decertification. The court rejected the defendant’s arguments that assessment of the class members’ claims denials would require individualized treatment. The court stated that the class members were seeking claim processing, not individual damages in monetary claims. The court reasoned that there was no need to individually assess each claim, because class members were seeking to repeal the entire policy denying transgender care. The court determined that the injunctive relief sought could be established on a class-wide basis, and the class members sufficiently demonstrated that they were all harmed by the same policy denial. The court ruled that the plaintiffs showed that the defendant applied the wrong standard against all class members when it enforced the discriminatory exclusions, and the class was defined as those plan participants/beneficiaries whose claims were denied solely based on the exclusion. Id . at 13. The court also opined that the defendant’s Rule 30(b)(6) witness testified that the exclusions are applied uniformly, based on the diagnosis and requested service, and therefore the plaintiffs have demonstrated that the common contentions were capable of class-wide resolution. Id . The defendant also argued that decertification was appropriate because reprocessing was not the real relief sought by the class and they were actually seeking individualized monetary claims. The court agreed with the plaintiffs that when an injunction requires that a procedural avenue be followed, with a possibility of payment after the process, that possibility does not transform the equitable injunctive remedy into one for money damages. Id . at 16. The court concluded that the plaintiffs’ class claims met the predominance requirement because the defendant’s discriminatory conduct was uniform as to all plans and as to all class members and was declared unlawful as to all of class members. Accordingly, the court denied the motion for decertification. III. Top Discrimination Class Action Settlements In 2023 In 2023, the top ten settlements were $762.2 million. This was a significant increase over 2022, when the top ten discrimination class action settlements totaled $597 million.
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Duane Morris Discrimination Class Action Review – 2024
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