On February 24, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a brief order declining to review two appeals court decisions that may make it much easier for plaintiffs’ lawyers to win class action status for their lawsuits. The Court’s order was a setback for WLF, which filed a brief urging that review be granted. WLF charged that the appeals courts inappropriately permitted widely disparate consumer complaints against the manufacturer and retailer of washing machines to be consolidated into a single case. Four individual plaintiffs contend that their washers were defective because they emitted musty odors after regular use. The appeals courts permitted them to represent hundreds of thousands of other purchasers of washers manufactured by Whirlpool and sold by Sears in seven different States. WLF asserted that class certification is generally inappropriate in consumer product cases, because (as here) each consumer’s claim hinges on facts applicable to that consumer only.