California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Carter v. Figueroa Grp., Inc., B240870 (Cal. App. 2013):
In connection with appellant's burden to satisfy the community of interest requirement, "'[t]he crucial inquiry centers upon whether the plaintiffs are truly representative of the absent, unnamed class members.' [Citation.]" (Caro v. Procter & Gamble Co. (1993) 18 Cal.App.4th 644, 663.) "'"The cases uniformly hold that a plaintiff seeking to maintain a class action must be a member of the class he claims to represent. [Citation.]" [Citation.]' [Citation.] The class representative must be situated similarly to class members. [Citation.] 'It is the fact that the class plaintiff's claims are typical and his representation of the class adequate which gives legitimacy to permitting
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him to bind class members who have notice of the action. [Citations.]' [Citation.]" (Id. at pp. 663-664.)
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