Washtenaw County Employees', et al v. Piedmont Office Realty Trust,, et al, No. 10-13633 (11th Cir. 2011)

Annotate this Case

Download PDF

[DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ FILED No. 10-13633 U.S. COURT OF APPEALS ________________________ ELEVENTH CIRCUIT APRIL 11, 2011 JOHN LEY D. C. Docket No. 1:07-cv-02660-CAP CLERK WASHTENAW COUNTY EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM, on behalf of itself and all others similarly situated, CLARA R. SMITH, Plaintiffs-Appellees, versus PIEDMONT OFFICE REALTY TRUST, INC., f.k.a. Wells Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc., W. WAYNE WOODY, et al., Defendants-Appellants. ________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia _________________________ (April 11, 2011) Before MARTIN, FAY and BLACK, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: This appeal challenges the certification of a class in a securities fraud case. Appellant challenges three rulings of the district court which can be summarized as: (1) That the presumption of reliance as set forth in Affiliated Ute Citizens v. United States, 406 U.S. 128, 92 S. Ct. 1456 (1972), is applicable; (2) The plaintiffs are typical as required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(3); and (3) The plaintiffs will adequately represent the class as required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(4). After studying the briefs and the record and hearing oral argument, we affirm the rulings as to numbers (2) and (3). The problem with number (1) is that the complaint does not support the ruling made by the district court on the presumption of reliance. We do not decide whether a class is supportable without the presumption of reliance nor whether a class would be supportable under allegations in an amended complaint consistent with the arguments presented to the district court and this court. We vacate the certification of the class and remand for further proceedings. VACATED AND REMANDED. 2

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.