Consumer Law

AT&T Mobility vs. Concepcion and How the U.S. Supreme Court May Ruin the Movies

By Joe Consumer

In January 2006, production started on the Oscar-nominated George Clooney movie Michael Clayton, a film about a corporation?s violent reaction to a class action lawsuit filed by sick people over health effects from one of its lethal pesticides.  Of all the issues raised by that film, I?m sure that the last thing anyone ? including George Clooney, one of Hollywood?s most politically-aware actors  - would imagine is that class actions themselves may be on the path to extinction in America. 

In fact, just months before production started, Congress passed a dreadful corporate-back bill, the intent of which was to severely limit class actions in this country and may have even knocked out this very case.  (Oh and by the way, the Republican bill passed with the sad support of a few Democrats like then Sen. Barack Obama  - a vote to which few ?progressives? paid attention in 2008 but they should have because it explains a lot.)

Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court hears argument in a case that could strike an even more deadly blow to this critical tool for justice.  The case is AT&T Mobility vs. Concepcion, and in the Los Angeles Times today, columnist David Lazarus writes,

The basic question before the court is whether companies can bar class actions in the fine print of their take-it-or-leave-it contracts with customers and employees.

High courts in California and elsewhere have ruled that class-action bans are unconscionable and contrary to public policy.

In other words, unless the court rules against AT&T,

any business that issues a contract to customers ? such as for credit cards, cellphones or cable TV ? would be able to prevent them from joining class-action lawsuits.  This would take away in such cases arguably the most powerful legal tool available to the little guy, particularly in cases involving relatively small amounts of money. Class-action suits allow plaintiffs to band together in seeking compensation or redress, thus giving substantially more heft to their claims.

For more, see the Alliance for Justice?s great new report, AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion: Will the Supreme Court Give AT&T a License to Steal?

Class actions are a critical tool used by everyday Americans to deter violations of individual rights and corporate misconduct involving product defects, financial fraud, toxic pollution, civil rights violations, and other abuses. They are vital for permitting consumers to gain access to the courts where a company may have profited by defrauding large numbers of people.  

But if that doesn?t grab you, just imagine a world without great legal dramas like Michael Clayton and Erin Brockovich (which of course was based on real life) and start looking forward to more Howard the Duck sequels.

Full post as published by ThePopTort on November 05, 2010 (boomark / email).