Williams v. Jani-King of Philadelphia — civil / class action — affirmance — Fisher

The Third Circuit today affirmed a ruling certifying a class in a suit brought by two franchisees who allege that they are employees not independent contractors and thus are entitled to state-law wage protections. The class defendants argued that certification was error because the claims were not fit for class resolution, an issue implicating both commonality and predominance. The panel majority rejected this argument, emphasizing that an interlocutory challenge to certification is not the place to decide the merits. Judge Cowen dissented on commonality grounds, arguing that the majority opinion threatens the viability of franchising.

Joining Fisher was Chagares; Cowen dissented. Arguing counsel were Aaron Vanoort of Minnesota for the class defendants and Shannon Liss-Riordan of Massachusetts for the class plaintiffs.

UPDATE: commentary on JDSupra agreeing with the dissent here.

Ordonez-Tevalan v. A.G. — immigration — affirmance –Greenberg

The Third Circuit today granted panel rehearing and issued a new panel opinion in Ordonez-Tevelan v. A.G. The prior opinion is here, my summary is here. The disposition is unchanged, and my quick comparison of the two cases failed to reveal to me what changed. If an eagle-eyed reader alerts me I’ll update this post.