Subjective Decision Making Strikes Again – Class Certification Denied For Lack Of Commonality And Typicality In Case Involving Discretionary Selection System For Promotions, Training, and Pay Increases

On September 29, 2013, Chief Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama in Bryant, et al. v. Southland Tube, No. 2:10-CV-3215, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141607 (N.D. Ala. Sept. 29, 2013), denied plaintiffs’ motion for class certification finding plaintiffs failed to satisfy Rule 23(a)’s commonality and typicality requirements. The plaintiffs sought to certify a class of over one-hundred African-American workers, alleging Southland’s selection system for promotions, pay increases and training discriminated against African-American employees. Southland’s system gave supervisors wide discretion to select employees for promotions, trainings and pay increases. 

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