Opinion ID: 367096
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Denial of Class Action Certification.

Text: 3 Both plaintiffs sought and were denied class action status. Foster's motion was denied prior to the 1975 appeal. Buskey's motion was denied on January 24, 1977. The plaintiffs argue that even though they intervene in a pending school desegregation case, which is a class action itself, they should be allowed to proceed as representatives of the class of black professionals within the broad class encompassed by the parent case. Since, however, the court had previously entered an injunction, in the original class action, which specifically covered discrimination in employment, the court's denial of class action certification was proper. 1 No right of (either) plaintiff or any member of his putative class was adversely affected by this procedure since each had a duty to intervene in (the prior broader case) to settle grievances of the kind asserted here. Allen v. Grenada Municipal Separate School District, 575 F.2d 486, 487 (5th Cir. 1978). The district court's disposition of the class action motion certainly appears to have adequately protected the rights of all concerned parties. The individual plaintiffs were subsequently allowed to attempt to prove their claims, although the trial court eventually found, on October 25, 1977, that there was no discriminatory motive on the defendants' part in failing to promote Foster and Buskey and dismissed their actions on the merits. Furthermore, pursuant to its retained jurisdiction for the purpose of monitoring the desegregation order, the district court ordered, on October 27, 1977, the School Board to revise its promotion procedures so that any suggestion of arguable discrimination be eliminated. The court, thus, exercised its duty to supervise the defendants' compliance with the original desegregation order and thereby rendered at least partial relief for the class which the plaintiffs had sought to represent. On remand, the court is instructed to provide the original Davis class representatives an opportunity to show the need for additional relief. 2 Where the district court is under such an on-going duty to guard the rights of a specific class, additional representation of that class by an intervening individual is superfluous and contrary to the authority in this Circuit. See Allen v. Grenada Municipal Separate School District, 575 F.2d at 487. 4