Opinion ID: 196161
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the next step

Text: 26 Setting aside the judgment takes us only part of the way. We must now consider the next step. The defendant beseeches us to direct the entry of a take-nothing judgment. Because the plaintiff lost on the merits of each of her pleaded claims, we recognize that it is within our power to oblige. Before charting our course, however, we pause to mull whether remand is an available alternative, and, if so, whether that alternative is preferable. 27 Undoubtedly, a remand under the conditions that obtain here presents potential problems. For one thing, the propriety of the district court's unilateral effort to insinuate an unpleaded claim into the case is open to question. For another thing, the foundational federal claims are now out of the picture--the plaintiff never cross-appealed from the adverse judgment on those claims, see supra note 4--and the district court's continued jurisdiction over a supplemental claim arising solely under Puerto Rico law may seem suspect. Third, the Law 17 claim itself, if free-standing, would now be time-barred. Finally, even if none of these factors absolutely precludes the discretionary exercise of remandatory jurisdiction, remand may not be the best available alternative. In the pages that follow, we address these concerns and then settle upon our next step. 28
29 Since the question of whether a district court has the power to introduce an unpleaded claim on its own initiative even up to (or beyond) the close of the trial and the question of whether a district court has the power to introduce such a claim on remand are closely related, we consider them in the ensemble. 30 1. In General. The proper functioning of our adversarial system of justice depends not only on the parties' vigorous advocacy of their positions but also on the judge's adroit supervision of the litigation. The sphere of case management extends to the definition of legal issues. To mention one of many possible illustrations, a district court possesses the authority to recommend to a plaintiff how she might reshape the complaint to escape dismissal. See, e.g., Friedlander v. Nims, 755 F.2d 810, 813 (11th Cir.1985). Similarly, a district court, exercising its powers under Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(b), in a proper case, may amend the pleadings merely by entering findings on the unpleaded issues, Galindo, 793 F.2d at 1513 n. 8 (collecting cases), even though neither party has essayed a formal amendment. 31 We think it follows that a district court has the power to introduce a claim (or, rather, to prompt a party to introduce a claim) at any time during the course of litigation. This power does not vanish at the tail end of a trial, even though both sides have rested. See, e.g., Campana, 755 F.2d at 215 (recognizing court's authority to permit amendment as late as during jury deliberation). This conclusion does not clash with either the letter or the spirit of Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a). Although that rule plainly favors early amendments, see, e.g., id. (authorizing one revision as a matter of course if made within certain time constraints), it sets no outer time limit on amendments; the drafters chose instead to leave the matter within the discretion of the nisi prius court. See Benitez-Allende v. Alcan Aluminio do Brasil, S.A., 857 F.2d 26, 36 (1st Cir.1988), cert. denied, 489 U.S. 1018, 109 S.Ct. 1135, 103 L.Ed.2d 196 (1989); see also Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a) (providing that leave to amend shall be freely given when justice so requires). 32 As this discussion indicates (and as Fed.R.Civ.P. 15 and 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1367 confirm, see infra ), the court below could properly have called attention to the prospect of a new, unpleaded (but related) claim at any time as long as it adopted appropriate measures to safeguard against unfair prejudice. 33 2. On Remand. Of course, the posture of the case is now somewhat different. Doral argues that, on remand, the district court, even if it originally enjoyed the authority to introduce or entertain a new, unpleaded (but related) claim, would not still possess that power. We do not agree. Since a new, unpleaded (but related) claim could have been asserted during the trial, we see no reason to constrain a party from asserting such a claim on remand, or, correspondingly, to limit the district court's discretion in terms of entertaining such a claim. See Benitez-Allende, 857 F.2d at 36; Duckworth v. Franzen, 780 F.2d 645, 656-57 (7th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 816, 107 S.Ct. 71, 93 L.Ed.2d 28 (1986). We hold, therefore, that, apart from incipient jurisdictional problems, a district court, on remand, retains its discretionary authority to entertain a new, unpleaded (but related) claim. 7 34
35 Having traced the contours of the district court's discretionary power to entertain a new, unpleaded (but related) claim, both at trial and on remand, and finding that the plaintiff's Law 17 claim fits into this category, we must yet determine whether the court below can exercise supplemental jurisdiction over such a claim on remand even though the foundational federal claim is now ancient history. After carefully considering the conundrum, we conclude that the exercise of supplemental jurisdiction would be proper. 8 36
37 [I]n any civil action of which the district courts have original jurisdiction, the district courts shall have supplemental jurisdiction over all other claims that are so related to claims in the action within such original jurisdiction that they form part of the same case or controversy under Article III of the United States Constitution.... 38 In enacting section 1367, Congress essentially codified the rationale articulated in United Mine Workers v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 86 S.Ct. 1130, 16 L.Ed.2d 218 (1966). See Edmondson & Gallagher v. Alban Towers Tenants Ass'n, 48 F.3d 1260, 1266 (D.C.Cir.1995); Borough of W. Mifflin v. Lancaster, 45 F.3d 780, 788 (3d Cir.1995); see generally Elizabeth Delagardelle, Note, Defining the Parameters of Supplemental Jurisdiction After 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1367, 43 Drake L.Rev. 391 (1994). The Gibbs Court instructed that pendent jurisdiction exists when the relationship between [the federal] claim and the state claim permits the conclusion that the entire action before the court comprises but one constitutional 'case.'  Gibbs, 383 U.S. at 725, 86 S.Ct. at 1138. 9 In particular, [t]he state and federal claims must derive from a common nucleus of operative fact. Id. Thus, if, considered without regard to their federal or state character, a plaintiff's claims are such that [she] would ordinarily be expected to try them all in one judicial proceeding, then, assuming substantiality of the federal issues, there is power in federal courts to hear the whole. Id.; see also Carnegie-Mellon Univ. v. Cohill, 484 U.S. 343, 349, 108 S.Ct. 614, 618, 98 L.Ed.2d 720 (1988); Vera-Lozano v. International Broadcasting, 50 F.3d 67, 70 (1st Cir.1995); Brown v. Trustees of Boston Univ., 891 F.2d 337, 356 (1st Cir.1989), cert. denied, 496 U.S. 937, 110 S.Ct. 3217, 110 L.Ed.2d 664 (1990); Ortiz v. United States, 595 F.2d 65, 68-69 (1st Cir.1979). 39 The relationship between the plaintiff's Title VII claim and her inchoate claim under Law 17 matches the Gibbs Court's description in all significant respects. Both claims are civil rights claims; both derive from a reservoir of common facts; and, as a consequence, both would ordinarily be heard together in a single consolidated trial. See, e.g., Andrea Catania, State Employment Discrimination Remedies and Pendent Jurisdiction Under Title VII: Access to Federal Courts, 32 Am.U.L.Rev. 777, 793 (1983). Despite this apparent fit, appellant argues for an opposite result, contending that Congress, in enacting Title VII, forbade jurisdiction over supplemental claims by implication. Although there appears to be a smattering of authority in favor of this position, see, e.g., Executive Software N. Am., Inc. v. United States Dist. Court for the Cent. Dist. of Cal., 24 F.3d 1545, 1554 n. 6 (9th Cir.1994) (noting cases so holding); 13B Charles A. Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Edward H. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure Sec. 3567.1, at 24 & nn. 30.1-30.2 (Supp.1995) (same), we reject it outright. 40 In our judgment, section 1367 itself disproves appellant's hypothesis. Whatever may have been the situation before the enactment of the supplemental jurisdiction statute 10 --it may have been possible then to detect scattered signs of implied negation, see Kitchen v. Chippewa Valley Sch., 825 F.2d 1004, 1010 (6th Cir.1987) (citing district court cases finding implied negation of pendent jurisdiction under Title VII prior to the passage of 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1367)--section 1367 specifically authorizes supplemental jurisdiction [e]xcept ... as expressly provided otherwise by Federal statute.... 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1367(a). Since the statutory text is unambiguous, and no court or commentator ever has maintained that Title VII expressly negates pendent jurisdiction, there is simply no credible basis on which the statute's broad jurisdictional grant can be shortstopped in the Title VII context. 41 One additional point is worth making. While habit or practice is by no means the barometer of jurisdictional power, we find it telling that we have not heretofore encountered, let alone embraced, the radical hypothesis advanced by the appellant. To the precise contrary, we have regularly entertained suits in which plaintiffs have joined Title VII claims with pendent state-law claims--and we have done so both before and after the passage of section 1367. See, e.g., Vera-Lozano, 50 F.3d at 70; Gallagher v. Wilton Enters., Inc., 962 F.2d 120, 121 (1st Cir.1992) (per curiam); Conway v. Electro Switch Corp., 825 F.2d 593, 595 (1st Cir.1987). 42 To recapitulate, a sexual harassment claim brought pursuant to state law falls within the district court's supplemental jurisdiction when, as now, the court's original jurisdiction derives from the assertion of a Title VII claim arising out of the same facts. Thus, the court below plainly possessed the raw power to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over a claim under Puerto Rico Law 17, had one been asserted. 43 2. On Remand. Having determined that supplemental jurisdiction would have attached had a Law 17 claim been advanced ab initio, we must further determine whether such jurisdiction remains available on remand, given that the district court has by now slain the plaintiff's Title VII claim on the merits. Based on controlling law, we conclude that supplemental jurisdiction would be proper despite the interment of the plaintiff's foundational federal cause of action. 44 As a general principle, the unfavorable disposition of a plaintiff's federal claims at the early stages of a suit, well before the commencement of trial, will trigger the dismissal without prejudice of any supplemental state-law claims. See, e.g., Gibbs, 383 U.S. at 726, 86 S.Ct. at 1139 ([I]f the federal claims are dismissed before trial, ... the state claims should be dismissed as well.); Martinez v. Colon, 54 F.3d 980, 990 (1st Cir.1995) (affirming the dismissal without prejudice of pendent claims when the district court determined far in advance of trial that no legitimate federal question existed). But this praxis is not compelled by a lack of judicial power. It signifies only that, in the usual case in which all federal law claims are eliminated before trial, the balance of factors to be considered under the pendent jurisdiction doctrine--judicial economy, convenience, fairness, and comity--will point toward declining to exercise jurisdiction over the remaining state-law claims. Carnegie-Mellon Univ., 484 U.S. at 350 n. 7, 108 S.Ct. at 619 n. 7. In an appropriate situation, a federal court may retain jurisdiction over state-law claims notwithstanding the early demise of all foundational federal claims. See, e.g., Taylor v. First of Am. Bank-Wayne, 973 F.2d 1284, 1287-88 (6th Cir.1992). Thus, as long as the plaintiff's federal claim is substantial, the mere fact that it ultimately fails on the merits does not, by itself, require that all pendent state-law claims be jettisoned. See, e.g., Duckworth, 780 F.2d at 656-57; Warehouse Groceries Mgt., Inc. v. Sav-U-Warehouse Groceries, Inc., 624 F.2d 655, 658-59 (5th Cir.1980). In other words, a court need not always throw out the bath water with the baby. 45 To be sure, the exercise of supplemental jurisdiction in such circumstances is wholly discretionary. And, moreover, the district court, in reaching its discretionary determination on the jurisdictional question, will have to assess the totality of the attendant circumstances. Because each case is bound to have its own distinctive profile, we are reluctant to compose a list of important elements. Instead, we cite two examples to illustrate the wide variety of considerations that may appropriately enter into the calculus. The running of the statute of limitations on a pendent claim, precluding the filing of a separate suit in state court, is a salient factor to be evaluated when deciding whether to retain supplemental jurisdiction. See, e.g., Wright v. Associated Ins. Cos., 29 F.3d 1244, 1251 (7th Cir.1994); Newman v. Burgin, 930 F.2d 955, 963 (1st Cir.1991). Another factor to be weighed is the clarity of the law that governs a pendent claim, for a federal court may be wise to forgo the exercise of supplemental jurisdiction when the state law that undergirds the nonfederal claim is of dubious scope and application. See, e.g., 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1367(c)(1) (authorizing district courts to decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over a claim ... if ... the claim raises a novel or complex issue of State law); see also Moor v. County of Alameda, 411 U.S. 693, 716, 93 S.Ct. 1785, 1799, 36 L.Ed.2d 596 (1973); Gibbs, 383 U.S. at 726 & n. 15, 86 S.Ct. at 1139 & n. 15. 46 We will not attempt to single out all the elements that could potentially tip the balance here. That is grist for the district court's mill. It suffices for our purposes to remark the obvious: that although the plaintiff's Title VII claim ultimately succumbed on the merits, it was colorable when brought. Consequently, the district court's power to exercise discretionary supplemental jurisdiction over a putative Law 17 claim, extant at the time of trial, will remain intact on remand. 47
48 To this point, we have held (1) that, as a general proposition, supplemental jurisdiction over state-law claims is not precluded in Title VII actions; (2) that, in this case, had proper procedures been employed, the district court could appropriately have exercised supplemental jurisdiction over a claim brought pursuant to Puerto Rico Law 17; and (3) that the district court remains empowered, in its discretion, to entertain a Law 17 claim on remand. This means, of course, that remand ranks as a viable option from our standpoint. 49 We believe that remand is not only a viable option but also the best available course. In the first place, a hoary policy of the law favors the disposition of claims on the merits. See, e.g., HMG Prop. Investors, Inc. v. Parque Indus. Rio Canas, Inc., 847 F.2d 908, 917 (1st Cir.1988) (discussing need to consider the policy of the law favoring the disposition of cases on the merits). In the second place, considerations of fairness counsel in favor of a remand as opposed to a disposition by fiat. After all, a trial is a search for the truth, not merely a battle of wits between jousting attorneys. Third--and perhaps most important--our determination rests upon a close analysis of the nature of the decisionmaking that a remand would entail. We explain briefly. 50 The multifaceted decision about whether to permit the plaintiff to proffer a Law 17 claim and whether to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over it lies in the heartland of judicial discretion. Because the plaintiff neither pleaded nor otherwise seasonably advanced a Law 17 claim, the court may in its discretion simply deem the case concluded and enter a take-nothing judgment on the pleaded claims. In the alternative, the court may in its discretion choose to reopen the proceedings and invite the plaintiff to move, under Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a), for leave to amend her complaint in order to assert a Law 17 claim. If that is done, the court (and the parties) will then face a series of judgment calls. For example, adjudicating the Rule 15 motion necessitates a further exercise of the court's discretion. 11 See Coyne v. City of Somerville, 972 F.2d 440, 446 (1st Cir.1992); Correa-Martinez v. Arrillaga-Belendez, 903 F.2d 49, 59 (1st Cir.1990). The court will also have to determine whether it will exercise supplemental jurisdiction, another decision that is largely discretionary. See, e.g., Gibbs, 383 U.S. at 726, 86 S.Ct. at 1139 (explaining that pendent jurisdiction is a doctrine of discretion, not of plaintiff's right); see also Newman, 930 F.2d at 963 (reviewing factors pertinent to the use or withholding of supplemental jurisdiction); cf. 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1367(c)(3) (expressly authorizing a district court to decline the exercise of supplemental jurisdiction when it has dismissed all claims over which it has original jurisdiction). 51 Given the critical role of discretion in the decisions that must be made, we think that the district court is better equipped to take the laboring oar and to determine whether the case should proceed (and if so, on what terms). As we have remarked before, [t]he very nature of a trial judge's interactive role assures an intimate familiarity with the nuances of ongoing litigation--a familiarity that appellate judges, handicapped by the sterility of an impassive record, cannot hope to match. Dopp v. Pritzker, 38 F.3d 1239, 1253 (1st Cir.1994). Here, choosing not to remand would effectively ignore the district court's special competence in the realm of discretionary decisionmaking. Because we can discern no basis for displacing the trier in so peremptory a manner, we conclude that remand represents the most appropriate remedy in this instance.