Background
The Court of Federal Claims certified this class action in May 2020, and the initial 90-day opt-in window began after plaintiffs’ counsel sent a revised collective-action notice in June 2020. The court later reopened class certification twice, first permitting 226 additional air marshals to join in October 2024 and then permitting another 88 current or former air marshals to join in May 2025.
Plaintiffs filed a third motion to reopen class certification for 47 Federal Air Marshals hired after the original 2020 opt-in deadline. The government did not oppose the motion, subject to its ability to contest later whether any of the individuals are eligible to participate in the class.
The Court’s Holding
The court granted plaintiffs’ unopposed third motion to reopen class certification. It authorized the 47 identified individuals to opt into the class after the deadline by filing written consents.
Relying on RCFC 23(c)(1)(C), the court explained that a class-certification order may be altered or amended before final judgment. It also reasoned that opt-in deadlines are case-management tools rather than absolute claim-barring rules and concluded that allowing the additional opt-ins would avoid the inefficiency of filing a new case.
Key Takeaways
- Forty-seven additional Federal Air Marshals may file written consents to join the class after the original opt-in deadline.
- The government retained the right to challenge whether those individuals are eligible to participate in the class.
- The court treated the opt-in deadline as a case-management mechanism that could be modified before final judgment.
Why It Matters
The order confirms that the Court of Federal Claims may reopen class certification when doing so promotes efficient case administration, particularly where enforcing an expired opt-in deadline would prompt duplicative litigation. But admission after the deadline does not resolve the new opt-in plaintiffs’ substantive eligibility, which the government may still dispute.