DG v. DeVaughn, No. 09-5093
In a class action against the Oklahoma Department of Human Services claiming that the department's agency-wide foster care policies and practices exposed all class members to an impermissible risk of harm, the district court's order certifying a class is affirmed where: 1) plaintiffs presented more than conclusory statements that defendants' agency-wide monitoring policies and practices, or lack thereof, created a risk of harm shared by the entire class; 2) due to the common risk of harm and the common underlying legal theory for asserting that risk, the district court acted within its discretion to find that typicality was satisfied; and 3) the injunction sought by plaintiffs applied to the proposed class as a whole without requiring differentiation between class members.
Read DG v. DeVaughn, No. 09-5093
Appellate Information
Filed February 8, 2010
Judges
Opinion by Judge Baldock
Counsel
For Appellants:
Marsha Robinson Lowry, Children's Rights, New York, NY
Frederic Dorwart and Paul DeMuro, Frederic Dorwart Lawyers, Tulsa, OK
For Appellees:
Donald M. Bingham and Holly M. Hillerman, Riggs, Abney, Neal, Turpen, Orbison & Lewis, P.C., Tulsa, OK