Opinion ID: 754226
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Plaintiffs' Role in Obtaining the Injunction

Text: 72 Further, plaintiffs' role in obtaining this injunction was key. After the joint trial of this case with the government action, the district judge, on the basis of his own factual findings, entered judgment against the government and denied plaintiffs' equitable claims. And as we noted in LeBlanc-Sternberg I, had there been no jury verdict on the same issues, leaving the judge as the sole trier of fact, the judge would have been allowed to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the Village--as he plainly did. See 67 F.3d at 430. The jury's sufficiently supported verdict in favor of plaintiffs on their legal claims against the Village under the FHA and the First Amendment, however, foreclosed the district judge's contrary findings. See id. at 431-34. That verdict constituted collateral estoppel with respect to all of the facts common to plaintiffs' legal and equitable claims and all of the facts common to plaintiffs' claims and the government's claims. 73 Thus, plaintiffs' suit, far from being completely unnecessary (Village brief on appeal at 28 (emphasis in original)), proved to be essential, as the jury verdict won by plaintiffs against the Village was the foundation for both the granting of relief on plaintiffs' equitable claims and the granting of relief in the government action.