Parko v. Shell Oil Co., No. 13-8023, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 1018 (7th Cir. Jan. 17, 2014), rev'g., No. 3:12-cv-00336 , 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125188 (S.D. Ill. Sept. 3, 2013)

(plaintiffs were homeowners in a tiny village in southwestern Illinois; the plaintiffs alleged that they were injured because a nearby refinery leaked benzene and other contaminants into the groundwater under their homes; the plaintiffs filed a class action against the former and present owners of the refinery, and the district court certified the class; the defendants appealed the class certification, and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, in a decision authored by Judge Posner, reversed; the court found that the district court improperly treated predominance as a pleading requirement; the trial court judge did not properly consider evidence countering the plaintiffs’ assertion that issues common to the entire class predominated over issues that varied among the members of the class; the district court was instructed to reexamine the issue of certification)