Campion v. Old Republic Protection Co.

After the putative class representative voluntarily settles his individual claims, an appeal is moot if the class representative does not retain a personal stake in the case.

A class action suit against Old Republic, “a company that sells home warranty plans,” was initiated by Douglas J. Campion. The class action suit alleged that Old Republic “arbitrarily denied claims made by [Campion] and a putative class of similarly situated policyholders, or otherwise cheated [Campion] and this class out of benefits owed under their policies.” The district court “denied Campion’s motion to certify a class of Old Republic policyholders and later granted Old Republic’s motion for partial summary judgment.” After the district court issued its orders, Old Republic and Campion entered into a settlement agreement to “dismiss with prejudice Campion’s individual claims in exchange of for the full amount of those claims,” and also to “dismiss without prejudice ‘any class action claims and representative claims’ under the Unfair Competition Law, one of several sets of claims alleged in Campion’s complaint.” The district court “granted the joint motion and stipulation of dismissal”, and Campion appealed for review of the district court’s orders. The Ninth Circuit did “not reach the merits of any of the district court’s orders, because the appeal is moot.” Campion had voluntarily settled his individual claims, and the panel determined that Campion did not have a “more concrete interest” in the case. Campion had “no financial interest or other personal interest whatsoever in class certification” because “under the terms of the settlement, [Campion] received their full value.” The panel therefore dismissed Campion’s appeal as moot. DISMISSED.