Ninth Circuit Reverses Class Certification Order

In In re Wells Fargo Home Mortg. Overtime Pay Litigation (2009) --- F.3d ---, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals considered "whether the court abused its discretion in finding that the predominance requirement of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3) was satisfied, based-in large part-on an employer's internal policy of treating its employees as exempt from overtime laws." Slip op. at 1. The Court held that while "such uniform exemption policies are relevant to the Rule 23(b)(3) analysis," "it is an abuse of discretion to rely on such policies to the near exclusion of other relevant factors touching on predominance." Ibid.