Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth
One plaintiff is enough to start a putative class action, having many doesn't really make any difference. If you are talking about many plaintiffs consolidating their claims into a regular (not class) action, that's something different.
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LOL
I am not attorney as you know, but since the OP mentioned knowing 3 people with somewhat similar situations, I think we both know there are likely a whole heck of a lot more people than just those 3 that may be a tad unhappy with how they were treated and dismissed by such an entity. And I think we both have seen, or at least heard of, situations where an individual going up against a large company/entity usually gets dismissed when they complain. That company/entity knows full well that an individual probably doesn't have the time or resources to really follow through and go after them, as their actual loss (downgrading their card from a 3.0 to say a 2.0 grade, without the card owner's knowledge and approval, and the subsequent loss in card value that incurs) isn't likely to be worth the time and effort for that individual to fight the larger company/entity at fault. That same person partnering up with others in a consolidation of claims, or a class action type suit, can change that dynamic though.
Our society today will often also quickly side against such an individual that, by themself, can be shown to maybe have missed understanding or doing something that a company/entity can maybe then try to legally hide behind because they got the harmed party to sign or agree to something they didn't fully realize or understand. But start bringing forward a whole group of people (via either a class-action or simple consolidation of claims type of action) that got taken by that same company/entity in similar ways and manners, and suddenly the public starts to say to themselves, "Wait a minute, WTF is going on!". Also, with more people banding together, you're way more likely to be able to find legal representation that is more than willing to take on such a legal action, for not just publicity, but for a more likely than not payday to come. But you're the attorney, please tell me if I'm completely wrong in that thinking. I simply mentioned a class-action suit as I figured most non-attorneys on the forum would understand my meaning and intent that way. Thanks for informing everyone and adding the option to simply consolidate plaintiff claims as another possible action.
But back to the point of why it might be good to consolidate potential plaintiffs in such actions, think of it another way. Say one woman comes forward and accuses someone, maybe a TV star, a movie producer, or even an NFL quarterback, of sexual abuse and other crimes and issues. Often it becomes a "he said - she said" situation, with a lot of people often going against the alleged victim as just being out for money or some other self-serving reason. But now replace that one alleged female victim with literally dozens or more woman coming forward with similar stories of harm, all at the same time, and against the same alleged offender. Suddenly the public, and the courts, start to pay a little more attention and realize that there might be a lot more to this than just a simple one-time, "he said - she said" kind of thing, where there really was no harm being caused by the accused party's continuing, and maybe not so unintentional, actions.