Opinion ID: 187348
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Jurisdiction of This Court

Text: Wuterich contends that we lack jurisdiction over this appeal, because the District Court's denial of certification pending discovery is not a final decision under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We disagree. In this case, appellate jurisdiction to review the District Court's denial of certification pending discovery arises pursuant to the collateral order doctrine of Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541, 546-47, 69 S.Ct. 1221, 93 L.Ed. 1528 (1949). Under the collateral order doctrine, an interlocutory order qualifies as final under § 1291 if it [1] conclusively determine[s] the disputed question, [2] resolve[s] an important issue completely separate from the merits of the action, and [3] [is] effectively unreviewable on appeal from a final judgment. Will v. Hallock, 546 U.S. 345, 349, 126 S.Ct. 952, 163 L.Ed.2d 836 (2006) (bracketed numbers in original) (quoting Puerto Rico Aqueduct & Sewer Auth. v. Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., 506 U.S. 139, 144, 113 S.Ct. 684, 121 L.Ed.2d 605 (1993)). Application of the collateral order doctrine to the District Court's denial of certification is controlled by the Supreme Court's decision in Osborn v. Haley, 549 U.S. 225, 127 S.Ct. 881, 166 L.Ed.2d 819 (2007). In Osborn, the Court held that the denial of a Westfall Act certification by a district court, like the denials of various other immunity defenses, is an immediately appealable collateral order. 549 U.S. at 238, 127 S.Ct. 881; see also Puerto Rico Aqueduct & Sewer Auth., 506 U.S. at 141, 113 S.Ct. 684 (denial of claim of Eleventh Amendment immunity immediately appealable); Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 530, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985) (same for qualified immunity); Nixon v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 731, 742-43, 102 S.Ct. 2690, 73 L.Ed.2d 349 (1982) (same for absolute presidential immunity); Kilburn v. Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, 376 F.3d 1123, 1126 (D.C.Cir.2004) (same for foreign sovereign immunity); United States v. Rostenkowski, 59 F.3d 1291, 1297 (D.C.Cir.1995) (same for Speech or Debate Clause immunity). The Osborn Court explained that the denial of certification qualified for collateral order review because it effectively denied [the defendant] the protection afforded by the Westfall Act, a measure designed to immunize covered federal employees not simply from liability, but from suit[;] ... conclusively decided a contested issue[;] the issue decided is important and separate from the merits of the action[;] and the District Court's disposition would be effectively unreviewable later in the litigation. Osborn, 549 U.S. at 238, 127 S.Ct. 881 (citing Cohen, 337 U.S. at 546, 69 S.Ct. 1221). In other words, by erroneously permitting the plaintiff to proceed against an absolutely immune official, the district court's order subjects the employee to the burden of defending a suit, a burden from which the Westfall Act spares him. Id. at 238-39, 127 S.Ct. 881 (citation, brackets, and ellipsis omitted). The District Court's order denying certification pending discovery is not materially distinguishable from the order at issue in Osborn. First, by authorizing discovery notwithstanding Congressman Murtha's claim that he was acting within the scope of his employment, the order conclusively determined that the Congressman was not entitled to invoke the protections of the Westfall Act to avoid discovery. In addition, by effectively den[ying] Congressman Murtha the absolute immunity from suit guaranteed by the Westfall Act, the order resolved an important issue separate from the merits of Wuterich's defamation case. Id. at 238, 127 S.Ct. 881. Finally, if Wuterich is erroneously permitted to depose Congressman Murtha and conduct document discovery, the District Court's order will be effectively unreviewable on appeal from a final judgment. See id. at 252, 127 S.Ct. 881 (noting that the core purpose of the Westfall Act is to relieve covered employees from the cost and effort of defending the lawsuit, and to place those burdens on the Government's shoulders). As the Court has recognized, a rejection of even a qualified immunity plea is immediately appealable because that defense entitles government officials not merely to avoid standing trial, but also to avoid the burdens of such pretrial matters as discovery..., as [i]nquiries of this kind can be particularly disruptive of effective government. Behrens v. Pelletier, 516 U.S. 299, 308, 116 S.Ct. 834, 133 L.Ed.2d 773 (1996) (alterations in original) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). This principle has even stronger force in the present case, since the Westfall Act confers absolute, not merely qualified, immunity upon federal employees acting within the scope of their official duties. Moreover, the fact that the District Court denied the Government's certification pending discovery in no way limits Congressman Murtha's right to seek appellate review. As noted above, there is no right to even limited discovery in a Westfall Act case unless and until a plaintiff alleges sufficient facts to rebut the Government's certification. See Stokes, 327 F.3d at 1215-16; see also Rasul v. Myers, 512 F.3d 644, 662 (D.C.Cir.2008), vacated and remanded on other grounds, ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 763, 172 L.Ed.2d 753 (2008) ([D]iscovery is not warranted if the plaintiff did not allege any facts in his complaint or in any subsequent filing ... that, if true, would demonstrate that [the defendant] had been acting outside the scope of his employment.) (first alteration added) (internal quotation marks omitted) (citing Stokes, 327 F.3d at 1216). As explained below in Part C, Wuterich clearly has failed to meet even this minimal burden. Because the District Court's decision to deny certification was premised on an erroneous ruling that Wuterich was entitled to discovery, the decision effectively denied Congressman Murtha the absolute immunity to which he was entitled. Therefore, under Osborn, we have jurisdiction to hear this appeal.