8th Circuit:  Suit Over Length Of Franchisor’s Massages Belongs In Federal Court

Mealey's (September 19, 2019, 8:31 AM EDT) -- ST. LOUIS — An Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Sept. 17 vacated a District Court’s remand of a class complaint over the advertised length of massages offered by a massage and skincare franchisor, ruling that the franchisor needed to show only that the amount in controversy could exceed the Class Action Fairness Act’s (CAFA) $5 million threshold and only needed to do so within 30 days after it fully investigated the claims since the complainants never disclosed the amount in controversy (Mark Pirozzi, et al. v. Massage Envy Franchising, LLC, No. 19-8014, 8th Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 27912)....