Steinmetz et al. v. Brinker International, Inc.

Issue

Whether Federal Rule 23 (which dictates when a class can be certified, what type of notice is required to class members if certified, and what procedures and processes must be adhered to with regard to class certification) permits a damages class to be certified where there is no evidence the vast majority of putative class members suffered either an actual or imminent risk of injury, and individual issues of standing and damages otherwise predominate.

November 23, 2021

The Restaurant Law Center, Retail Litigation Center, and National Retail Federation filed an amici curiae brief in support of the appellant, Brinker International, Inc.

July 11, 2023

A panel of the Eleventh Circuit partially vacated the district court certification of this class action suit dealing with a data breach and remanded the case for a clearer definition of what the district court meant by class members “who had their data accessed by cybercriminals.”

August 22, 2023

The RLC filed an amicus brief in support of Brinker’s petition for rehearing en banc arguing that the panel’s decision would encourage additional cases in which plaintiffs would attempt to “paper over insurmountable differences” among class members by “averaging” their alleged damages. In turn, this could “eviscerate Constitutional due process protections” and procedural safeguards embedded in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure dealing with Class Actions, leading to additional, unwarranted burdens on the restaurant industry and similar retailers.