Ford Motor Co. v. McCauley

Case Date: 10/07/2002
Docket No: none

Facts of the Case 

When Ford Motor Company and Citibank (South Dakota), N.A. canceled a credit card rebate program that enabled cardholders to accrue and redeem rebates towards the purchase of a new Ford, cardholders filed multiple state-based class actions. Ford and Citibank removed the cases to federal court. The cardholder plaintiffs consolidated their actions, seeking reinstitution of the program. Ultimately, the Court of Appeals found that each class member was asserting a separate and distinct claim and that the individual claims did not satisfy the $75,000 amount-in-controversy requirement. The appellate court also concluded that premising jurisdiction on the cost of complying with an injunction in favor of a single plaintiff would conflict with the principle of the amount-in-controversy requirement.

Question 

Is the amount-in-controversy requirement of the federal diversity statute satisfied where a class representative seeks an injunction that would cost the defendant more than $75,000 to implement whether the injunction applies to one plaintiff or all class members?

Argument Ford Motor Co. v. McCauley - Oral ArgumentFull Transcript Text  Download MP3Ford Motor Co. v. McCauley - Opinion AnnouncementFull Transcript Text  Download MP3 Conclusion  Decision: 9 votes for McCauley, 0 vote(s) against Legal provision:

In a per curiam opinion, the Court dismissed the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted.