Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, 577 U.S. ___, 136 S. Ct. 663 (2016)

In this putative class action involving an alleged violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (prohibiting using an automatic dialing system to send a text message to a cellular telephone, absent the recipient’s express consent), Campbell-Ewald proposed to settle Jose Gomez’s individual claim and filed an offer of judgment pursuant to FRCP 68. Gomez did not accept the offer and allowed it to expire. Campbell-Ewald then moved to dismiss the case on the ground that the unaccepted offer mooted Gomez’s claim by offering him complete relief. The district court granted the motion to dismiss, but the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed. In this opinion, the United States Supreme Court affirmed the Ninth Circuit, holding that Gomez’s complaint was not effaced by Campbell-Ewald’s unaccepted offer because under basic contract principles, a settlement bid, once rejected, has no continuing efficacy.