Opinion ID: 1615159
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Motions to Strike Listed Objectors

Text: Both the Pattersons and Wayne's have filed motions asking this Court to strike the listed objectors as appellants in this case because: (1) the Ryan action has not been certified as a class action and Ryan, therefore, has not been certified to represent the listed objectors, (2) the notice of the Patterson settlement explicitly stated that individual class members could not object on behalf of other class members, and (3) an affidavit filed by an attorney for the Pattersons indicated that three of the listed objectors were not even aware that Ryan had filed an objection on their behalf. The circuit court observed in footnote 2 of its Memorandum Opinion, which accompanied its Settlement Approval Order and Final Judgment, that the objection in question was purportedly filed on behalf of Charlette Ryan and Chuck Metcalf, along all the `Ryan Plaintiffs' (defined as `approximately 500 other Plaintiffs' in a separate pending lawsuit), and that even if an objection had properly been raised by an additional 500 class members, the percentage of objectors (many of them being two family members representing one termite contract) would still be less than 2.4% of the nearly 22,000 class members. (Emphasis in original.) This observation indicates that the circuit court did not consider Ryan's objection to properly represent a viable objection for the listed objectors. Given the unequivocal language in the notice for the Patterson settlement that each objection must be made by the individual class member and the fact that the circuit court did not deem the objections of the listed objectors to be properly filed, we grant the motions to strike the listed objectors as appellants to this action. MOTIONS TO STRIKE GRANTED; REVERSED AND REMANDED. COBB, C.J., and LYONS, STUART, and BOLIN, JJ., concur.