Opinion ID: 2470930
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Second Circuit Vacates and Remands

Text: Brennan, Ahearn and Brunkhorst appealed the Magistrate Judge's decision to this Court. In August 2001, we vacated and remanded with instructions for the district court to permit the Brennan Plaintiffs to intervene. NYC Board II, 260 F.3d at 133. We held that the Magistrate Judge had misapplied Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a)(2). First, we rejected the Magistrate Judge's argument that the Brennan Plaintiffs' seniority rights were presumptively the result of illegal discrimination, because it put the cart before the horse. Id. at 129. Second, we held that an employment civil rights plaintiff or intervenor does not have to show a property interest in his job or its attributes in order to intervene; rather, where a proposed intervenor's interests are otherwise unrepresented in an action, the standard for intervention is no more burdensome than the standing requirement. Id. at 131. Third, we held that because the exercise of seniority rights has a domino effect, a Brennan Intervenor's loss of a desirable transfer need not be directly to an Offeree... for the loss to be the result of the [settlement] Agreement. Id. at 132. Therefore, since the Board did not adequately represent the Brennan Plaintiffs' interests, the district court should have allowed them to intervene. Id. at 132-33. We declined, however, to address the merits of the case: Appellants also ask us to exercise discretionary jurisdiction and rule on the merits of the Agreement, rather than remand the case to the district court.... We think such a course would be ill-advised. Appellants have argued convincingly that they were denied the opportunity to develop a record that would have permitted a full and appropriate ruling on the fairness and constitutionality of the Agreement. Given the heavily factual nature of these issues, we believe that the best course is to remand the case to allow for a full development of the record. Id. at 133 (citation omitted).