Returning Partially Resolved Cases To Originating Courts Was Not An Abuse Of Discretion
FEDEX GROUND PACKAGE SYSTEM v. UNITED STATES JUDICIAL PANEL ON MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION (November 17, 2011)
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FedEx truck drivers filed a number of class actions around the country against the company alleging that the company misclassified them as independent contractors rather than employees. Because the cases presented many common fact issues, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated a number of them and transferred them to the Northern District of Indiana for consolidated pretrial proceedings. In 2010, Judge Miller (N.D. Ind.) granted summary judgment to FedEx in most of the cases and granted summary judgment to the plaintiffs on some claims in a few cases. His orders resolved all of the claims in 22 of the then-pending cases, which are now on appeal to the Seventh Circuit. In the then-pending 12 cases in which all claims were not resolved, Judge Miller recommended to the JPML that they be transferred back to their originating courts. The JPML concurred. FedEx seeks a writ of mandamus.
In their opinion, Seventh Circuit Judges Manion, Sykes, and Hamilton denied the petition. At the stage of the proceedings that Judge Miller found himself in, he had basically two options for the unresolved cases. He could have issued partial final judgments under Rule 54(b). Had he done so, plaintiffs would have had to appeal immediately to the Seventh Circuit. FedEx preferred that approach. Another option, the one that he took, was to transfer the partially resolved cases back to their originating courts for further proceedings. Under that option, any appeal after a final judgment would be taken in the originating court. The Court noted that each option has advantages and disadvantages. To qualify for the extraordinary writ of mandamus, however, FedEx needs to show that it has no other avenue for relief and its right to the writ is "clear and indisputable." Although FedEx clearly satisfied the first requirement, it failed to satisfy the second. The Court noted the strong arguments in favor of either approach and stated that the selection of the correct approach under the circumstances should be within the discretion of the transferee court and the JPML. The JPML did not abuse its discretion.
Michael Rigney practices in the law offices of GVC Ltd. in Chicago. In this blog, he reports on select