Opinion ID: 439110
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: Sixth Circuit Cases

Text: 65 In General Electric Co. v. Valeron, 608 F.2d 265 (6th Cir.1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 930, 100 S.Ct. 1318, 63 L.Ed.2d 763 (1980), with Judge Brown writing for a panel of the Sixth Circuit, which included the author of this opinion, the court took jurisdiction of an order disqualifying appellant's chosen counsel, affirming the disqualification. We there upheld General Electric's claim that Valeron's counsel had a conflict of interest from earlier legal work for General Electric. There would seem to be much more reason for considering our current cases to be immediately appealable than in the General Electric appeal. 66 This same comment may be made in relation to this court's opinions in Melamed v. ITT Continental Baking Co., 534 F.2d 82 (6th Cir.1976) and Melamed v. ITT Continental Baking Co., 592 F.2d 290 (6th Cir.1979). See also Koller v. Richardson-Merrell, Inc., 737 F.2d 1038 (D.C.Cir.1984); Interco Systems Inc. v. Omni Corporate Services, 733 F.2d 253 (2d Cir.1984). 67 In United States v. Caggiano, 660 F.2d 184 (6th Cir.1981), this court summarized the rule in civil cases: 68 The weight of authority is that in civil cases an order granting a motion to disqualify is immediately appealable as a final order under Sec. 1291 while an order denying a motion to disqualify is not appealable under Sec. 1291. General Electric Co. v. Valeron Corp., 608 F.2d 265 (6th Cir.1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 930, 100 S.Ct. 1318, 63 L.Ed.2d 763 (1980), and Armstrong v. McAlpin, 625 F.2d 433, 440-441 (2nd Cir.1980) (en banc) vacated on other grounds, 449 U.S. 1106, 101 S.Ct. 911, 66 L.Ed.2d 835 (1981), holds that orders granting disqualification are appealable and Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Risjord, 449 U.S. 896, 101 S.Ct. 669, 66 L.Ed.2d 571 (1981), holds that orders denying such motions are not appealable under Sec. 1291. See cases collected in United States Code Service 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291 Note 72, entitled Disqualification of Counsel and Note 72 in its May 1981 Cumulative Supplement. 69 No Sixth Circuit precedent is directly applicable to this appeal. But the cases cited and discussed above generally have treated the disqualification of a party's retained counsel in a civil action as appealable. If disqualification of counsel of a party's choice is final for purposes of appealability, it is clear that denial of any counsel at all to a party unable to afford one is all the more final for purposes of 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291. 70 In summary, there is really only one actually debatable issue, namely Finality. It is obvious that the denial of a motion for counsel is completely separate and distinct from the merits of a civil rights complaint concerning employment discrimination. It is equally obvious that absent appointment of counsel by this appellate court, there could have been no effective review. This appeal was briefed and argued on behalf of the four complainants below by counsel appointed by this court. 2 71 I return now to Finality, the only issue upon which there is really any logical debate--if indeed it can be found there. It can, of course, with at least surface logic, be argued that denial of counsel is not final because an impoverished litigant can proceed in forma pauperis to try the case himself. Indeed some such efforts may from time to time have succeeded--albeit rarely. 72 There are few legal issues which come before the federal courts which offer more complexity than the often critical, shifting standards of proof in employment discrimination cases. See, e.g., United States Postal Service Board of Governors v. Aikens, 460 U.S. 711, 103 S.Ct. 1478, 75 L.Ed.2d 403 (1983); Burdine v. Texas Department of Community Affairs, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981). When the basic assertion of a plaintiff is that he or she was discharged because of race, a plaintiff without legal training or advice could hardly be expected to know that an outburst of racially derogatory language from a company employment manager concerning another employee in a different department might well serve to convince the trier of fact that the company's reasons for discharge were pretextual. Would the same in pro per plaintiff, if such legal knowledge did somehow come to him or her, also be able to take the witness' deposition and subpoena that witness so as to protect against employer pressure toward silence or prevarication? Affirmative answers to these questions approach fantasy. 3 73 We hold that the court has jurisdiction to hear all four appeals.