How have individual plaintiffs been treated in a class action?

The individual plaintiffs decided not to rejoin the class and filed a motion for reconsideration arguing that their individual claims still remained pending before the court even though they had opted out. In response, on January 24, 2000, the district court issued an opinion giving the individual plaintiffs ten days to rejoin the class. Martens v. Smith Barney Inc., 191 F.R.D. 54, 56 (S.D.N.Y. 2000). The court stated that, in the event the individual plaintiffs decided not to rejoin the class, their "individual claims remained pending as such but may now have been barred by laches or the statute of limitations." Id. The district court set a schedule for the parties "to brief both the laches and the statute of limitations questions if plaintiffs again reject the option to opt back in to the class and settlement within the next ten days." Id. The court noted that it would hear oral arguments "on these questions only." Id. Similarly, in its scheduling order of the same date, the court stated: "The court will hear arguments only on the issues of laches and statute of limitations."