Opinion ID: 658097
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Jury-Trial Issues

Text: 16 In its April 4, 1991 decision, the district court held that there was no right to a jury trial on the Human Rights Law claims, since the court considered these claims to be equitable in nature. The court also exercised its discretion to take supplemental jurisdiction over the Human Rights Law claims pursuant to United Mine Workers v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 86 S.Ct. 1130, 16 L.Ed.2d 218 (1966). We note in passing that 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1367, which codified Gibbs, only applies to claims commenced after December 1, 1990, and thus was inapplicable in this case commenced in 1986. 17 After the district court issued its decision, we ruled that Human Rights Law claims are legal and that the right to a jury therefore attaches. Song v. Ives Labs., Inc., 957 F.2d 1041, 1047-48 (2d Cir.1992). Since the court in Song applied this rule to the action before it, the rule must be applied in all subsequent decisions, see James B. Beam Distilling Co. v. Georgia, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 2439, 115 L.Ed.2d 481 (1991), and plaintiffs are entitled to a jury trial on their HRL claims.
18 Plaintiffs argue that they also were entitled to a jury trial on their Title VII claims, pursuant to amendments to Title VII that were part of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, Pub.L. No. 102-166, 105 Stat. 1071 (the Act). We have held that the jury-trial provisions of the Act do not apply retroactively. See Wisdom v. Intrepid Sea-Air Space Museum, 993 F.2d 5, 7 (2d Cir.1993); Postema v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, 998 F.2d 60, 61-62 (2d Cir.1993). Our decision in Butts v. City of New York Department of Housing Preservation & Development, 990 F.2d 1397 (2d Cir.1993), left open the possibility that a different retroactivity analysis might apply to actions pending on appeal at the time the Act was passed. See id. at 1410-11. In the present action, although the bench trial on the Title VII issues preceded the November 21, 1991 effective date of the Act, the district court did not enter judgment until April 28, 1992, so the action was not pending on appeal when the Act became effective. Wisdom therefore controls, and the district court properly denied the plaintiffs a jury trial on their Title VII claims.