Marshall v. Holiday Magic, Inc.

550 F.2d 1173, 23 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 72
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMarch 8, 1977
DocketNo. 74-2773
StatusPublished
Cited by108 cases

This text of 550 F.2d 1173 (Marshall v. Holiday Magic, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Marshall v. Holiday Magic, Inc., 550 F.2d 1173, 23 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 72 (9th Cir. 1977).

Opinions

JAMES M. CARTER, Circuit Judge:

This is an appeal from a court approved settlement of class actions against Holiday Magic, Inc., certain of its affiliated corporations, and individual defendants. The settlement is a final judgment entered pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b).

Appellants, who were sued as defendants in one case and filed as cross-plaintiffs, argue that the district court abused its discretion by approving the settlement. They claim there was inadequate representation and notice and that the settlement itself was unreasonable. We disagree and therefore affirm.

Facts

Holiday Magic is a cosmetic company which distributes its product via a “pyramid sales” scheme. Distributorships are purchased from the corporation and arranged in'a hierarchy. Those at higher levels earn larger profits, thereby encouraging all participants to enlist other distributors into the plan. Continued upward mobility in the hierarchy depends on an infinite supply of distributors.

Approximately 25 actions were filed against Holiday Magic and various affiliated defendants across the country. Eighteen of these suits purported to be class actions asserting claims under the securities and antitrust laws. Most of these actions were transferred to the Northern District of California (which already had six of them) and assigned to Judge Burke by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407. Judge Burke also presided over an action brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission against Holiday Magic, SEC v. Holiday Magic, Inc., et al. (N.D.Cal., No. C-73-1095-LHB).

All of the class action cases except one included as a plaintiff class all of the distributors, whether or not they profited from the scheme. In Frank I. Marshall and Howard S. Myers v. Holiday Magic, Inc., et al, Civil Action No. 72-899, W.D.Pa., 1972, [1176]*1176however, the distributors who had participated in the process by earning fees were named as a defendant class, and appellants were sued as representatives of that class. They filed a cross-claim against Holiday Magic.

In August 1973, Judge Burke held a pretrial conference to consider management of the consolidated cases. Applications were invited for lead counsel. The court appointed David Gold of San Francisco, who was plaintiff’s counsel in five of the pending actions.

A three-week hearing was held in July 1973 on the SEC’s application for a preliminary injunction. After extensive negotiations, Holiday Magic agreed to a permanent injunction against certain of its marketing practices. Lead counsel for plaintiffs assisted the SEC in this action.

Settlement negotiations in the private suit began shortly thereafter. These culminated in a Stipulation for Compromise and Judgment filed in March 1974. The terms of the settlement required the “settling defendants” (including Holiday Magic and its affiliates) to transfer property worth $2,600,381 to a trust fund established for the benefit of the class. They agreed to repay dollar for dollar all sums paid by class members to Holiday Magic, supplementing the trust with income from their continuing business operations if necessary. A claims procedure was established under the jurisdiction of the district court.

A court approved “Legal Notice and Claim Form” was sent to over 31,000 class members on April 10, 1974. The notice advised class members of the pendency of the action, of their potential inclusion in the class, of the terms of the proposed settlement, of the hearing on whether the settlement should be approved, and of their rights to object to the settlement or exclude themselves from the class. Potential claimants were given until May 6, 1974, to opt out. Approximately one percent did so. Appellants, however, did not.

Prior to the hearing, extensive memoran-da were filed both in support of and in opposition to the proposed settlement. More than 20 attorneys appeared at the hearing and argued before the court. A representative of the SEC spoke in favor of the settlement. The court finally approved the settlement on May 16,1974, and entered findings of fact and conclusions of law in support of it.

Standing

Appellees argue that appellants lack standing because they are neither members of the plaintiff class nor settling defendants. Thus appellees contend, they have no interest in the judgments. However, the class as determined by the district court consisted of all distributors and security holders of Holiday Magic. Appellants fall into this category and received notice as members of this plaintiff class. As members of the class, their legal rights are affected by the settlement and they have standing to sue. See Ace Heating & Plumbing Co. v. Crane Co., 453 F.2d 30, 32-33 (3 Cir. 1971). See generally 3B W. Moore, Federal Practice H 23.80(5) (1969).

Maintenance as a Class Action

Appellants argue that there were conflicts of interest among the plaintiffs such that no single class action could be maintained. They base this contention on the fact that in at least one case, participating distributors were sued along with Holiday Magic. They argue that adequate representation by a single lead counsel was impossible because of these intra-class conflicts.

The determination as to whether a class action should be maintained is committed to the sound discretion of the district court and will not be disturbed on appeal absent a showing of abuse of discretion. Clark v. Watchie, 513 F.2d 994, 1000 (9 Cir. 1975); Price v. Lucky Stores, Inc., 501 F.2d 1177, 1179 (9 Cir. 1974). The two general requirements for a class action under Rule 23 are numerosity and adequate representation. Appellants challenge only the district court’s finding that the class could be adequately represented in light of the alleged intra-class conflicts.

[1177]*1177Only that one case involving appellants, out of the 25 cases brought, named any distributors as defendants. This suit attempted to define a defendant class as well as a plaintiff class. The court refused to sanction class action status for this sole suit (even though it could have done so). We agree with this decision. This one action involved only individual claims collateral to the class action itself. Such claims can be settled by separate actions. See Donson Stores v. American Bakeries, 58 F.R.D. 485 (S.D.N.Y.1973). There are no conflicts within the plaintiff class since any actions between class members may still be pursued outside of the class action.

All plaintiffs have asserted individual claims against the settling defendants. That some of the plaintiffs may have claims against each other does not detract from their identical legal and factual claim against the settling defendants. See Vernon J. Rockler & Co. v. Graphic Enterprises, 52 F.R.D. 335,342 (D.Minn.1971); Mersay v. First Republic Corp. of America, 43 F.R.D. 465, 468 (S.D.N.Y.1968).

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550 F.2d 1173, 23 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 72, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marshall-v-holiday-magic-inc-ca9-1977.