Taking a hint from Campbell-Edward Co. v. Gomez, 136 S.Ct. 663 (2016), defendant here deposited the maximum statutory damages for the individual plaintiff in the TCPA case into court and offered to have judgment entered against it in that sum and for the requested individual injunctive relief. This decision holds that the case was not rendered moot by this means. Even if the district court had entered the judgment defendant sought, plaintiff could still have sought class certification as Pitts v. Terrible Herbst, Inc. 653 F.3d 1081 (9th Cir. 2011) held. Moreover, the mere offer and tender does not moot the individual plaintiff’s claims. Only the plaintiff’s actual receipt of the relief would moot the claim. And the Court of Appeals will not order the district court to enter judgment on the defendant’s offer and tender before plaintiff has had a reasonable chance to seek class certification.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (Fisher, J.); April 12, 2016; 2016 WL 1425869