Opinion ID: 77926
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Class Action Standing

Text: Having concluded that the Millses have stated a claim for the Withheld Payments, we next conclude the Millses have standing as putative class representatives. To have standing to represent a class, a party must not only satisfy the individual standing prerequisites, but must also be part of the class and possess the same interest and suffer the same injury as the class members. Prado-Steiman ex rel. Prado v. Bush, 221 F.3d 1266, 1279 (11th Cir.2000) (quoting Gen. Tel. Co. of the Sw. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 156, 102 S.Ct. 2364, 2370, 72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982)). Put another way, [i]t is not enough that a named plaintiff can establish a case or controversy between himself and the defendant by virtue of having standing as to one of many claims he wishes to assert. Rather, each claim must be analyzed separately, and a claim cannot be asserted on behalf of a class unless at least one named plaintiff has suffered the injury that gives rise to that claim. Wooden, 247 F.3d at 1288 (quotation marks and citation omitted). The Millses have alleged two individual claims: (1) that Foremost breached the terms of the Policy by not compensating them for the Withheld Payments; and (2) that Foremost unlawfully failed to inform them, before they purchased or renewed their policies, of Foremost's intention not to make those payments. The two claims that the Millses have attempted to raise on behalf of a class are identical. Therefore, we conclude that with respect to each class claim, the Millses have standing not just individually, but also as putative class representatives. Nonetheless, we stress that the fact that the Millses have standing as putative class representatives is an issue distinct from whether they qualify under Rule 23 to represent the class. See Wooden, 247 F.3d at 1288 (Only after the court determines the issues for which the named plaintiffs have standing should it address the question whether the named plaintiffs have representative capacity, as defined by Rule 23(a), to assert the rights of others. (quotation marks and citation omitted)). Thus, we now turn to the class certification issue.