Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/120/657/578439/
Timestamp: 2019-10-14 12:59:19
Document Index: 162059250

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1983', '§ 1738', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 77', '§ 77', '§ 33', '§ 33', '§ 1983']

Stericycle, Incorporated, Michael D. Brennan and Randall R.garczynski, Plaintiffs-appellants, v. City of Delavan, Employers Mutual Casualty Company and Twincity Fire Insurance Company, Defendants-appellees, 120 F.3d 657 (7th Cir. 1997) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Seventh Circuit › 1997 › Stericycle, Incorporated, Michael D. Brennan and Randall R.garczynski, Plaintiffs-appellants, v. Cit...
Stericycle, Incorporated, Michael D. Brennan and Randall R.garczynski, Plaintiffs-appellants, v. City of Delavan, Employers Mutual Casualty Company and Twincity Fire Insurance Company, Defendants-appellees, 120 F.3d 657 (7th Cir. 1997)
US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit - 120 F.3d 657 (7th Cir. 1997) Argued May 16, 1997. Decided July 8, 1997. Rehearing Denied Aug. 1, 1997
The plaintiffs then brought this action in the district court under § 1983 to recover the damages they allege were caused by the ordinance while it was in effect. The plaintiffs contended that the prior Wisconsin judgment had preclusive effect on the issue of Delavan's liability. Delavan, on the other hand, maintained that the doctrine of claim preclusion barred the plaintiffs from bringing the claim at all. The district court, holding that Wisconsin's declaratory judgment exception to the doctrine of claim preclusion was inapplicable, agreed with Delavan and granted it summary judgment. See Stericycle, Inc. v. City of Delavan, 929 F. Supp. 1162 (E.D. Wis. 1996). The plaintiffs now appeal.
Federal courts must give Wisconsin judgments the same preclusive effect as would the state courts of Wisconsin. See 28 U.S.C. § 1738; E.B. Harper & Co. v. Nortek, Inc., 104 F.3d 913, 921 (7th Cir. 1997). Here, both parties agree that the plaintiffs' § 1983 claim meets the general requirements for preclusion under Wisconsin law. See Pliska v. City of Stevens Point, 823 F.2d 1168, 1172-74 (7th Cir. 1987) (holding that prior Wisconsin judgment precluded § 1983 claim). The plaintiffs, however, maintain that their claim falls within an exception to the general principle that prior judgments bar later suits: They submit that their first state claim was a declaratory judgment action and that, under Barbian v. Lindner Bros. Trucking Co., 106 Wis.2d 291, 316 N.W.2d 371 (1982), an action for declaratory judgment does not preclude a subsequent action for damages. The plaintiffs reason that, insofar as they neither sought nor received damages in the state court, the present action for damages under § 1983 can go forward.
The Supreme Court of Wisconsin has recognized the general principle that "an earlier judgment is res judicata as to all matters which were or might have been litigated in that proceeding." Id. at 374. In Barbian, it adopted a common exception to that general principle: "We agree with the rule, as set forth in the Restatement, that a declaratory judgment is only binding as to matters which were actually decided therein and is not binding to matters which 'might have been litigated' in the proceeding." Id. at 375 (citing Restatement of Judgments § 77 cmt. b (1942)). The district court held that the Barbian exception was inapplicable here because the plaintiffs had sought coercive relief, an injunction, in addition to declaratory relief in the state proceeding. We agree with the district court that Wisconsin's highest court would hold that the Barbian exception operates only if the plaintiff seeks solely declaratory relief in the first proceeding. See Mandarino v. Pollard, 718 F.2d 845, 848 (7th Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 830, 105 S. Ct. 116, 83 L. Ed. 2d 59 (1984); Restatement of Judgments § 77 cmt. b (1942) ("Where a plaintiff seeks a declaratory judgment, he is not seeking to enforce a claim against the defendant. He is seeking rather a judicial declaration as to the existence and effect of a relation between him and the defendant. The effect of the judgment, therefore, ... is not to merge a cause of action in the judgment or to bar it."), quoted in Barbian, 316 N.W.2d at 374-75; Restatement (Second) of Judgments § 33 cmt. c (1982) ("When a plaintiff seeks solely declaratory relief, the weight of authority does not view him as seeking to enforce a claim against the defendant.... The effect of such a declaration, under this approach, is not to merge a claim in the judgment or to bar it.") (emphasis added); id. cmt. d ("Pleaders sometimes interpolate declaratory prayers redundantly in standard actions but this should not produce differences in the res judicata consequences of those actions. Thus a pleader demanding money damages may also ask for a corresponding declaration. For res judicata purposes the action should be treated as an adversary personal action concluded by a personal judgment with the usual consequences of merger, bar, and issue preclusion."); cf. Vandenplas v. City of Muskego, 753 F.2d 555, 560 (7th Cir.) (holding that Barbian does not apply if plaintiffs seek injunctive, not declaratory, relief in state proceedings), cert. denied, 472 U.S. 1018, 105 S. Ct. 3481, 87 L. Ed. 2d 616 (1985).
In Mandarino, we explained that the purpose of declaratory actions--to provide "a remedy that is simpler and less harsh than coercive relief"--"is furthered when a plaintiff who has sought 'solely' declaratory relief is later permitted to seek additional, coercive relief based on the same claim." 718 F.2d at 848 (internal quotation and citation omitted). Then we reasoned that, even if Illinois would recognize the Restatement's declaratory judgment exception, the Mandarino plaintiff could not have availed himself of the Restatement's rule in any event because "his state court action did not seek 'solely' declaratory relief." Id.; accord Cimasi v. City of Fenton, 838 F.2d 298, 299 (8th Cir. 1988) (interpreting Missouri law and citing Restatement (Second) of Judgments § 33); Minneapolis Auto Parts Co. v. City of Minneapolis, 739 F.2d 408, 410 (8th Cir. 1984) (interpreting Minnesota law and citing same Restatement provision). In the present case, as in Mandarino, the plaintiffs' "request for a judicial declaration" in the first proceeding "was coupled with a request for a [n] injunction." 718 F.2d at 848. Likewise, as in Mandarino, because the plaintiffs requested coercive relief in the first proceeding, allowing them to proceed with a subsequent § 1983 claim for damages would thwart the purpose of declaratory actions. The plaintiffs' attempts to escape the reasoning of Mandarino by insisting that the case involved Illinois law and by condemning its reasoning as dicta are unavailing. Mandarino was interpreting section 33 of the Restatement (Second) of Judgments, not Illinois law. Indeed, we had determined that section 33 had not been recognized by the courts of Illinois. And section 33 is the heir to section 77 of the first Restatement, which is the section Barbian incorporated into Wisconsin's law of claim preclusion.