BSH Home Appliances Corp. v. Cobb (U.S. Supreme Court)

Purchasers of front-loading clothes washing machines brought a class action against BSH, alleging that the washers are defective because they have a propensity to develop mold, mildew, and odors. The district court certified classes that included any purchaser of the washers, regardless of whether the purchaser experienced odors or was aware of the alleged propensity at the time of purchase. Notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s intervening opinion in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, which reinforced the importance of Rule 23(b)(3)’s requirement that common issues predominate over individualized ones, the Ninth Circuit summarily denied BSH’s petition for permission to appeal the district court’s class certification order. On behalf of Whirlpool and Sears, two targets of similar class actions, we filed an amicus brief in support of BSH’s petition for certiorari, which was denied by the Supreme Court.