Opinion ID: 486480
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Jurisdiction to Enforce Settlement

Text: 18 Kent argues, among other things, that the district court has jurisdiction to enforce the settlement agreement in this case, and that the court erred by dismissing his lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction. We agree. 19 After the parties announced that they had settled, but before the court dismissed the action, defendants refused to abide by the settlement agreement because plaintiff had allegedly breached it. In cross-motions to the court, all parties conceded the existence of the settlement agreement. The district court held that the existence of the settlement mooted Kent's age discrimination claim and that the court had no independent jurisdictional grounds to enforce or set aside the settlement. 20 A conflict of authority on this issue may exist in this circuit. On the one hand, the great weight of binding precedent in this and other circuits holds that a district court has jurisdiction to enforce a settlement agreement, at least when a party refuses to comply with the agreement before the case has been dismissed. See, e.g., Cia Anon Venezolana De Navigacion v. Harris, 374 F.2d 33 (5th Cir.1967); 1 Massachusetts Casualty Insurance Co. v. Forman, 469 F.2d 259 (5th Cir.1972); Kulka v. National Distillers Products Co., 483 F.2d 619 (6th Cir.1973); Cummings Diesel Michigan, Inc. v. The Falcon, 305 F.2d 721 (7th Cir.1962); Mid-South Towing Co. v. Har-Win, Inc., 733 F.2d 386 (5th Cir.1984); Fulgence v. J. Ray McDermott & Co., 662 F.2d 1207 (5th Cir.1981). 21 In Cia Anon, a decision of the former Fifth Circuit that is binding precedent in this circuit, the court affirmed enforcement of a settlement agreement. The former Fifth Circuit held that a district court has inherent power to summarily enforce settlement agreements entered into by parties litigant in a pending case. Id., 374 F.2d at 36. The court reasoned that: 22 Compromises of disputed claims are favored by the courts.... Where the parties, acting in good faith, settle a controversy, the courts will enforce the compromise without regard to what the result might have been, or would have been, had the parties chosen to litigate rather than settle.... An agreement of the parties settling a disputed liability is as conclusive of their rights as a judgment would be if it had been litigated.... 23 Id., 374 F.2d at 35 (emphasis in original) (quoting J. Kahn & Co. v. Clark, 178 F.2d 111, 114 (5th Cir.1949)). 24 The Cia Anon decision is on point. In that case, as in this, the parties settled a case; but before the action had been dismissed, one party refused to abide by the settlement agreement and the other moved to enforce it. 25 On the other hand, a recent decision by the Eleventh Circuit, Londono v. City of Gainesville, 768 F.2d 1223 (11th Cir.1985), may represent contrary authority. The district court in the case sub judice relied on Londono. 26 In Londono, the parties allegedly settled a section 1983 lawsuit. Unaware of the alleged settlement, the district court entered an order granting summary judgment to the defendant. Before the district court entered a final judgment, however, plaintiff's attorney notified the district court of the alleged settlement. Defendant's attorney denied that the parties had settled. The district court withdrew its summary judgment order, held an evidentiary hearing regarding the settlement, and then issued an order enforcing the settlement. Londono, 768 F.2d at 1225-26. 27 The Eleventh Circuit vacated on the grounds that the district court did not explicitly consider whether defendant had unconditionally accepted the settlement offer, and, if so, whether the offer and acceptance constituted an enforceable contract. The Eleventh Circuit remanded for an evidentiary hearing on these questions. In the course of this decision, the court observed that: 28 When [plaintiff's] attorney advised the court that ... the parties had settled, he stated in effect that their controversy had been mooted. If counsel's statement to the court was true, ... the court should have dismissed the case ... for want of a case or controversy.... Had [the parties] reached a settlement enforceable under Florida law, there could be no section 1983 controversy; had they not reached such a settlement, the controversy remained live. Absent an independent jurisdictional base, the court had no authority sua sponte to transform Londono's section 1983 claim into a suit seeking declaration of a contract of settlement and the specific performance thereof. 29 Londono, 768 F.2d at 1226-27 (citations omitted). 30 The above language from Londono is probably dictum, because the court noted the uncertain status of the facts before it and explicitly reserved decision with respect to the validity of the district court's injunction enforcing the settlement decree. See id., 768 F.2d at 1226 n. 1, 1228-29. Moreover, Londono may be distinguishable because the district court sua sponte suggested enforcement of the settlement agreement, whereas in the present case plaintiff initially moved to enforce the settlement. 31 Whether the quoted language from Londono represents a holding is unclear. If this language from Londono is a holding, then we decline to follow it. 2 Instead, we follow the earlier, (and we think) better reasoned weight of authority 3 which holds that a district court has jurisdiction to enforce a settlement agreement, at least when one party refuses to abide by the agreement prior to dismissal of the action. 4 The district court's reliance on Londono, though understandable, was error. 32 Accordingly, the district court has jurisdiction to enforce the settlement agreement in this case and should do so if enforcement is otherwise justified. We remand to the district court for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. 33 VACATED and REMANDED.