The court of appeals affirmed a district court order. The court held that a district court could order a class action defendant to pay the cost of class notification after it determined that the defendant was liable on the merits, even where the liability decision remained under appeal.
Brandy Hunt and a co-plaintiff (Hunt) brought a class action complaint against Imperial Merchant Services, Inc. (IMS) for alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The district court granted Hunt partial summary judgment on liability, concluding that IMS’s collection efforts violated California law and thus the FDCPA. In a separate order filed the same day, the district court certified two subclasses under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2) and 23(b)(3), with Hunt as named plaintiff.
