Quick CAFA point for our readers.

Another federal court has ruled that the denial of a motion for class certification does not divest a federal district court of jurisdiction when the case has been properly removed under CAFA.  See Edwards v. Zenimax Media Inc., No. 1:12-cv-00411-WYD-KLM (D. Colo. 9/27/13).

Plaintiff brought a proposed class action alleging an animation defect in a video game.  I am not the video game maven that my kids are, but the allegation was that because of the defect a player must restart from square one with an entirely new character rather than being able to continue with open-ended game play. He brought claims under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, as well as common law claims such as breach of the implied warranty of merchantability. The district court denied the motion for class certification and declined to allow plaintiff a second bite of that apple.

In assessing further motion practice, the issue arose whether the federal court retained jurisdiction when the basis for the case being in federal court (the class claims) had arguably disappeared. This issue has not been decided by the Tenth Circuit, but the court noted that the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits have held that a federal district court retains jurisdiction over a case removed pursuant to CAFA after class certification denial. See Metz v. Unizan Bank, 649 F.3d 492, 500-501 (6th Cir. 2011); Buetow v. A.L.S., Enters., Inc., 650 F.3d 1178, 1182 n. 2 (8th Cir. 2011); United Steel Workers Int’l Union v. Shell Oil Co., 602 F.3d 1087, 1092 (9th Cir. 2010); Charter Corp. v. Learjet, Inc., 592 F.3d 805, 806 (7th Cir. 2010); Vega v. T-Mobile USA, Inc., 564 F.3d 1256, 1268 n. 12 (11th Cir. 2009).

The court predicted the Tenth Circuit would follow other appeals courts that have considered this issue.