Sharon Potter v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 9 F.4th 369

Attorney Eric Conn ran a scheme that produced many fraudulent SSA disability approvals; the SSA identified ~1,700 potentially tainted approvals and began redeterminations.
Multiple lawsuits followed. Martin (filed May 30, 2015) was dismissed for lack of exhaustion; an appeal followed and the Sixth Circuit later vacated and remanded.
Hughes began as an individual suit, was amended to add putative class claims on Nov. 2, 2016, and while a class-certification motion was pending Judge Thapar stayed the case and administratively denied the certification motion "without prejudice" (Feb. 2017) to clear his docket.
Potter and Adams received SSA denials after Hughes was stayed and waited to sue, relying on American Pipe tolling; Messer’s denial predated Hughes’ conversion to a class action and he sought to rely on a chain of tolling (Martin + Hughes).
District courts held the Hughes administrative denial ended tolling and dismissed the suits as untimely; the Sixth Circuit consolidated the appeals.
The Sixth Circuit reversed the dismissals for Potter and Adams (tolling survived the administrative denial) but affirmed dismissal for Messer (tolling ended when an uncertified class action was dismissed and the Martin appeal did not preserve tolling).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether American Pipe tolling continues after a district court administratively denies a motion to certify (without deciding merits)	Tolling continues because the administrative denial did not indicate the class was inappropriate and absent members reasonably relied on the named plaintiffs	Tolling ended at the administrative denial because the court removed class status from the docket and restarted the limitations period	Tolling survived an administrative, without-prejudice denial + stay; Potter and Adams timely filed
Whether American Pipe tolling continues during appeal of a dismissed, uncertified class action	(Messer) Asked the court to treat successive/pending proceedings as continuing tolling	SSA: dismissal of uncertified class ends tolling; appeal does not revive it	Dismissal of an uncertified class ends American Pipe tolling; appeals do not preserve tolling; Messer untimely
Whether Messer preserved an equitable-tolling claim	Messer now argues equitable tolling based on uncertainty and diligence	SSA contends it was not raised below, so forfeited	Sixth Circuit declines to consider equitable tolling (forfeited); no exceptional circumstances shown

American Pipe & Const. Co. v. Utah, 414 U.S. 538 (1974) (establishes equitable tolling for putative class members while a class action is pending)
Crown, Cork & Seal Co. v. Parker, 462 U.S. 345 (1983) (limitations stay continues until class certification denied)
Hicks v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., 909 F.3d 786 (6th Cir. 2018) ( Sixth Circuit decision about SSA redetermination procedures underlying the related litigation)
Andrews v. Orr, 851 F.2d 146 (6th Cir. 1988) (refused to extend tolling where certification was denied on the merits and a gap in pending class activity existed)
In re Vertrue Inc. Mktg. & Sales Pracs. Litig., 719 F.3d 474 (6th Cir. 2013) (tolling can apply to later class suits when no court definitively denied certification in the original action)
Bridges v. Dep’t of Md. State Police, 441 F.3d 197 (4th Cir. 2006) (discusses continuation of tolling and emphasizes objective reasonableness of absent class members’ reliance)
Collins v. Village of Palatine, 875 F.3d 839 (7th Cir. 2017) (holding that dismissal of an uncertified class-action ends tolling)
Armstrong v. Martin Marietta Corp., 138 F.3d 1374 (11th Cir. 1998) (tolling ends when district court denies certification; appeals do not continue tolling)
Giovanniello v. ALM Media, LLC, 726 F.3d 106 (2d Cir. 2013) (appeal of certification denial does not extend American Pipe tolling)
China Agritech, Inc. v. Resh, 138 S. Ct. 1800 (2018) (addresses limits of efficiency rationale for tolling and successive class filings)