Court Opinion

ID: 9811649
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 22:26:49.147029+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:20:50.307031
License: Public Domain

DAVID B. GAULTNEY, Justice,
dissenting.
I do not believe it is possible without individual trials to determine whether each payment by each class member was voluntary. But that is what this class certification requires. If the plaintiff class, as certified, loses at trial because the payment is found to be voluntary, judgment will then be entered that the payments by all class members were voluntary. However, whether an individual’s payment was voluntary depends — by definition — on individual choice and individual circumstances. See Salvaggio v. Houston Indep. Sch. Dist., 709 S.W.2d 306, 307-08 (Tex.App.Houston [14th Dist.] 1986, writ dism’d w.o.j.) (voluntary payment rule precluded class certification of group of taxpayers because of need for case-by-case factual analysis). Class certification is improper here because individual issues predominate. See Southwestern Ref. Co. v. Bernal, 22 S.W.3d 425, 434 (Tex.2000). I respectfully dissent.