The Seventh Circuit Parts Company with the Eleventh—“Limited Discovery” Ordered to Determine if Minimal CAFA Diversity Exists
Groupon used Christine Dancel’s Instagram photograph from her public Instagram account to promote a voucher for a restaurant. Dancel then filed a class action suit under the Illinois Right of Publicity Act seeking $1,000 in statutory damages for each class member. When Dancel filed an amended state court complaint expanding the class (after two years of litigation), Groupon filed a notice of removal. Plaintiff filed a motion to remand, which was denied by the district court. The district court thereafter denied Dancel’s motion to certify a class. After the certification denial, Dancel’s attorneys filed a Rule 23(f) appeal. The Seventh Circuit remanded to allow the district court to oversee limited discovery to determine whether minimal CAFA diversity existed. In doing so, the Seventh Circuit pointed out (in an unnumbered footnote) that its ruling differed with an Eleventh Circuit holding, which “prohibited jurisdictional discovery in cases removed under the CAFA.”