Bush v. Cheaptickets, Inc., 377 F.Supp.2d807; 2005 WL 1706908 (C.D. Cal. May 5, 2005).
The plaintiffs filed this putative class action involving online travel services in California state court action on February 17, 2005, the day before CAFA was signed into law by President Bush. The defendants, relying on CAFA, removed the action to federal court.
The district court, in deciding to remand the action to state court, pointed to Pritchett v. Office Depot, Inc., 404 F.3d 1232 (10th Cir. 2005), and declared that the “date of commencement,” for CAFA purposes, refers to the original state court filing date rather than the date of removal to federal court. The district court concluded that CAFA’s “plain language and legislative history” underscore that the word “commenced” in the statute limits CAFA’s application to actions originally filed on or after the date of enactment, and not before.