Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, 603 F.3d 571 (2010) (en banc)

The district court certified a class encompassing all women employed by Wal-Mart at any time after December 26, 1998 who claimed gender discrimination under Title VII and who sought injunctive and declaratory relief, back pay and, in a separate opt-out class, punitive damages. Among other things, plaintiffs claim they received lower pay and fewer and slower promotions than did their male counterparts. In this en banc decision, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court in a narrow 6-5 ruling. The class includes as many as 1.5 million women who worked at over 3,400 stores throughout the United States. The Court affirmed certification under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2), which imposes less stringent requirements for class certification and applies to cases in which the injunctive relief sought predominates over the monetary relief sought. See also Porter v. Winter, 2010 WL 1780864 (9th Cir. 2010) (federal courts have subject matter jurisdiction over claims brought solely to recover attorney’s fees incurred in Title VII administrative proceedings); United Steel, Paper & Forestry, etc. v. Shell Oil Co., 2010 WL 1571190 (9th Cir. 2010) (denial of Rule 23 class certification in removed action does not divest district court of jurisdiction).