Haley v. Medtronic, Inc.
United States District Court for the Central District of California
169 F.R.D. 643 (C.D. Cal. 1996)
Haley (plaintiff), who received one of Medtronic's (defendant) allegedly defective pacemakers but had not experienced a failure, sued for emotional distress over the fear of failure and possible removal surgery, and sought to certify a class of over 66,000 people who had received the same pacemakers. The complaint alleged negligence, products liability, breach of warranty, and fraud, seeking both damages and injunctive relief to monitor class members' health. Haley moved for money-damages certification under Rule 23(b)(3) and injunctive-relief certification under Rule 23(b)(2).
Whether class action certification is appropriate when a proposed class satisfies Rule 23(a) and predominance under Rule 23(b)(3), but class treatment is not shown to be superior to other forms of litigation.