Opinion ID: 765608
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Colegio's objection to the dues refund order

Text: 62 The Colegio argues that the district court's Memorandum, Opinion and Order of Oct. 30, 1996, Schneider IX, 947 F. Supp. at 42, augments the amount of dues to be refunded to plaintiffs, over and above the limited refunds of escrowed dues approved by the Review Board in 1995. The district court's final judgment ordered the refund of all dues deposited in escrow, whereas the Review Board approved only a partial refund for the years 1989-1992, following the results of its independent accounting. For example, for years 1990-1992, Dissenters were allowed to pay 100% of their dues into escrow, all of which would be refundable to Dissenters under the district court's refund plan, whereas the Review Board determined that only a small portion of those payments would be refunded based on its accounting of ideological-activity related expenses for those years. However, in developing its argument, the Colegio does not claim that this augmentation of the refund is substantively unfair (with one minor exception addressed below), but only claims that the Review Board's determination of the issue should have had a preclusive effect on the district court. I find nothing about the Review Board proceedings and refund order that indicates its Conclusions should be binding on the parties to the federal case. 36 The refund issue had been a part of the federal case for many years, see, e.g., Schneider VII, 682 F. Supp. at 675, it remained so, and the district court was well within its power in choosing to resolve it as it did. 63 The Colegio also seems to imply that the 1996 Opinion unfairly augments the dues refund by ordering the Colegio to pay Schneider a refund (in the amount of 50% of compulsory dues) for years in which Schneider did not in fact pay any dues. The October 1996 order states: To the extent that, in any year of the ... period [during which dues were partially escrowed], the refund by the Colegio to plaintiffs was less than 50% of the compulsory dues, the difference shall be paid to plaintiffs with interest from the end of that membership year. Schneider IX, 947 F. Supp. at 42. 37 This language might be read to mean that, had no dues been paid into escrow by a plaintiff, and thus no dues refunded, the Colegio would nonetheless owe said plaintiff the difference between the amount refunded (zero) and half the compulsory dues, resulting in a windfall for the plaintiff. However, the court's final order of March 23, 1998 states its mandate somewhat differently: 64 3. That, for the years in which plaintiffs and other lawyers, following the commencement of this action up to the promulgation of the rules referred to above, paid 50% or another portion of their annual compulsory dues into an escrow account and said amounts have not been refunded, then the Colegio shall refund the unrefunded amounts together with interest on those amounts from the end of the membership year for which they were deposited. 65 Schneider XI at 1-2 (D. Puerto Rico March 23, 1998). This provision clearly covers only paid and unrefunded amounts, which by definition could not include amounts never paid by plaintiffs or amounts already refunded under the plan approved by the Colegio's Board of Review, if any. To the extent that any language in the earlier opinion of the court could be interpreted to the contrary, it is superseded by the text of this final order. 38