Opinion ID: 2470930
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Court Approval

Text: After the Government and the City Defendants agreed to the settlement, it went to Magistrate Judge Levyto whose jurisdiction, as mentioned earlier, the parties had consented pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c)for a fairness hearing, because the parties sought to have the agreement entered as a consent decree. See United States v. N.Y. City Bd. of Educ., 85 F.Supp.2d 130, 135 (E.D.N.Y.2000) [hereinafter NYC Board I ], vacated and remanded, Brennan v. N.Y.C. Bd. of Educ., 260 F.3d 123 (2d Cir.2001) [hereinafter NYC Board II ]. The district court gave notice and opportunity to object. Cf. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(n) (preventing subsequent challenges to employment practices implementing a consent judgment if notice and opportunity to object have been given). There were over 300 objections, about half of which were form letters. NYC Board I, 85 F.Supp.2d at 134 & n. 3. Three objectors, who were white male incumbent permanent Custodians or CEs, moved to intervene: John Brennan, James G. Ahearn, and Kurt Brunkhorst. Id. at 134-35. The Magistrate Judge determined that the Government had made out a prima facie case of disparate impact for both the testing and recruiting claims. Id. at 141-45. Next, he determined that the settlement was fair and reasonable. He rejected the objections of Brennan et al., along with other objections not relevant here. In particular, he noted that the settlement avoided the need for a complex, expensive, and lengthy trial, and that extensive discovery had already taken place. Id. at 146. He also said that the settlement was consistent with the objectives of Title VII; and that, although it was the Board and not Brennan, Ahearn, and Brunkhorst who bore the responsibility for the past discrimination the suit and agreement sought to correct, the effect of the Offerees' retroactive seniority on existing permanent Custodians and CEs was minimal. Id. at 146-51. Finally, the Magistrate Judge rejected the argument of Brennan et al. that they were entitled to intervene as of right pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a)(2). The court concluded that they did not have a protected interest in their seniority because (1) the remedies afforded the Offerees were designed only to return employees to the positions they would have been in but for the alleged discrimination, NYC Board I, 85 F.Supp.2d at 155, and (2) the possibility that the Offerees' retroactive seniority would affect the would-be intervenors was too remote and speculative to constitute a cognizable interest, id. at 156. Accordingly, the Magistrate Judge approved the settlement and denied the motion to intervene. Id. at 157.