Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/951/325/257771/
Timestamp: 2019-06-17 08:47:20
Document Index: 308993906

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1447', '§ 1447', '§ 3564', '§ 1447', '§ 1447', '§ 1447', '§ 3564', '§ 1447', '§ 1447', '§ 1447', '§ 1447', '§ 1447']

Veronica Dianne Harris, Plaintiff-appellant, v. Blue Cross/blue Shield of Alabama, Inc.; State Employeesinsurance Board for the State of Alabama Andfictitious Parties, Defendants-appellees, 951 F.2d 325 (11th Cir. 1992) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Eleventh Circuit › 1992 › Veronica Dianne Harris, Plaintiff-appellant, v. Blue Cross/blue Shield of Alabama, Inc.; State Emplo...
Veronica Dianne Harris, Plaintiff-appellant, v. Blue Cross/blue Shield of Alabama, Inc.; State Employeesinsurance Board for the State of Alabama Andfictitious Parties, Defendants-appellees, 951 F.2d 325 (11th Cir. 1992)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit - 951 F.2d 325 (11th Cir. 1992)
In Thermtron Products, Inc. v. Hermansdorfer, 423 U.S. 336, 96 S. Ct. 584, 46 L. Ed. 2d 542 (1976), the Supreme Court held that § 1447(d) prohibits review only of remand orders issued pursuant to § 1447(c). Section 1447(c) provides:
In this case, the only federal claim involved notification under COBRA; the remaining claims were state-law claims. Therefore, this case involved the exercise of pendent jurisdiction. In Mine Workers v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 86 S. Ct. 1130, 16 L. Ed. 2d 218 (1966), the Supreme Court established the test for determining whether the federal court has power to hear an entire case involving both federal and state claims. The Court stated that the district court has jurisdiction if the federal and state claims "derive from a common nucleus of operative fact" and are "such that [a plaintiff] would ordinarily be expected to try them all in one judicial proceeding." Gibbs, 383 U.S. at 725, 86 S. Ct. at 1138.
As a predicate to the exercise of pendent jurisdiction, however, the federal claim "must have substance sufficient to confer subject matter jurisdiction on the court." Id., (citing Levering & Garrigues Co. v. Morrin, 289 U.S. 103, 53 S. Ct. 549, 77 L. Ed. 1062 (1933)). In other words, the federal claim must be a "substantial" one. A federal court will not have jurisdiction over a federal question that is "plainly unsubstantial either because [it is] obviously without merit, or 'because its unsoundness so clearly results from the previous decisions of [the Supreme Court] as to foreclose the subject and leave no room for the inference that the questions sought to be raised can be the subject of controversy.' " Levering & Garrigues Co. v. Morrin, 53 S. Ct. at 550, (citing Hannis Distilling Co. v. Baltimore, 216 U.S. 285, 288, 30 S. Ct. 326, 327, 54 L. Ed. 482 (1910)). See also Hagans v. Lavine, 415 U.S. 528, 536-37, 94 S. Ct. 1372, 1378-1379, 39 L. Ed. 2d 577 (1974) (collecting many of the Supreme Court statements on the topic of substantiality); 13B C. Wright, A. Miller & E. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure: Jurisdiction 2d § 3564 (1984 & Supp.1991).
Appellees argue that the district court made a ruling on the merits and that this court can review the remand order under the exception to the nonreviewability rule that the Supreme Court recognized in Thermtron Products, Inc. v. Hermansdorfer, 423 U.S. 336, 96 S. Ct. 584, 46 L. Ed. 2d 542 (1976). In Thermtron, the district court judge had remanded a case to state court because of the federal court's overcrowded docket, despite the presence of subject matter jurisdiction. The Supreme Court reviewed this remand order because it rested on grounds not contained in § 1447(c). The Court held that "only remand orders issued under § 1447(c) and invoking the grounds specified therein ... are immune from review under § 1447(d)." 423 U.S. at 346, 96 S. Ct. at 590.
In Waco v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 293 U.S. 140, 55 S. Ct. 6, 79 L. Ed. 244 (1934), the third party defendant removed the case to federal court on the basis of the third party defendant's diversity. The district court dismissed the third party action. With the diversity of citizenship thus removed, the district court remanded the case to state court. The Court stated:
293 U.S. at 143, 55 S. Ct. at 7. The Court cautioned, however, that " [a] reversal cannot affect the order of remand, but it will at least, if the dismissal of the petitioner's complaint was erroneous, remit the entire controversy ... to the state court." Id. For cases citing Waco, see Pelleport Investors v. Budco Quality Theatres, 741 F.2d 273 (9th Cir. 1984) (ruling on forum selection clause reviewable) and Clorox v. United States Dist. Court for N. Dist. of California, 779 F.2d 517 (9th Cir. 1985) (issue of contractual waiver reviewable).
In addition, appellees rely heavily upon J.O. v. Alton Community Unit School District 11, 909 F.2d 267 (7th Cir. 1990). There, the removed case involved a federal question claim and pendent state claims. The district court dismissed the federal question claim pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b) (6), which is a dismissal on the merits, see 13B C. Wright, A. Miller & E. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure: Jurisdiction 2d § 3564 at 72-74, and then remanded the pendent state claims to state court. The Seventh Circuit held that the remand order was not based upon a lack of jurisdiction, but rather was an exercise of the district court's discretion not to entertain the pendent state claims, having dismissed the federal claim after ruling on the merits thereof. The court held that the remand order was not a jurisdictional ruling contemplated in § 1447(c), and therefore review was not barred under § 1447(d).5 909 F.2d at 270-71.
Thus, J.O. v. Alton is distinguishable. There the district court dismissed the federal claims on the merits and then exercised its discretion to remand the pendant state claims. In this case, the district court dismissed the federal claim as insubstantial, thus concluding that there was no federal question jurisdiction. This case is more like Calderon v. Aerovias Nacionales de Columbia, 929 F.2d 599 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S. Ct. 376, 116 L. Ed. 2d 327 (1991) (where the district court's determination with respect to federal substantive law was intrinsic to its jurisdictional decision), in that the district court's ruling here on the federal question was the basis of its jurisdictional decision and the ruling on the federal question did not affect the substantive rights of the parties. See also Glasser v. Amalgamated Workers Union Local 88, 806 F.2d 1539, 1540 (11th Cir. 1986) ("here the substantive law decision related to the question of jurisdiction ; the remand order did not affect the substantive rights of the parties").
As demonstrated in the preceding section, this court has no jurisdiction to review the remand order. Similarly, the district court had no jurisdiction to review the remand order. As the court stated in Three J Farms, Inc. v. Alton Box Board Co., 609 F.2d 112 (4th Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 911, 100 S. Ct. 1090, 63 L. Ed. 2d 327 (1980): "Unquestionably, [§ 1447(d) ] not only forecloses appellate review, but also bars reconsideration ... by the district court [of its own remand order]." In In re La Providencia Development Corporation, 406 F.2d 251 (1st Cir. 1969), the district court had reconsidered its remand order and had attempted to vacate the remand. The appellate court, in granting a writ of mandamus, stated:
Section 1447(c) was amended on November 19, 1988 by the Judicial Improvements and Access to Justice Act, Pub. L. 100-702, 102 Stat. 4642, 4670. The prior version stated:
We need not address whether the district court was correct in finding that the complaint did not state a substantial federal question. Since the remand order was based on the jurisdictional grounds contained in 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c), review by this court is foreclosed under § 1447(d) even if the district court erred. See Gravitt v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., 430 U.S. 723, 97 S. Ct. 1439, 52 L. Ed. 2d 1 (1977) (remand order not reviewable even when the district court "had employed erroneous principles in concluding that it was without jurisdiction"). To the same effect, see Calderon v. Aerovias Nacionales de Columbia, 929 F.2d 599, 601 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S. Ct. 376, 116 L. Ed. 2d 327 (1991)
Loftin v. Rush, 767 F.2d 800 (11th Cir. 1985), is apparently an application of the exception to the general rule of nonreviewability discussed in the cases cited in the text. In Loftin, the district court decided the merits of the federal issue and then remanded the remaining claims to state court. Id. at 802. This court reviewed the district court's resolution of the federal issue and affirmed with modifications. See also Glasser v. Amalgamated Workers Union Local 88, 806 F.2d 1539 (11th Cir. 1986), where this court declined to address the "matter of substantive law" exception to the general rule of nonreviewability, because the remand order there was based upon lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The court noted that:
For example, we need not address the question of whether, even assuming we have no jurisdiction to review the district court's remand order, we nevertheless might have jurisdiction to review the district court's dismissal of Harris' federal COBRA claim. See Waco, 55 S. Ct. at 7 (holding that the district court's order dismissing a third party action was reviewable, even though the remand order was not). We need not address this question because Harris has not challenged the dismissal of her COBRA claim and does not seek to have it reinstated