Lowe’s Raises the Bar on Class Certification

This week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts took retailer Lowe’s advice to “never stop improving” — on the class certification standard.  The court issued a decision that may demonstrate that employers are gaining ground in convincing district courts to more narrowly interpret the class certification requirements in light of recent Supreme Court case law. 

The case, Magalhaes v. Lowe’s, was filed by a Lowe’s subcontractor who installed shades and blinds for Lowe’s customers.  The plaintiff claimed that the arrangement violated Massachusetts’s restrictive independent contractor statute and sought class certification on behalf of a putative class of installation subcontractors whom he claimed should have been classified as employees.  District Judge Denise Casper denied the plaintiff’s motion, stating that he had failed to meet the commonality, typicality, adequate representation prongs of Rule 23(a), as well as the predominance requirement of Rule 23(b)(3). 

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