Amount in question may be below $5 million required for class action case.
U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Morrow is asking the plaintiffs bringing a class action against SnapNames over the insider bidding scandal to show that the controversy exceeds $5 million.
Under the Class Action Fairness Act, the amount at issue in a lawsuit must exceed $5 million (not including interest and costs) to qualify for class action status.
In the case of Stewart Resmer vs. Oversee.net (SnapNames’ parent company), the judge says that the plaintiff hasn’t given enough facts to show that the SnapNames case is a dispute that exceeds $5 million:
Plaintiff has alleged that the amount in controversy, exclusive of interest and costs, exceeds
$5,000,000. This allegation, unsupported by facts, is not sufficient to satisfy the $5,000,000 amount
in controversy requirement. To satisfy his burden of pleading jurisdiction, plaintiff cannot rely only
on conclusory allegations.
In fact, the lead plaintiff allegedly lost $20 in one auction thanks to bidding against ‘halvarez’. If that’s the typical amount lost, the total amount would be far less than $5 million:
Although plaintiff alleges that the defendants have engaged in shill bidding in approximately 50,000 auctions, the plaintiff himself suffered a monetary loss of only $20 due to one inflated bid. If $20 is typical of the loss suffered by the winners in the 50,000 auctions, then the total losses at issue would be approximately $1,000,000—far less than the requisite amount. While it is possible that the losses suffered in the 50,000 auctions exceed $1,000,000, plaintiff’s complaint does not explain why this is so.
Judge Morrow has given the plaintiff until February 8th to show otherwise, or the action may be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
Legal Eagal says
This should be easy enough. First have Snap disclsoe the “rebates” offered. Also the losses include the domains regged by Halverez and their net worth. This would mean that Snap would have to disclose every domain won by Halverez.
They should have no problem reaching the $5mm mark.
John Berryhill says
“Also the losses include the domains regged by Halverez and their net worth.”
I doubt that is a legally cognizable measure of damage.
I’m no UCC Article 2 expert, but how is “failure to purchase something” a loss?
Since the only reliable measure of the “worth” of the domain name would have been what you paid at the auction, it seems kind of odd to claim a “loss” in the amount that you ended up not obligated to pay.
The rebates are also an odd measure of damages, since any qualified bidder is entitled to obtain their rebate right now if they want it. You can’t sue someone for what they are offering to hand you, and you are refusing to take.
Frank S says
John, how about the time I spent in the auctions and researching the auctions. Isn’t my time worth something. I wasted hundreds of hours.
How about my mental anguish. I can’t bid online now without fear of shill bidders. My health has also suffered. I cry uncontrollably when I think about all the great domains I lost to HAlverez. My wife says I’m not myself anymore. This could effect my marriage.
Barefoot says
Halvarez caused irreparable harm to my confidence and self-worth, damaging my ability to relate to other human beings in a normal way because of this perpetual fear that somewhere, somehow, I’ll suddenly see Halvarez standing in front of me, laughing and pointing his finger, threatening to take away what I’m attempting to obtain for myself, or at the very least, making it far more expensive.
I’ve been taking a prescription drug called “Halvaraid” for the past several years due to this affliction I suffer. It has been helpful to me, but only marginally.
If I’m at a restaurant on a dinner date, I still fear that Halvarez will suddenly appear at our table bearing flowers and candy and champagne and a violin player, and successfully woo my date away from me. All too often when this happened in the past, I was forced into spending additional money to counter his contemptuous efforts in order to ensure that my date would choose me over him. But this extra spending didn’t always bear the results I’d hoped for, and more often than not I’d see my date walk off with Halvarez as he turned around and laughed evilly at me.
So even though I certainly incurred significant financial losses as a result of this massive thorn in my side known as “Halvarez”, the mental and emotional distress I now suffer on a daily basis is far more injurious.
This experience has damaged me forever and I don’t know if I’ll ever be the same again.
jeff says
the lead guy that lost $20 files a class action.. wow I think those that lost real money should get the most money if this case goes forward. Let the other guy get his $100 as a prize and shoo him away.
John Berryhill says
“Halvarez caused irreparable harm to my confidence and self-worth, damaging my ability to relate to other human beings in a normal way”
Sorry. You were already a domainer. Accordingly, Halvarez could not be the cause of your social problems.
Dave Zan says
Halvarez affecting your marriage…to domains?