Huu Nguyen v. Nissan North America, Inc., No. 18-16344 (9th Cir. 2019)
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The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's denial of class certification in an action brought by plaintiff against Nissan, under state and federal warranty laws, arising from an allegedly faulty hydraulic clutch system in plaintiff's 2012 Nissan vehicle.
The panel held that, following Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 569 U.S. 27 (2013), plaintiff's theory of liability—that Nissan's manufacture and concealment of a defective clutch system injured class members at the time of sale—is consistent with his proposed recovery based on the benefit of the bargain. Therefore, the district court abused its discretion when it denied class certification based on a misconception of plaintiff's legal theory. Accordingly, the panel remanded for further proceedings.
Court Description: Class Certification The panel reversed the district court’s denial of class certification in an action against Nissan North America pursuant to state and federal warranty laws arising from an allegedly faulty hydraulic clutch system in plaintiff’s 2012 Nissan vehicle. The district court denied plaintiff’s motion for class certification on the ground that he failed to satisfy the predominance requirement of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3) due to what the district court viewed as an inappropriate measure of damages. The panel held that plaintiff’s causes of action under California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act, the Song- Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act were all viable. The panel held that plaintiff sufficiently demonstrated a nexus between his legal theory—that Nissan violated California law by selling vehicles with a defective clutch system that was not reflected in the sale price—and his damages model—the average cost of repair. The panel determined that plaintiff did not seek damages for the faulty performance of the clutch system, which as the district court concluded, would require an individualized analysis that might defeat predominance. Instead, plaintiff’s theory was that the allegedly defective clutch was itself the injury, regardless of whether the faulty
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