Opinion ID: 373006
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Classwide Relief

Text: 104 On April 13, 1978, a motion to intervene in order to protest the possible closing of Pennhurst was filed on behalf of the Pennhurst Parents-Staff Association and six Pennhurst residents. That motion, which was made after the Commonwealth and Philadelphia defendants had filed their notices of appeal, was denied, and the appeal from that denial is considered separately at No. 78- 1999. In their appeal in this case, the Commonwealth defendants rely on that motion to intervene as evidence that the interests of the plaintiffs were adverse to one another, and thus that the trial court erred, first, in certifying the class, and second, in granting classwide relief. We reject completely the first contention. The certification of the class for purposes of determining liability was entirely proper. Plainly, the violations of federal and state law which the trial court found and which we have affirmed, are violations affecting all of the plaintiffs, not simply those who wish a transfer from Pennhurst. At the liability stage, therefore, important questions of law were common to all members of the class. Thus, regardless of any subsequent disagreement among class members as to the appropriate relief, we can think of no persuasive reason to have fractionated the class at that early juncture. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(c)(4)(A) (permitting use of class action device for purposes of particular issues within lawsuit). As Judge Frankel observed in the context of class actions brought under Rule 23(b)(3), Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(3): 105 In the cases to which I refer, assertedly under (b)(3) i. e., having both common issues and issues affecting separately the individual members of the class district judges have apparently thought that all members of the class would have to be brought before the court for discovery as well as trial before there could be any judgment affecting the class as a whole. Insofar as this premise lurks in the cited cases, it would appear to be unwarranted. Take, for example, the simple model of the case by an alleged class of securities purchasers charging fraudulent representations. There are, supposedly, common questions as to the nature of the alleged representations, falsity, and materiality. If some or all such questions are decided against the plaintiff class, the complaint will be dismissed and, always assuming adequate representation of the class, there will be a judgment binding the class without requiring any but the representative members to have been before the court. 106 On the other hand, if the plaintiff class prevails on the common questions, it will then but only then become necessary to try or settle or otherwise dispose of individual questions like reliance, damages, or the like. If the common questions have been aptly defined, there should be no need at an earlier stage to have all the individual class members before the court for discovery or any other purpose. 107 Frankel, Some Preliminary Observations Concerning Civil Rule 23, 43 F.R.D. 39, 47 (1967) (footnote omitted). See also Developments in the Law Class Actions, 89 Harv.L.Rev. 1318, 1491-92 (1976). It was not abuse of the trial court's discretion to certify the class for purposes of determining liability. 31 108 The Commonwealth contends, however, that because some members of the plaintiff class are opposed to the closing of Pennhurst, the class should at least have been decertified for purposes of relief. Thus, it argues that classwide relief infringes on the dissenting members' rights. As we indicate in more detail below, the trial court did err in promulgating a blanket order closing Pennhurst without sufficiently canvassing the needs of individual patients. Accordingly, inasmuch as we modify the court order appealed from, our opinion takes account of the differences within the class concerning relief. Nevertheless, we do not think that the implementation of the relief, as modified by our opinion, requires the decertification of the class. Two procedural alternatives, short of decertification, are available to the trial court on remand in implementing individuated relief. 109 First, the court can create subclasses within the plaintiff class pursuant to Rule 23(c)(4)(B). Through this process, individual patients who wish to remain at Pennhurst may be represented at the implementation hearings. We suggested this approach in Samuel v. University of Pittsburgh, 538 F.2d 991 (3d Cir. 1976) (Clark, J.). There, we reversed a trial court decision decertifying a class at the relief stage. We stated that even if there were managerial difficulties (in litigating the appropriate relief), some investigation into the possible usefulness of subclasses as suggested by Rule 23(c)(4)(B) should have been undertaken before decertification was ordered. 538 F.2d at 996. See also Nix v. Grand Lodge of Int'l. Ass'n of Mach. & Aero. Workers, 479 F.2d 382, 385 (5th Cir.), Cert. denied, 414 U.S. 1024, 94 S.Ct. 449, 38 L.Ed.2d 316 (1973); Developments in the Law Class Actions, 89 Harv.L.Rev. 1318, 1479-82 (1976). 110 Yet another means by which dissenting members may be represented at the relief stage is through intervention. See id. at 1482-85. We note in this connection that the trial court currently has under consideration a motion by the Pennhurst Parents-Staff Association who purport to represent patients opposed to closing Pennhurst to intervene at the relief stage. 111 Even should the trial court ultimately decline to pursue either of these two procedural alternatives to decertification, the interests of dissenting members will still be represented. As we suggested above, and as we will elaborate at greater length below, plaintiffs' right to habilitation in the least restrictive environment requires that they be given an individual opportunity to participate in the process by which their habilitation is chosen. Thus, whether they are represented as a group, through such procedural safeguards as subclasses or intervention, or whether they participate as individuals, class members who wish continued habilitation at Pennhurst will have a chance to state their position.