Court Opinion

ID: 9666217
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 01:08:05.852993+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:24.974134
License: Public Domain

SCOTT, Justice
(dissenting).
Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution of the State of Minnesota provides: “Every person is entitled to a certain remedy in the laws for all injuries or wrongs which he may receive to his * * * property * * * and to obtain justice freely and without purchase, completely and without denial, promptly and without delay, comformable to the laws.” The majority frustrates this provision when it reverses certification of this class. On the one hand, it holds that denying a class action in the first Alevizos action was not the law of the case: “Clearly * * * the class currently proposed is markedly different from that proposed 15 years ago, both in numbers and types of properties involved and in the scientific and logical basis for defining the members of the class.” This presumably means that by denying the class action in the first case, we did not mean to preclude a class action from ever being brought. Nevertheless, when faced with a class the trial court called “the purest class of all possible classes surrounding the airport,” the majority again denies certification. In other words, we have effectively precluded a class action from ever being brought in such a proceeding.
A class action would be the superior method of adjudicating the controversy in the instant case. In determining whether a class should be certified, the balance should be swung in favor of the class action. Thomas v. Clarke, 54 F.R.D. 245, 249 (D.Minn.1971). Class actions serve a valuable policing function for remedying legal wrongs when individual claims are small and, hence, are unlikely to be brought. See Buchholtz v. Swift & Co., 62 F.R.D. 581 (D.Minn.1973). If there is to be an error, “let it be made in favor and not against the maintenance of the class action, for it is always subject to modification should later developments during the course of the trial so require.” Id. at 595 (citation omitted).
The majority argues that because a separate determination of damages must take place the class action is not the most efficient means of adjudicating these claims. In determining whether common questions predominate over individual questions, courts have held that the amount of damages is invariably an individual question and does not defeat class action treatment. See Blackie v. Barrack, 524 F.2d 891 (9th Cir.1975), cert. den. 429 U.S. 816, 97 S.Ct. *51757, 50 L.Ed.2d 75 (1976). Courts have consistently recognized that the possibility of separate trials on individual issues does not bar a class action. See Epstein v. Weiss, 50 F.R.D. 387, 393-94 (E.D.La.1970); Dolgow v. Anderson, 43 F.R.D. 472, 490 (E.D. N.Y.1968).
Other states have allowed a class action for inverse condemnation. In Foster v. City of Detroit, Michigan, 254 F.Supp. 655 (E.D.Mich.1966), aff'd 405 F.2d 138, 146 (6th Cir.1968), landowners brought a class action against the city for damages for unlawful taking. The defendant asserted that because of the number and variety of proofs necessary to each separate parcel of land a class action was not appropriate. 254 F.Supp. at 668. The court disagreed and held there was a sufficient community of interests. The court said: “There are important questions of law and fact affecting all members of the class which override the factual differences regarding the damages suffered by each individual.” Id.
Separate trials determining individual damages are customary in such matters. In this situation, if the trial on liability is favorable relative to the entire class, the posture is similar to that when a typical condemnation petition has been filed. The petition is required to list all of the landowners known to be affected by the action, and a hearing is conducted on whether a taking is necessary. Minn.Stat. §§ 117.-055-.075 (1984). At that point, similarly to what is requested here, the landowner is entitled to an impartial tribunal to assess damages. State v. Anderson, 220 Minn. 139, 19 N.W.2d 70 (1945); State ex rel. Hunt v. City of Montevideo, 142 Minn. 157, 171 N.W. 314 (1919); State v. Chicago, M. & St. P. Ry. Co., 36 Minn. 402, 31 N.W. 365 (1887). Different properties may be affected differently. Cf. United States v. River Rouge Improvement Co., 269 U.S. 411, 46 S.Ct. 144, 70 L.Ed. 339 (1926). In fact, sometimes benefits accrue to a particular parcel of land in a condemnation action so that it is determined that no damages should be awarded to that parcel’s owner. Nelson v. County Board of Nicollet County, 154 Minn. 358, 191 N.W. 913 (1923); Burg v. Township of Rosedale, 143 Minn. 424, 174 N.W. 309 (1919). This is a separate issue for the trier of fact. Chicago, R.I. & P. Ry. Co. v. City of Minneapolis, 164 Minn. 226, 205 N.W. 640 (1925).
“Private property shall not be taken, destroyed or damaged for public use without just compensation therefor, first paid or secured.” Minn. Const, art. 1, § 13. Inverse condemnation is a remedy designed to protect the public and to assure that the landowner whose property was taken receives just compensation. Chicago, R.I. & P. Ry. Co, 164 Minn. 226, 205 N.W. 640 (1925). To say that a class action in this instance would result in duplicative trials misses the mark. As the trial court stated, "Disallowing a class here would effectively prevent many of the class members from recovering any damages which may have been incurred.” The class action would also avoid inconsistent results. The only conceivable way that most of these parties can afford to bring this action to be compensated is to allow them to bring a class action on the direct and substantial invasion issue and then permit a separate determination of damages. The majority of the people would need to participate only in their particular damage action. To force these parties to litigate separately would be burdensome not only for the parties, but for the judicial system. The parties, if they prevailed on the liability issue, could fashion an agreement whereby a structure similar to the special master in the federal courts could be approved to handle the individual damage awards, thus saving valuable court time.
Denying a class action in this case denies these citizens their right under our state constitution by effectively preventing them from an affordable means of bringing this *518action. I would uphold the certification of the class.