Quinton Brown v. Nucor Corporation

We typically tread lightly when reviewing a class certification decision, affording “substantial deference” to the district court, especially when it provides “well-supported factual findings.” Ward v. Dixie Nat’l Life Ins. Co., 595 F.3d 164, 179 (4th Cir.2010). Class certification proceedings often call for fact-intensive choices requiring intimate knowledge of the peculiarities of complex litigation. Id. We usually trust that the district court has the better eye for these sorts of questions.

The majority today declines to follow that path. It instead takes issue with almost every aspect of…