Garcia, Jr., et al. v. Johanss

Case Updates

The D.C. Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision to deny nationwide class certification. In its decision, the court said that anecdotal, unsubstantiated claims of discrimination were insufficient grounds for establishing class certification. The court expressly rejected the plaintiffs' argument that the geographic spread of decision-makers is irrelevant to class certification.

NCLC urged the D.C. circuit to affirm the district court’s decision denying nationwide class certification in this case. This case involved claims that the USDA unlawfully discriminated against females and Hispanics across the nation in its administration of farm loans programs (and, in one case, disaster benefits). Among other things, NCLC pointed out that class certification is plainly inappropriate where, as here, the decision-making process is decentralized and the decision makers are geographically dispersed and making independent selection decisions.