Legal Definitions - decertify

To decertify means to officially revoke or withdraw a previously granted certification, status, or recognition. This action effectively removes the official approval, authority, or legal standing that was once conferred.

• Revoking Professional Status: A professional licensing board might decertify an individual's professional qualification if they are found to have violated ethical standards or engaged in serious misconduct. For example, if a certified public accountant (CPA) is found guilty of financial fraud, the state board of accountancy could decertify their CPA license, meaning they are no longer legally recognized to practice as a CPA in that state.

• Removing Union Representation: Employees in a workplace can vote to decertify a labor union. This means they formally withdraw the union's authority to act as their exclusive collective-bargaining agent. For instance, if workers at a factory become dissatisfied with their union's representation during contract negotiations, they might initiate a petition and hold an election to decertify the union, thereby ending its official role in representing their interests to management.

• Undoing a Class Action Lawsuit: In a legal context, a court may decertify a class in a class action lawsuit. This occurs when a judge overrules a previous order that had allowed a group of people with similar claims to sue together as a single "class." For example, if a lawsuit initially certified as a class action against a pharmaceutical company for a defective drug is later found to involve too many unique individual injuries or circumstances, the judge might decertify the class, requiring each plaintiff to pursue their claim individually rather than as part of a collective group.