O'Brien v. Shearson Hayden Stone, Inc.

Plaintiffs O'Brien appeal from the dismissal by summary judgment of their class action suit against the defendant brokerage firm. The material facts are not in dispute. Plaintiffs allege Washington residents who maintained margin accounts with defendant were charged usurious interest rates on those accounts between April 1974 and January 1975. A margin account is a separate portion of a customer's general account in which a customer purchases securities financed through credit extended by a broker in the form of a demand loan.

The first trial judge certified the class of plaintiffs as all…