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Ford Motor Co. v. McCauley, et al. October 7, 2002 (01-896) return to case listing Case Summary Credit card holders brought a nationwide class action alleging that the card issuers, Ford and Citibank, misrepresented or withheld information about the nature and duration of a rebate program. The plaintiffs sought relief in the form of specific performance, disgorgement, and compensatory and punitive damages. The district court judge raised, sua sponte, the issue of whether the complaint alleged more than $75,000 in controversy in order to satisfy the requirements for diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the amount in controversy requirement could not be satisfied by the defendants' anticipated costs of complying with an injunction sought by the class. The Ninth Circuit opinion is found at 264 F.3d 952. To see the opinion of the lower court, click here. PREDICTED OUTCOME ACTUAL OUTCOME Forecasting Model Expert One Expert Two Expert Three 8-1 to Reverse 6-3 to Reverse 7-2 to Affirm 6-3 to Reverse Dismissed VOTING TO REVERSE Stevens O'Connor Souter Ginsburg Breyer Rehnquist Stevens O'Connor Souter Ginsburg Breyer Stevens Ginsburg Rehnquist O'Connor Scalia Kennedy Thomas Breyer Dismissed as improvidently granted. VOTING TO AFFIRM Rehnquist Scalia Kennedy Thomas Rehnquist O'Connor Scalia Kennedy Souter Thomas Breyer Stevens Souter Ginsburg   return to case listing