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01-417 Devlin v. Scardelletti

By: dmc-admin//June 17, 2002//

01-417 Devlin v. Scardelletti

By: dmc-admin//June 17, 2002//

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This Court has never restricted the right to appeal to named parties. Petitioner’s interest in the settlement approval is similar to those of the nonnamed parties this Court has allowed to appeal in the past. He objected to the settlement at the fairness hearing, as permitted by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. And the settlement’s approval notwithstanding his objections amounted to a final decision of his right or claim sufficient to trigger his right to appeal. That right cannot be effectively accomplished through the named class representative-once the named parties reach a settlement that is approved over the petitioner’s objections, petitioner’s interests diverge from those of the class representative. Marino v. Ortiz, 484 U.S. 301, in which white police officers who were not members of the class of minority officers who had brought a racial discrimination suit were not allowed to appeal the settlement, is not to the contrary. Although the settlement affected them, the District Court’s decision did not dispose of any right or claim they might have had because they were not class members. Nor does considering nonnamed class members as parties for the purpose of bringing an appeal conflict with any other aspect of class action procedure. Such members may be parties for some purposes and not for others. What is important here is that they are parties in the sense of being bound by the settlement. Allowing them to appeal a settlement approval when they have objected at the fairness hearing preserves their own interests in a settlement that will bind them, despite their expressed objections before the trial court. Allowing such appeals will not undermine the class action goal of preventing multiple suits. Restricting the power to appeal to those members who objected at the fairness hearing limits the class of potential appellants considerably.

265 F.3d 195, reversed and remanded.

Local effect:

The decision reverses Seventh Circuit law to the contrary, In re Brand Name Prescription Drugs Antitrust Litigation, 115 F.3d 456 (7th Cir. 1997).

O’Connor, J.; Scalia, J., dissenting

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