Simple English definitions for legal terms
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A spurious class action is a type of class action lawsuit where the interests of the class members are not interdependent, and joinder is allowed to avoid multiple lawsuits. In other words, it is a lawsuit that is brought on behalf of a group of people who do not share common interests or injuries.
For example, if a group of people filed a class action lawsuit against a company for selling a defective product, but only a few of the people in the group actually experienced any harm from the product, it would be considered a spurious class action. This is because the interests of the class members are not interdependent, and the lawsuit is being brought on behalf of people who do not share common injuries.
Spurious class actions are not allowed under federal procedure rules, which require that the claims or defenses of the representative parties must be typical of those of the class, and the representative parties must adequately protect the interests of the class.