Rider v. Oxy USA

── Rider v. Oxy USA ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Date: May 05, 2026 Category: General Appellate Case: 25-3142 Document: 66-1 Date Filed: 05/05/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals PUBLISH Tenth Circuit UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS May 5, 2026 Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________ CHERRY RIDER, trustee of the Cherry Rider Family Trust; R. W. LUCAS, co- trustee of the R.W. Lucas and Cathy Lucas Living Trust, individually and as representative plaintiff on behalf of persons or concerns similarly situated; CATHY LUCAS, co-trustee of the R.W. Lucas and Cathy Lucas Living Trust, individually and as representative plaintiffs on behalf of persons or concerns similarly situated, Plaintiffs - Appellants, v. No. 25-3142 OXY USA, INC.; MERIT ENERGY COMPANY, LLC; MERIT HUGOTON, L.P., Defendants - Appellees. ------------------------------ EASTERN KANSAS ROYALTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, Amicus Curiae. _________________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Kansas (D.C. No. 6:23-CV-01274-KHV-TJJ) _________________________________  Appellate Case: 25-3142 Document: 66-1 Date Filed: 05/05/2026 Page: 2 Mr. David G. Seely (Ryan K. Meyer, and Emily K. Arida, of Fleeson, Gooing, Coulson & Kitch, L.L.C., Wichita, Kansas, and Erick E. Nordling of Kramer, Nordling & Nordling, LLC, Hugoton, Kansas, with him on the briefs), for Plaintiffs-Appellants Mr. Daniel M. McClure, Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP, Houston, Texas (James M. Shultz of Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP, Houston, Texas, James V. Leito IV of Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP, Dallas, Texas, Peter B. Siegal of Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP, Washington, D.C., Robert W. Coykendall and Will B. Wohlford of Morris, Laing, Evans, Brock & Kennedy, CHTD., Wichita, Kansas, James M. Armstrong of Foulston Siefkin LLP, Wichita, Kansas, and Mark Rodriguez and Maryam Ghaffar of Beck Redden LLP, Houston, Texas, with him on the brief), for Defendants-Appellees Rex A. Sharp and Scott B. Goodger, Sharp Law, LLP, Prairie Village, Kansas, filed an Amicus Curiae brief in support of Appellants. _________________________________ Before BACHARACH, KELLY, and FEDERICO, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ KELLY, Circuit Judge. _________________________________ Plaintiffs-Appellants Cherry Rider, as trustee of the Cherry Rider Family Trust, and R.W. Lucas and Cathy Lucas, as co-trustees of the R.W. Lucas and Cathy Lucas Living Trust, filed a putative class action in 2023 against Merit Energy Company, LLC and Merit Hugoton, L.P. (collectively, “Merit”) and OXY USA, Inc. (“Oxy”), the Defendants-Appellees. Plaintiffs own royalty interests in the Kansas Hugoton Gas Field. Their claims arise from the alleged breach of a 2008 class action settlement agreement with Oxy that resolved a dispute over the underpayment of royalties. Merit and Oxy filed motions to dismiss as a matter of law which the district court denied. Thereafter, the district court denied class certification because it found that the class was not ascertainable and then determined that Plaintiffs could 2  Appellate Case: 25-3142 Document: 66-1 Date Filed: 05/05/2026 Page: 3 not satisfy any other Rule 23 requirements. Plainti