Civil Procedure — class actions

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Civil Procedure — class actions

A class action with ten subclasses was properly certified.

“Meriter argues that because the subclasses make so many different claims, the class action does not satisfy the requirement of Rule 23(b)(2) that the defendant have ‘acted . . . on grounds that apply generally to the class.’ The requirement applies to subclasses, however, rather than to the class action out of which the subclasses have been carved. ‘[T]he fact that a class is overbroad and should be divided into subclasses is not in itself a reason for refusing to certify the case as a class action.’ Culver v. City of Milwaukee, 277 F.3d 908, 912 (7th Cir. 2002). One can if one wants think of this class action as actually 10 separate class actions and apply the standard in Rule 23(b)(2) to each of them—and each of them satisfies the standard.”

Affirmed.

12-2216 Johnson v. Meriter health Services Employee Retirement Plan

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Conley, J., Posner, J.