On Appeal

The Rhode Island Supreme Court held this term that when a defendant files a motion for summary judgment before the plaintiff class is certified, the court must treat the case as though it were certified as a class action. Long v. Dell, Inc., No. 2012-248-Appeal at 10-11. Such a rule is consistent with the Court’s summary judgment jurisprudence, which requires the court to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Id.   By treating a case as a certified class action at the motion for summary judgment stage, the court may consider the injury or damages sustained by the class, and is not restricted to considering only the injury or damages of the named plaintiff. Id. at 11 (noting that “if the class is treated as certified, for purposes of viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party on summary judgment, an inference of class-wide injury should be drawn when competent evidence permits”).