Opinion ID: 545549
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Perfecting an Appeal from the Denial of Class Certification

Text: 8 In United Airlines, Inc. v. McDonald, 432 U.S. 385, 97 S.Ct. 2464, 53 L.Ed.2d 423 (1977), the Court considered whether putative class members could intervene for the purpose of taking an appeal of the denial of class certification. The district court in McDonald denied class certification of a claim that the airline committed gender discrimination by requiring stewardesses, but not stewards, to remain unmarried. The district court decided that only those stewardesses who had filed charges with the EEOC were eligible to maintain an action, and the class was thus too small to satisfy the numerosity requirement of Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a)(1). The litigation went forward with the individual claims. Following judgment the individual parties decided not to appeal the denial of class certification. Members of the putative class then moved in the district court to intervene for purposes of taking an appeal, but the district court denied the motion. This court reversed the district court, and the Supreme Court affirmed. 9 The Court first noted that it would serve no purpose for a putative class member to intervene immediately following the denial of class certification; such intervention would make the intervenor only a superfluous spectator because immediate appeal of class certification was impossible. Id. at 394 n. 15, 97 S.Ct. at 2470 n. 15. Instead, the putative class members could wait until it is clear that the class representative is not planning to appeal the denial of class certification (e.g., when the representative does not appeal following final judgment of the individual suit). The critical inquiry, according to the Supreme Court, is whether in view of all the circumstances the intervenor acted promptly after the entry of final judgment. Id. at 395-96, 97 S.Ct. at 2470-71. 10 The critical fact here is that once the entry of final judgment made the adverse class determination appealable, the respondent quickly sought to enter the litigation. In short, as soon as it became clear to the respondent that the interests of the unnamed class members would no longer be protected by the named class representatives, she promptly moved to intervene to protect those interests. 11 Id. at 394, 97 S.Ct. at 2470. In that case, the intervenor filed her motion eighteen days after entry of judgment, and thus securely within the thirty day period allowed for an appeal to be taken. Id. at 390, 97 S.Ct. at 2467-68. 12 The district court in McDonald acted promptly and denied the motion within the time period allowed for an appeal. McDonald demonstrates that the correct procedure for intervening in a class action for the purpose of appealing the denial of class certification begins with a motion in the district court for leave to intervene; in addition, the moving party should allow the district court sufficient time to rule on the motion. It is possible, however, that a timely motion may not have been acted upon by the time an appeal must be filed. The district court's non-action places the putative intervenor in a difficult situation. Nevertheless, several avenues of relief remain open. The putative class member can file an emergency motion with the district court detailing the need for a ruling so that a timely appeal may be taken. Indeed, the district court may enlarge the time for filing an appeal (up to 30 days), as permitted by Fed.R.App.P. 4(a)(5). 1 Finally, if the motion to intervene has not been acted upon within the time to appeal, the putative class member should nonetheless file a timely notice of appeal. Although the filing of the notice would deprive the district court of power to act on the motion to intervene, the cause may be remanded for that purpose. 9 Moore's Federal Practice p 203.06 at 3-24 n. 10 (2d ed. 1990). In short, a putative intervenor has several viable options for preserving the right of appeal until the district court rules on the intervention motion.