Opinion ID: 715669
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Applicability to Respondents of the 1992 Injunction.

Text: 21 Rule 65(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides: 22 Every order granting an injunction ... is binding only upon the parties to the action, their officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys, and upon those persons in active concert or participation with them who receive actual notice of the order by personal service or otherwise. 23 Rule 65(d) codifies the well-established principle that, in exercising its equitable powers, a court cannot lawfully enjoin the world at large. Alemite Mfg. Corp. v. Staff, 42 F.2d 832, 832 (2d Cir.1930). In order for a court to hold a nonparty respondent in contempt of a court order, the respondent must either abet the [party named in the order], or must be legally identified with him. Id. at 833; see also Vuitton et Fils S.A. v. Carousel Handbags, 592 F.2d 126, 129-30 (2d Cir.1979). The party seeking enforcement of an order bears the burden of demonstrating that the persons to be held in contempt are within the scope of the injunction. See Vuitton et Fils, 592 F.2d at 129. 24 Respondents do not challenge the district court's findings that they received notice of the injunction at the October 9, 1993 protest and that they acted in concert with Brusstar at both the October 9, 1993 and the June 28, 1994 protests. They do contest, however, the court's finding that on the dates of these protests, Brusstar was acting as an agent of either B.O.R.N. or a successor organization to B.O.R.N. 25 An injunction issued against a corporation or association binds the agents of that organization to the extent they are acting on behalf of the organization. See Young v. Colgate-Palmolive Co., 790 F.2d 567, 573 (7th Cir.1986). Generally, persons who cease to act in one of the designated capacities are no longer bound by the decree. See Alemite Mfg. Corp., 42 F.2d at 832-33. However, an organization and its agents may not circumvent a valid court order merely by making superficial changes in the organization's name or form, and in appropriate circumstances a court is authorized to enforce its order against a successor of the enjoined organization. See Golden State Bottling Co. v. NLRB, 414 U.S. 168, 179, 94 S.Ct. 414, 422-23, 38 L.Ed.2d 388 (1973) (holding that Rule 65(d) allows enforcement of orders against successors of enjoined parties); Regal Knitwear Co. v. NLRB, 324 U.S. 9, 14, 65 S.Ct. 478, 481, 89 L.Ed. 661 (1945) (Successors and assigns may ... be instrumentalities through which [the] defendant seeks to evade an order.... If they are, by that fact they are brought within [the] scope of contempt proceedings by the rules of civil procedure.); Walling v. James V. Reuter, Inc., 321 U.S. 671, 674, 64 S.Ct. 826, 828, 88 L.Ed. 1001 (1944) ([An injunction] may ..., in appropriate circumstances, be enforced against those to whom the business may have been transferred, whether as a means of evading the judgment or for other reasons.); ICC v. Rio Grande Growers Coop., 564 F.2d 848, 849 (9th Cir.1977) (successor corporation bound by injunction). 26 Whether a new organization is the successor of an enjoined organization depends upon the facts and circumstances of the case. See Howard Johnson Co. v. Detroit Local Joint Executive Bd., Hotel & Restaurant Employees Int'l Union, 417 U.S. 249, 256, 94 S.Ct. 2236, 2240, 41 L.Ed.2d 46 (1974) (case-by-case approach particularly appropriate in light of difficulty of successorship question); International Union of Operating Eng'rs, Local 150 v. Centor Contractors, Inc., 831 F.2d 1309, 1312-13 (7th Cir.1987). The critical inquiry is whether there is a substantial continuity of identity between the two organizations. Cf. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. v. Livingston, 376 U.S. 543, 551, 84 S.Ct. 909, 915, 11 L.Ed.2d 898 (1964) (adequate continuity of identity to support continuing duty to arbitrate); Stotter Div. of Graduate Plastics Co. v. District 65, United Auto Workers, 991 F.2d 997, 1001 (2d Cir.1993) (same). 27 We are aware of the difficulties faced by a trier of fact in cases such as this, where similarly constituted groups of individuals move fluidly between multiple unincorporated associations that share the same basic leadership and goals. Especially in view of the elusive nature of this inquiry, we conclude that the district court did not clearly err in finding that LIFE, an organization of which Brusstar was concededly an officer, was substantially a continuation of the B.O.R.N. organization. Both groups are essentially entities through which Brusstar and others organize anti-abortion protest activity in the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut areas. The similarity of Brusstar's role as a leader of both B.O.R.N. and LIFE justified the district court in finding Brusstar bound by the 1992 Injunction in his capacity as an officer of LIFE. Thus, by acting in concert with Brusstar and with notice of the 1992 Injunction, the remaining Respondents were also so bound. 28