory review. Because an unaccepted settlement offer "has no force," it moots neither Plaintiffs' individual claims nor the case as a whole.
Campbell-Ewald overrules our previous holding in Weiss that "[a]n offer of complete relief will generally moot the plaintiff's claim, as at that point the plaintiff retains no personal interest in the outcome of the litigation." Weiss, 385 F.3d at 340. Beyond this, we decline to elaborate on the implications of Campbell-Ewald on our other holdings in Weiss. Nothing in this opinion should be taken to express a view on any issues decided by the trial judge other than the single issue certified on interlocutory appeal.
IV.
Accordingly, we will affirm the trial court's order denying defendants' motion to dismiss.
Comment
User Comments