Supreme Court Clarifies The Standard Governing Removal Of Class Action Cases To Federal Court

The US Supreme Court ruled on Monday that class action defendants need not provide evidentiary submissions in support of their attempts to remove a case from state to federal court. Rather, they need only include in their notice of removal a "plausible allegation" that the amount in controversy exceeds the jurisdictional threshold.

In Owens v. Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Co., the plaintiff filed a putative class action in Kansas state court, alleging that the energy-company defendants underpaid royalties due on oil and gas leases. The defendants removed the action to the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas pursuant to the Class Action Fairness Act ("CAFA"), which gives federal jurisdiction over class actions only if the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million. The defendants made the short and plain statement in their notice of...