On November 28, 2012, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued an opinion in LaPlant v. Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. clarifying when a class action falls under the "internal affairs" exception to the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA). CAFA provides an exception for cases involving solely claims relating to the internal affairs or governance of a corporation and arise under the laws of the state in which the business is incorporated or organized (28 U.S.C. § 1453(d)). The Seventh Circuit reversed the US District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin's decision to remand a class action lawsuit for damages related to a change in the method the defendant used to calculate dividends under an annuity contract to the Wisconsin state court after the defendant had removed the action.

The class in this case consisted of annuitants who lived in Wisconsin, and were certified by the Wisconsin state court. After the state court ruled in the plaintiffs' favor and found the defendant had violated the annuity contracts and breached its fiduciary duty, the class amended the complaint to seek damages for all annuitants nationwide. After amending the complaint, the defendant removed the case to federal court. The district court remanded the case, finding that it was within CAFA's internal affairs exception.

The Seventh Circuit disagreed, finding that the suit was a class action within CAFA's terms and did not fall into an exception. The Seventh Circuit held that while the plaintiff policyholders had ownership interests in the annuity, the policies at issue were effectively debt contracts, and did not relate to the defendant's internal corporate affairs. The Seventh Circuit also concluded that under Wisconsin law, the laws of multiple states applied to the annuity contracts to determine the calculation of damages for the members of the proposed nationwide class. Therefore, removal from the Wisconsin state court was appropriate, and the Seventh Circuit remanded the case back to the district court to determine whether to certify the nationwide class, and decide the case on the merits once the procedural issues were decided.