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Albert PRICE, Ronald Watkins, on behalf of themselves and all other persons similarly situated, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. LUCKY STORES, INC., Warehouse, Mail Order & Retail Employees, Local 853, Defendants-Appellees

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit1974-07-23No. No. 73-1289
501 F.2d 1177

Summary

Holding. The district court's order striking the class action allegation is vacated and remanded with instructions to reinstate the class status, allowing the district court to reconsider the class certification question on a fuller record and with particularized findings tied to the applicable legal standards, without prejudging whether class treatment will ultimately be appropriate.

Plaintiffs brought a Title VII employment discrimination lawsuit against an employer and labor union on behalf of themselves and a class of similarly situated individuals. The district court dismissed the complaint but allowed the plaintiffs to amend it, with one exception: it prohibited them from asserting class action status. The plaintiffs appealed, arguing that the order restricting their ability to pursue class-wide injunctive relief was immediately appealable.

The appellate court agreed that the order was appealable because it effectively denied the broad injunctive relief the plaintiffs sought for the class. However, the court found that the district court had not provided adequate reasoning for rejecting the class action. Although district courts have discretion to determine whether class action treatment is appropriate, they must make specific findings addressing the applicable requirements of the relevant civil procedure rule. Here, the district court merely stated it was "fully advised" and that the complaint failed to support class status, without explaining its reasoning or identifying which class action prerequisites were unmet.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Appealability of an order that restricts class action status in a Title VII case
  • District court's obligation to state reasoned findings when denying class certification
  • Standard of review for class action determinations under Rule 23

Procedural posture

The plaintiffs appealed from a district court order dismissing their complaint with leave to amend, except prohibiting class action allegations in the amended complaint.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

majority opinion

PER CURIAM:

Plaintiffs brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. and 28 U.S.C. § 1343(4) against the defendants employer and labor association alleging a denial of rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. Upon motion of the defendant union, the district court ordered that the complaint be dismissed with leave to amend with the exception of allowing the amended complaint to state grounds for a class action. This appeal followed, with the plaintiffs asserting that the district court’s order was appealable under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1) because its effect was to limit the scope of injunc-tive relief against the defendants sought by the plaintiffs on behalf of the class of persons similarly situated which they purported to represent.

The complaint alleged that the defendants had acted in various ways to discriminate against persons who are members of “minority” groups; in its class allegation, the complaint sought to have the defendants enjoined from continuing these discriminatory practices.

Under our decision in Spangler v. United States, 415 F.2d 1242, 1246-1247 (9th Cir. 1969); see also Yaffe-v. Powers, 454 F.2d 1362, 1364-1365 (1st Cir. 1972); Build of Buffalo, Inc. v. Sedita, 441 F.2d 284, 286-287, 289-290 (concurring opinion), 290-295 (dissenting opinion) (2d Cir. 1971); Brunson v. Board of Trustees, 311 F.2d 107,108 (4th Cir. 1962), the order is an appealable one under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1) because its effect is a “denial of the broad injunctive relief” which the plaintiffs sought on behalf of the class. Cf. Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b); 28 U.S.C. §§ 1292(b), 1291; Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin, 417 U.S. 156, 170-172, 94 S.Ct. 2140, 40 L.Ed.2d 732 (1974). We express no opinion as to whether a plaintiff in an action under Title VII might obtain relief benefit-ting nonparties and broader than that necessary to protect his own individual interests. Cf. Gregory v. Litton Systems, Inc., 472 F.2d 631, 633-634 (9th Cir. 1972). Here the plaintiffs attempted to bring the suit as a class action and the complaint sought injunctive relief on behalf of the class.

A class action determination under Fed.R.Civ.P. 23 is one of a trial court’s considered discretion. As was stated in City of New York v. International Pipe & Ceramics Corp., 410 F.2d 295, 298 (2d Cir. 1969), “the judgment of the trial court should be given the greatest respect and the broadest discretion, particularly if . . .he has canvassed the factual aspects of the litigation.” This is so because the district court is in the best position to consider the most fair and efficient procedure for conducting any given litigation. Such a determination by the court will not be disturbed on appeal unless the party challenging it can show an abuse of discretion. Wilcox v. Commerce Bank of Kansas City, 474 F.2d 336 (10th Cir. 1973); Castro v. Beecher, 459 F.2d 725 (1st Cir. 1972); Hackett v. General Host Corp., 455 F.2d 618 (3d Cir. 1972); City of New York v. International Pipe & Ceramics Corp., supra.

Implicit, however, in each of these cases and in Fed.R.Civ.P. 23 itself is the requirement that a trial court, in determining whether or not the case should proceed as a class suit, should make certain findings as to the Rule’s provisions and their application to the case at bar. The Tenth Circuit has held that, “in denying class action status, it was sufficient for the trial court to determine on an adequate record and for good reasons stated that the procedure was not superior to other procedures irrespective of whether common issues of fact or law were predominant.” Wilcox v. Commerce Bank of Kansas City, supra, 474 F.2d at 345.

Here the district court simply stated that it had been “fully advised in the premises” and that the complaint “fails to state a proper case for permitting this suit to be brought as a class action.” At this juncture, from a liberal reading of the complaint, it appears that with the possible exception of numerosity, Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a)(1), the requirements of subsection (a) of the Rule have been met. As to the claim of injunctive relief, it appears that treatment of the case under subsection (b) (2) might be appropriate. Other considerations, such as those specifically set out in subsection (b)(3), should be taken into consideration. There is, however, at this initial stage of the proceedings on a bare record of complaint, answer and motion to dismiss, nothing to show why a class action should not proceed. See - Esplín v. Hirschi, 402 F.2d 94, 99 (10th Cir. 1968); Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin, 391 F.2d 555, 566 (2d Cir. 1968).

This is not to say, of course, that upon remand, the trial court cannot determine on an adequate record and with findings keyed to the various subsections of Rule 23 that a class action should not proceed as to any or all of the issues or parties in question.

Accordingly, the order of the district court striking the class action allegation is vacated and the cause remanded to that court with instructions to reinstate the class status without prejudice to the court’s making proper findings upon an adequate record and at an appropriate time that the case does not merit class action proceedings.