Whole Food Market headquarters, in Austin, Texas.
A federal appeals court has punted on a growing debate over whether a key U.S. Supreme Court ruling limiting personal jurisdiction should apply to class actions.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld a lower court decision refusing to dismiss a class action against Whole Foods based on the Supreme Court’s 2017 holding in Bristol-Myers Squibb v. Superior Court of California. At oral arguments last September, the panel appeared likely to dodge the question, and, in a 2-1 opinion Tuesday, the majority found that the case was premature, because the class action was not certified.
