Sometimes in class litigation having a really bad case isn’t actually such a bad thing.

Take the case of Abdallah v. Fedex Corporate Servs., Case No.: 16-cv-3967, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49145 (N.D. Ill. March 16, 2021). There the Defendant sent hundreds of wrong number marketing calls to the Plaintiff due to a system glitch.

Pretty bad right?

Yes, except that the Plaintiff had no evidence that the glitch impacted anyone else. So Plaintiffs claim—strong though it is individually—is atypical of anyone else’s claim. He was a class of one. So certification was denied.

Interestingly, this is the same court that ruled the calls at issue—notifications sent to customers when their packages were stuck in customs—were “dual purpose” calls because FedEx might profit from return shipping costs. While FedEx still faces Plaintiff’s individual suit—which appears to be worth six figures—the shipping giant has avoided any class ramifications from the earlier substantive ruling.