The Supreme Court held that “the commencement of a class action suspends the applicable statute of limitations as to all asserted members of the class who would have been parties had the suit been permitted to continue as a class action.” The question presented in this appeal was whether the plaintiffs, whose individual claims were timely as a result of American Pipe tolling also may bring those claims in a subsequent class action on behalf of all class members who also had timely claims under the American Pipe rule. The 9th Circuit said they could. NCLC, in an amicus brief prepared by the Gupta Wessler law firm, joined AAJ in support of the plaintiff’s claim and seeking affirmation of the 9th Circuit’s ruling.
The Supreme Court ruled, however, that upon denial of class certification, a putative class member may not, in lieu of promptly joining an existing suit or promptly filing an individual action, commence a class action anew beyond the time allowed by the applicable statute of limitations.