Rineheart v. Ciba-Geigy Corp.

190 F.R.D. 197, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17554, 1999 WL 1029491
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Louisiana
DecidedNovember 9, 1999
DocketNo. Civ.A. 96-517-B-M2
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 190 F.R.D. 197 (Rineheart v. Ciba-Geigy Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rineheart v. Ciba-Geigy Corp., 190 F.R.D. 197, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17554, 1999 WL 1029491 (M.D. La. 1999).

Opinion

RULING ON APPEAL

POLOZOLA, Chief Judge.

This matter is before the Court on an appeal taken by Shell Oil Company from the Magistrate Judge’s rulings which allowed and approved plaintiffs’ public notice of the Court’s denial of class certification.1 To fully understand the issue before the Court, it is necessary to set forth a brief background of this action and the prior rulings of the Court.

On October 2,1998, this Court granted the defendants’ motion to deny class certification.2 Thereafter, the plaintiffs requested that public notice of the denial of class certification be given to all putative class members. On January 25, 1999, the Magistrate Judge granted plaintiffs’ motion for approval of notice.3 The Magistrate Judge also ordered that the notice be published in the Sunday Advocate in Baton Rouge and in the local Iberville Parish newspaper for four consecutive weeks.4 Shell Oil Company then timely appealed the decision of the Magistrate Judge.

In its appeal, Shell contends that a “blanket notice” of the denial of class certification is “not contemplated or provided for” under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.5 Shell also argues that providing a public notice through newspaper publication “will only serve to generate public interest in the lawsuit and cause claims to be filed where no claims before existed.”6 Plaintiffs seek to have the Magistrate Judge’s opinion affirmed.

In her the decision to approve public notice of the denial of class certification, the Magistrate Judge noted that “counsel for some of the plaintiffs have indicated to the Court that they have previously spoken with individuals to whom they represented that they did not need to file separate suits at that time, as a motion to certify a class was going to be filed.”7 The Magistrate Judge also relied upon Roper v. Consurve, Inc.8 for the proposition that public notice should be given since the denial of class certification does “affect adversely the rights of individuals not before the court.”9

Rule 23(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that “a class action shall not be dismissed or compromised without the approval of the court, and notice of the proposed dismissal or compromise shall be given to all members of the class in such manner as the court directs.”

In Roper v. Consurve, the Fifth Circuit set forth the procedure to be followed by the court with regard to notice of dismissal requirements under subdivision (e) of Rule 23:

We have held that prior to certification a class action cannot be dismissed merely because the representatives are satisfied, unless there is notice to the putative class that the proposed dismissal is proper, as [200]*200required by Rule 23(e), F.R.C.P., Pearson v. Ecological Science Corp., 522 F.2d 171, 177 (5th Cir.1975), cert, denied, 425 U.S. 912, 96 S.Ct. 1508, 47 L.Ed.2d 762, and cases cited therein. Where, as here, there is a Rule 23(c)(1) determination that the class action is not maintainable, the notice requirements of Rule 23(e) do not apply if “dismissal and settlement of the action do not directly affect adversely the rights of individuals not before the court.” Id____ The court itself has special responsibilities to ensure that the dismissal does not prejudice putative members.10

The Court in Roper relied upon its prior holding in Pearson v. Ecological Science Corp.11 In Pearson, the trial court denied class certification. Thereafter, the claims were settled and the case was dismissed. The Fifth Circuit held that no notice of the settlement was required to be given to members of the asserted class because there had previously been a judicial determination that the case could not be maintained as a class action. Because there was no class, the Court found that there were no “class members” to be notified of the settlement. The following excerpt from Pearson is illustrative and relevant for resolution of the issue presented to this Court on the pending appeal:

The special prophylactic function that subdivision (e) of Rule 23 was designed for is to “assure that any person whose rights would be affected by a dismissal or compromise has the opportunity to contest the proposed action” ... In order to protect the rights of absent class members during “the interim between filing and the 23(c)(1) determination by the court,” other courts have required that for purposes of the notice provisions of subdivision (e) that the action be presumed proper for class certification ... Appellants and the S.E.C. ask this court to extend the judicial gloss on subdivision (e) of Rule 23 to encompass the situation where as here the trial court has determined prior to the execution of a settlement agreement that the action may not be maintained as a class action under Rule 23. This we decline to do. As stated by the Advisory Committee’s Notes to Rule 23, “a negative determination (of class action status) means that the action should be stripped of its character as a class action” ... Hence, where a court has ruled under Rule 23(c)(1) that an action cannot properly be maintained as a class action the notice requirements of Rule 23(e) do not apply, at least where the dismissal and settlement of the action do not directly affect adversely the rights of individuals not before the court.12

Both Roper and Pearson involved settlements or dismissals of actions for which class certification had previously been denied. In Pearson, the Fifth Circuit set forth the general rule that once the court determines that there is no class action, subdivision (e) of Rule 23 does not apply, and no notice to “the members of the class” of dismissal or settlement is required. However, the Pearson court was careful to note a possible narrow exception to the general rule, i.e. where the dismissal and settlement of the action directly affects adversely the rights of individuals not before the court.

In both Roper and Pearson, the Fifth Circuit was addressing when notice of a dismissal or settlement is required under subdivision (e) of Rule 23. In the present case, there was no dismissal or settlement. Instead, there was a ruling made by the Court which denied the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification. Pearson specifically holds that no notice of a dismissal or settlement to asserted class members is required if there has been a judicial denial of class certification. Thus, under the clear procedures set forth by the Fifth Circuit in Pearson, there is no legal or other basis for this Court to order a public notice of the denial of class certification since no dismissal or compromise was involved.13

[201]*201This Court’s conclusion is also supported by the following reasons set forth in Polakoff v. Delaware Steeplechase and Race Ass’n

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Bluebook (online)
190 F.R.D. 197, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17554, 1999 WL 1029491, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rineheart-v-ciba-geigy-corp-lamd-1999.