PATRICIA LAFLEUR and MICHAEL GROSE, SR., individually and as the representatives of a class of similarly situated persons v. YARDI SYSTEMS, INC., a California corporation - Articles

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PATRICIA LAFLEUR and MICHAEL GROSE, SR., individually and as the representatives of a class of similarly situated persons v. YARDI SYSTEMS, INC., a California corporation

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Feb 27, 2026

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ON BRIEF: Glenn L. Hara, ANDERSON + WANCA, Rolling Meadows, Illinois, for Appellants.

Attorneys 2: ON BRIEF: Ryan D. Watstein, James M. Ruley, WATSTEIN TEREPKA, LLP, Atlanta, Georgia, for Appellee.

Judge(s): NALBANDIAN, DAVIS, and HERMANDORFER, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio at Cleveland

NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judge. Yardi Systems operates a website called PropertyShark. That website offers reports comprising useful information, like sales history and ownership information, about real estate. Patricia LaFleur and Michael Grose, Sr., aren’t happy that they— along with a proposed class of fellow Ohioans—appear in PropertyShark’s reports. So they sued Yardi, alleging that it violated their state-law right of publicity. The district court dismissed their claims because, among other problems, the plaintiffs failed to allege that their identities carried distinct commercial value—a required element of their claims. We agree, so we affirm.

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