Anthony M. Frazier v. Castle Ford, Ltd., f/k/a ... - Maryland Courts

The Court of Special Appeals affirmed that decision and essentially held that, in
certain circumstances, a defendant may abort a class action prior to class certification by
tendering individual damages to the plaintiff who initiates the case – even if that tender is
declined and regardless of whether the claims are amenable to class litigation or the
individual plaintiff would otherwise qualify as a class representative. This allows a
defendant in such a case to moot a meritorious class action by “picking off” the putative class
representative.
Standard of Review of Certification Decision
A circuit court’s order to grant or deny class certification is to state “findings and
reasons” for the determination, presumably to facilitate later review. Maryland Rule 2-
231(c). Such a decision is ordinarily reviewed for abuse of discretion based upon the
“recognition that the basis of the certification inquiry is essentially a factual one, and thus,
deference is due.” Creveling v. GEICO, 376 Md. 72, 90, 828 A.2d 229 (2003). A less
deferential standard of review applies when there is a question whether the court applied the
proper legal standard for certification. Id. (“whether the trial court used a correct legal
standard ... is a question that we review de novo”); see also Phillip Morris v. Angeletti, 358
Md. 689, 726, 752 A.2d 200 (2000).
In this case, the Circuit Court did not articulate its decision on certification as an
application of the criteria of Rule 2-231 to the claims of potential class members. The only
operative fact mentioned in the Circuit Court’s decision was Crystal Ford’s tender of
individual relief to Mr. Frazier. The legal issue before us is thus whether that tender
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