A class action is a lawsuit filed by one or more persons on behalf of a larger group of people who were cheated or otherwise harmed by the same person or entity in the same manner. This defined group of people is referred to as a “class.” The person who starts the lawsuit is known as the “class representative.”
Class actions serve an important purpose in our justice system because they provide a mechanism for individuals who have suffered a relatively small amount of damages access to the court system. Typically, if the damages a person suffers are very small, bringing an individual suit may be cost prohibitive. Further, even if a person is willing to undertake the expense of an individual lawsuit, they may feel too overwhelmed to face a large and powerful defendant on their own. Through a class action, however, class members may pool their efforts and collectively seek relief to prevent individuals or entities from wrongfully profiting at the expense of others.
A class action also permits the wrong-doers’ conduct to be viewed in its appropriate magnitude. For instance, if a company cheats a person out of $50.00, it is certainly wrong but may not appear to be particularly egregious. However, if that defendant cheats thousands of individuals out of the same $50.00, it may be profiting by millions of dollars unjustly. Class actions are filed to prevent this type of abuse.