Dukes v Wal-Mart Stores: En Banc Ninth Circuit Lowers the Bar for Class Certification and Creates Circuit Splits in Approving Largest Class Action Ever Certified

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has issued a significant decision affirming the certification of the largest class action since the adoption of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. In Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., a divided en banc court ruled, 6 to 5, that the district court did not abuse its discretion in certifying a class of as many as 1.5 million female employees who worked in Wal-Mart’s 3,400 stores at an