The Supreme Court of the United States recently resolved a split among the circuits on whether an unaccepted settlement offer can moot a complaint. In Campbell – Ewald, Co. v. Gomez, 136 S.Ct. 663 (2016) Gomez was the name plaintiff in a class action alleging that an advertiser violated the Consumer Protection Act by instructing or allowing a third-party vendor to send unsolicited text messages to his cellular phone. The defendant made a full offer of settlement to Gomez which he rejected. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant and on appeal the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated and remanded. Certiorari was granted. Justice Ginsburg speaking for the majority of a 6-3 Supreme Court ruled that the complaint was not rendered moot by an unaccepted offer of judgment. According to the majority “an unaccepted settlement offer – like any unaccepted contract offer – is a legal nullity with no operative effect.” The Court therefore concluded that if a plaintiff does not feel like accepting the defendant’s complete offer of relief, the lawsuit cannot be moot because it is as if no offer had ever been made.
Chief Justice Roberts in a dissent on behalf of the minority saying that “The federal courts exist to resolve real disputes, not to rule on plaintiff’s entitlement to relief already there for the taking.” Justice Roberts then noted:
“The good news is that this case is limited to its facts. The majority holds that an offer of complete relief is insufficient to moot a case. The majority does not say that payment of complete relief leads to the same result. For aught that appears, the majority’s analysis may have come out differently if Campbell had deposited the offered funds with the District Court. See ante, at 673 – 673. This Court leaves that question for another day – assuming there are other plaintiffs out there who, like Gomez, won’t take “yes” for an answer.”