Robert Kennedy v. Natural Balance Pet Foods, Inc

MEMORANDUM

Appellant Robert Kennedy filed this proposed class action in San Diego Superior Court on behalf of himself and all individuals in the United States who purchased allegedly mislabeled pet food products sold by Natural Balance Pet Foods, Inc. The action was removed to federal court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441 (a) and the Class Action Fairness Act, codified at 28 U.S.C. § 1332 (d). The district court denied Kennedy’s motion to certify a nationwide class and subsequently dismissed the action for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Kennedy appeals both orders. We affirm the denial but vacate the dismissal with instructions to remand the action to San Diego Superior Court.

Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure governs when a federal court may certify a class. A class must satisfy the four prerequisites of Rule 23(a) and fall into one of the three categories of class actions defined in Rule 23(b). Fed.R.Civ.P. 23; Parra v. Bashas’, Inc., 536 F.3d 975, 978 (9th Cir.2008). The party seeking class certification must demonstrate that certification is warranted, and the court must conduct a “rigorous analysis” to determine that the prerequisites of Rule 23 have been…