On March 2, 2007, in Florida Health Sciences Center, Inc. v. Elsenheimer, Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal reminded class action litigants that a certification decision must be based on evidence, not allegations or argument.
The plaintiffs alleged that Tampa General Hospital engaged in wrongful conduct by “attempting to collect an excessive and unlawful debt.” At the class certification hearing, no testimony was taken, and the plaintiffs filed no evidence other than the their own hospital bills, a hospital annual report, and some news articles from the Internet. The hearing thus consisted of argument of counsel, and the court noted that the transcript of the argument was only 23 pages long. The trial court order based the bulk of its findings on the complaint. In reversing, the appellate court reminded litigants that the old bromide that used to be frequently cited by plaintiffs, that the trial court can accept the complaint’s allegations as true, is no longer true, if it ever was: “Contrary to the Plaintiffs’ assertions, it is insufficient for the trial court to accept the allegations in the Plaintiffs’ complaint as true for purposes of the class certification.”