Standing

An organization may have associational standing to sue on behalf of its members when: (1) its members would otherwise have standing to sue in their own right; (2) the interests it seeks to protect are germane to the organization’s purpose; and (3) neither the claim asserted nor the relief requested requires the participation of individual members in the lawsuit.  When… Read More

Adams, a lawyer, switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Independent, and then filed this case challenging the constitutionality of Delaware's constitutional provisions that allow only a bare majority of judges on its top five courts to be of the same political party and require that the remaining judges on the top three courts be of the other major political… Read More

Plaintiff sued the manufacturer of Pop Secret popcorn, claiming it committed unfair business practices and breached the warranty of merchantability, by including partially hydrogenated oils (artificial trans fat) in the popcorn after the FDA had concluded that the ingredient was no longer approved for human consumption.  This decision holds that plaintiff failed to allege a sufficient injury in fact to… Read More

In cases seeking a writ of mandate, where the question is one of public right and the object of the mandamus is to procure the enforcement of a public duty, the [petitioner] need not show that he has any legal or special interest in the result, since it is sufficient that he is interested as a citizen in having the… Read More

Since Alexander v. Sandoval (2001) 121 S.Ct. 1511, federal courts do not imply private causes of action unless a federal statute evinces an intent to create one.  The Hobbs Act (18 U.S.C. § 1951) does not show any intent to create a private right of action.  It is a simple criminal statute, outlawing use of robbery, extortion or threats of… Read More

Disabled residents of New Orleans had Article III standing to sue Uber for refusing to make uberWAV (wheelchair accessable rides) available in New Orleans.  The residents didn't have to sign up to use Uber's app (and thus agree to its arbitration clause) to have Article III standing since doing so would have been a futile gesture.  As there was no… Read More

A private citizen group of taxpayers had taxpayer standing under CCP 526a to sue the District Attorney seeking an injunction to stop his office's confidential informant program, the principal aim of which was to secure confessions from criminal defendants in violation of their constitutional rights.  The suit was brought by taxpayers to enjoin waste of public funds on an illegal… Read More

When the question is one of public right and the object of a petition for writ of mandate is to enforce a public duty, the petitioner need not demonstrate some special interest to be served or some particular right to be preserved or protected over and above the interest held in common with the public at large. Read More

Individual plaintiff-voter lacks standing to challenge statewide voting inequalities involving districts other than his own. Read More

A person adversely affected by a bankruptcy court order has the standing to appeal from the order, even if he did not appear at the hearing or raise an objection before entry of the appealed order. Read More

An employee who has been affected by one Labor Code violation by the employer may bring a Private Attorney General Act suit against the employer for civil penalties based on all Labor Code violations committed by the employer.  Read More

A taxpayer who is not a party to a government contract nevertheless has the standing to seek invalidation of the contract on the ground the public officer letting the contract had a personal interest in it. Read More

Naruto, the monkey, cannot sue for copyright infringement; the Copyright Act does not grant animals standing. Read More

Since website’s data security breach exposed plaintiffs to a substantial risk that hackers will commit identity theft, they had Article III standing to maintain the suit. Read More

A real and immediate threat of injury from identity theft is sufficient to sustain a plaintiff’s Article III standing. Read More

Under Code of Civil Procedure section 526a, a taxpayer has the standing to sue to enjoin a government agency from conducting administrative proceedings in a manner that allegedly violates due process. Read More

Handing a plaintiff a credit card receipt bearing the credit card’s expiration date does not create a concrete injury sufficient to confer Article III standing to sue under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (“FACTA”) Read More

Unnamed class members do not have standing to appeal from a class judgment or attorney fees award unless they intervene or move to vacate judgment. Read More

A previously deceived consumer has standing to seek an injunction against false advertising or labeling, even though the consumer now knows or suspects that the advertising was false at the time of the original purchase, because the consumer may nonetheless suffer an “actual and imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical” threat of future harm. Read More

A plaintiff that submitted a non-responsive bid lacked standing to challenge the award of a public contract to a different bidder.   Read More