Opinion ID: 2210522
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether Plaintiffs are Sufficiently Representative of the Class to Have Standing to Litigate on Its Behalf.

Text: We next consider whether, as defendants urge, the named plaintiffs are so unrepresentative of the class that they should be denied standing as class representatives. As a factual premise for this contention, defendants assert that the Iowa Nurses' Association has no claim, either under Iowa Code chapter 91A or otherwise, for the monetary relief being sought on behalf of the class. Defendants also claim that plaintiffs Hammer and Drury did not suffer the type of harm for which relief is requested on behalf of the class. This contention is premised on the assertion that, after comparable worth implementation by the Department of Personnel, Hammer and Drury were both placed at the lowest salary attainable in their respective pay grade. Defendants urge that, because the June 4, 1985, executive order provided that no employee's salary would be adjusted below the minimum salary for the applicable pay grade, Hammer and Drury were unaffected by that order. We have recognized a standing requirement for class representatives by stating that a class representative must be a member of the class sought to be represented. Vignaroli v. Blue Cross, 360 N.W.2d 741, 746 (Iowa 1985). This concept is discussed in the following commentary. [T]he claims of the plaintiff must be typical of the claims of the class, and the plaintiff must fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class members. A major part of meeting both these qualifications is related to standing concepts. More specifically, they are related to the requirement that the individual injury in fact suffered must arise directly from the violations charged that are common to the class. Simply stated assuming common issues, the plaintiff must have individual standing in order to raise those common issues. Many courts have expressed this rule of qualification for class representative as a requirement that the class plaintiff have shared standing with or be a part of or a member of the class. 1 H. Newberg, Newberg on Class Actions § 2.05, at 48 (2d ed. 1985) (some emphasis added). Applying this test to the present factual situation, we agree with the defendants that the Iowa Nurses' Association does not have standing to litigate the monetary claim being made on behalf of the class. In Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 95 S.Ct. 2197, 45 L.Ed.2d 343 (1975), the Court examined the standing of a membership association to assert claims of its members and concluded: [T]o justify any relief the association must show that it has suffered harm, or that one or more of its members are injured. But, apart from this, whether the association has standing to invoke the court's remedial powers on behalf of its members depends in substantial measure on the nature of the relief sought. If in a proper case the association seeks a declaration, injunction, or some other form of prospective relief, it can reasonably be supposed that the remedy, if granted, will inure to the benefit of those members of the association actually injured. Indeed, in all cases in which we have expressly recognized standing in associations to represent their members, the relief sought has been of this kind. The present case, however, differs significantly as here an association seeks relief in damages for alleged injuries to its members. Home Builders alleges no monetary injury to itself, nor any assignment of the damages claims of its members. No award therefore can be made to the association as such. Id. at 515, 95 S.Ct. at 2213-14, 45 L.Ed.2d at 364 (citations omitted). We believe that the standing of a membership association to pursue a class action on behalf of its members is the same as its standing to seek relief on behalf of its members generally. In the present case, the subsequent legislative reversal of the challenged salary downgrading has eliminated any claim for prospective relief to members of the Iowa Nurses' Association. The claims of class members involve only recoupment of past monetary loss. That loss was not suffered by the Iowa Nurses' Association as such, and that entity therefore lacks standing to represent the class in seeking such recovery. Defendants' standing challenge, aimed at plaintiff Barbara J. Hammer and plaintiff Janice E. Drury, involves similar considerations. It is necessary that these plaintiffs demonstrate that they have suffered the same type of injury for which they seek relief on behalf of the class. In interpreting analogous provisions of the federal class action rules, the Supreme Court has stated: [A] class representative must be part of the class and `possess the same interest and suffer the same injury' as class members. East Texas Motor Freight v. Rodriguez, 431 U.S. 395, 403, 97 S.Ct. 1891, 1896, 52 L.Ed.2d 453, 462 (1977) (quoting Schlesinger v. Reservists Committee to Stop the War, 418 U.S. 208, 216, 94 S.Ct. 2925, 2930, 41 L.Ed.2d 706, 716 (1974)). In Satterwhite v. City of Greenville, 578 F.2d 987, 992 (5th Cir.1978), vacated on other grounds, 445 U.S. 940, 100 S.Ct. 1334, 63 L.Ed.2d 773 (1980), the federal court of appeals held that a particular person was not a proper representative of the class because it had already been determined in preliminary adjudications that she had not sustained the type of injury for which relief was being requested by the other class members. The court dismissed the class action in its entirety because the plaintiff Satterwhite was the only named class representative. The Supreme Court vacated the decision of the court of appeals, not because of any concern for the adjudication involving the class representative but because of the belief that disposition of the individual representative's claim should not be dispositive of the continuation of the litigation on behalf of the class. Satterwhite v. City of Greenville, 445 U.S. 940, 100 S.Ct. 1334, 63 L.Ed.2d 773 (1980). Proceedings in the Satterwhite litigation after remand are not reported, but they are discussed in the decision of the same federal appellate court in Walker v. Jim Dandy Co., 638 F.2d 1330 (5th Cir.1981). This discussion indicates that after remand in Satterwhite the federal court of appeals remanded the case to the district court to determine whether the controversy could be continued by at least some members of the class which the dismissed plaintiff had sought to represent. Jim Dandy, 638 F.2d at 1335. Based on the action of the Supreme Court in Satterwhite, the court in Jim Dandy concludes that certification bestows a legal status upon the class apart from the interest asserted by the representative. Jim Dandy, 638 F.2d at 1335. We agree with defendants that, if it is ultimately determined in the present litigation that plaintiffs Hammer and Drury have not sustained the type of injury for which they are seeking relief on behalf of the class, they may no longer continue as class representatives. If that does occur, a reasonable opportunity should be given other class members to intervene as class representatives. [1] It is not necessary, however, to face that issue at this time. The issue of whether the salary classification for Hammer and Drury following implementation of comparable worth was at the lowest level of a salary grade is yet to be determined. Defendants' assertion that this was so is factually supported only by a conclusory statement in the affidavit of the Director of the Department of Personnel filed in support of defendants' cross-motion for summary judgment. There are other indications in the record that the salary levels of Hammer and Drury immediately prior to implementation of comparable worth were not at the lowest level within their respective salary ranges. Consequently, for purposes of adjudicating the cross-motions for summary judgment, a genuine issue of material fact remains as to whether these two plaintiffs were affected by the challenged executive ordera circumstance which leaves that issue for determination at the hearing on damages.