Case Description
The Attorney General of Illinois filed suit in state court against eight manufacturers of LCD panels for violations of the Illinois Antitrust Act. The complaint sought injunctive relief, civil penalties, and treble statutory damages for the state as a purchaser and, as parens patriae, for harmed residents. The defendants removed the case to federal court under CAFA. The Attorney General moved to remand, which was granted by the district court. Defendants tried to appeal to the Seventh Circuit, which denied the motion on the grounds that the Attorney General’s action was not a “class action” covered by CAFA, so the court did not have jurisdiction. The court held that because a claim brought under the Illinois Antitrust Act does not need to be brought by a “representative person” and has no requirements of numerosity, adequacy, typicality or commonality for the plaintiffs. The court also found that the case was not a “mass action” because all of the claims are asserted on behalf of the public, and not on behalf of individual claimants. The Seventh Circuit also rejected a claim-by-claim analysis, instead looking at the complaint as a whole and concluding that the state was the real party in interest. The court noted that there was no support for the claim-by-claim approach in CAFA itself. The court concluded that federal courts should strictly construe removal statutes, especially in light of the sovereignty issues that arise when a state’s suit, brought in state court, is removed to federal court.
