Could a class action suit cause you to accidentally sue yourself?

Question

I know there have been stories (and questions) about people who deliberately sued themselves, usually as a symbolic statement or satire.

But supposing Bob invents the designs for (Product), and then (Company) manufactures a bunch of them. Tons of people, including Bob, buy a (Product).

Unfortunately, (Product) is defective, and some of the people who bought it are granted class action status to sue Bob and (Company) on behalf of everyone who purchased the product (which seemingly includes Bob).

Is Bob automatically excluded from the plaintiff class if he's the defendant? Or does he have a duty to explicitly opt out of the class action? Or could he seriously just remain on both sides of the suit?

Answer 1

In short, yes. In practice, the suit would be against Bob's company rather than Bob, but it is possible to be both the defendant in a class action suit and a member of the affected class. This can provide some evidence that the defendant did not knowingly cause the harms alleged, which might reduce liability somewhat, but not necessarily down to 0. Attorneys for the class could also seek to define the class in such a way that the defendant is excluded from it, but only where that makes sense. Any individual class member's recovery will necessarily be much smaller than the cost to the defendant of a settlement/award, so it doesn't always make sense to even try that.