Huggins v. NC Dept of Administration et al
Filing
69
ORDER granting in part and denying in part as moot 63 Motion to Postpone Trial Date Pending Immediate Appeal of 60 Order and denying 64 Motion to Postpone Trial Date Pending Immediate Appeal of 60 Order for Rule 54(b) Certification of Fin al Judgment, in the Alternative, Certified Request for Interlocutory Order to Timely Appeal - In order to promote efficiencies in case scheduling, the court waits for benefit of the magistrate judge's M&R on the parties' various pending dis covery motions. Upon this court's consideration of the M&R, with benefit of the parties' objections, if necessary, this court will enter further order as is appropriate to promote the efficient scheduling of this case, particularly the sett ing of a new trial date. The court cannot state that Rule 54(b) appeal is proper, and cannot state that there is "no just cause for delay" of appeal of the dismissed claims. The court denies plaintiff's motion for Rule 54(b) judgment. The court cannot certify that its order is appropriate for interlocutory appeal, and plaintiff's motion for certification is denied. Signed by District Judge Louise Wood Flanagan on 11/08/2011. (Baker, C.)
n\j THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
WESTERN DIVISION
NO.5:1O-CV-414-FL
LINDA K HUGGINS,
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Plaintiff,
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v.
N.C. DEPT. of ADMINISTRATION, N.C.
HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION"
ORDER
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Defendant.
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This matter comes before the court on plaintiff's pro se motion to postpone trial date pending
immediate appeal of this court's September 2,2011, order (DE # 63), and plaintiff's pro se motion
for Rule 54(b) certification of final judgment and request for interlocutory appeal (DE # 64). No
response was filed to either motion. The time for filing response having passed, the issues raised
are ripe for review. For the following reasons, plaintiff's motion to postpone trial is granted in part
and denied in part as moot, and plaintiff's motion for Rule 54(b) judgment or certification for
interlocutory appeal is denied.
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
A detailed recitation of the case history is found in the court's order entered September 2,
2011, lodged on the docket at entry 60. The order adopted the magistrate judge's recommendation,
and granted in part and denied in part defendants' motion to dismiss. The court denied plaintiff's
motion to amend complaint, finding that amendment would be futile.
The court also denied
plaintiff's motion to appoint counsel. Additionally, several discovery-related motions were referred
to the magistrate judge, which motions remain pending.
On September 9, 2011, plaintiff filed notice of appeal. Plaintiffs notice of appeal does not
clearly state the basis for her appeal, however the instant motions reveal that plaintiff appeals the
court's September 2,2011, order. The same day plaintiff filed her notice of appeal, she filed the
instant motions. Plaintiff requests the trial date be postponed pending her appeal. Plaintiff also
seeks certification offinal judgment pursuant to Federal Rule ofCivil Procedure 54(b) for immediate
appeal, presumably with regard to the court's September 2, 2011, order. In the alternative, plaintiff
requests the court to enter order allowing interlocutory appeal of its September 2, 2011, order under
28 U.S.C. § 1292.
DISCUSSION
A.
Motion for 54(b) Judgment and Interlocutory Appeal
Rule 54(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that when an action presents
more than one claim for relief or multiple parties, the court
[M]ay direct entry of a final judgment as to one or more, but fewer than all, claims
or parties only if the court expressly determines that there is no just reason for the
delay. Otherwise, any order or other decision, however designated, that adjudicates
fewer than all the claims or the rights and liabilities of fewer than all the parties does
not end the action as to any of the claims or parties and may be revised at any time
before the entry of a judgment adjudicating all the claims and all the parties' rights
and liabilities.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b). Rule 54(b) determinations allowing immediate appeal are the exception rather
than the rule. See Curtiss-Wright Corp. v. Gen. Elec. Co., 446 U.S. 1, 10 (1980). Separate,
piecemeal appeals during a single litigation are often inefficient and uneconomical, and are contrary
to the historic federal policy favoring one appeal on all issues at the conclusion of a lawsuit. Id. at
8.
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To determine whether to grant a Rule 54(b) determination, the district court must decide
whether three prerequisites for immediately appealable partial judgment exist: (1) multiple claims
or parties must be fully resolved; (2) there is no just cause for delay; and (3) judgment is entered as
to one claim or party. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b).
At this juncture, this case has not met the prerequisites required by the rule. No party has
been fully resolved in this case and no claims have been dismissed that could be characterized as
separate claims appropriate for final judgment. See Bridges v. Dep't of Maryland State Police, 441
F.3d ]97, 207 (4th Cir. 2006) ("Rule 54(b) does not provide the parties or the district court with the
authority to convert an order denying a motion to amend or denying reconsideration of that motion
into an order that 'adjudicates fewer than all the claims or the rights and liabilities of fewer than all
the parties,' as required by Rule 54(b)."); Corrigan v. Carmack, 5 Fed. App'x 333, at *1 (4th CiT.
2001) (dismissing appeal from district court order which, among other things, granted summary
judgement in favor of all but one defendant and denied plaintiffs motion to amend, because the
order was neither final nor an appealable interlocutory or collateral order).
A "claim" for purposes of Rule 54(b) is defined to include all legal grounds based on closely
related facts. See Jordan v. Pugh, 425 F.3d 820, 827 (lOth CiT. 2005); General Const. Co. v. Hering
Realty Co., 312 F.2d 538. 540 (4th CiT. 1963). Multiple claims exist under 54(b) where each claim
is factually separate and independent. Curtiss-Wright Corp., 446 U.S. at 6; Lawyers Title Ins. Corp.
v. Dearborn Title Corp., 118 F.3d 1157 (7th Cir. 1997) (noting that the test for "separate claims" is
whether the claim at issue so overlaps the claims remaining that any appeal at the end of the case on
the remaining claims would require the appellate court to cover the same ground addressed on the
Rule 54(b) appeal). Here, contrary to plaintiff s assertion that the district court has disposed of
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plaintiff s causes of action, the district court has only dismissed part of plaintiff s claim and denied
plaintiffs motion to amend for futility.! Plaintiffs race discrimination claim under Title VII was
dismissed for failure to exhaust, but plaintiffs Title VII claims alleging religious and sex
discrimination and retaliation remain. Furthermore, the claims in the proposed amended complaint
arose out of the same factual scenarios that involve the remaining claims. To allow a 54(b) appeal
from the dismissed claims would undoubtedly require the court of appeals to go over the same facts
if appeal from the remaining claims were had.
For the foregoing reasons, the court cannot state that Rule 54(b) appeal is proper, and cannot
state that there is "no just cause for delay" of appeal of the dismissed claims. Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b).
As such, the court denies plaintiffs motion for Rule 54(b) judgment.
In the alternative, plaintiff requests certification for interlocutory appeal under 28 U.S.C. §
1292. The right to a federal appeal is a "creature of statute," and exists only to that extent granted
by Congress. Abney v. United States, 431 U.S. 651,656 (1977). Congress has vested the courts of
appeals with jurisdiction to hear appeals from "final decisions" of the district courts. See 28 U.S.C.
~
1291. There are some limited exceptions to this general rule. See 28 U.S.c. § 1292. Certain types
of rulings are immediately appealable, notwithstanding the fact that they are not "final orders." See
§ I292(a) (providing for appeals of injunctions, receivers, and interlocutory decrees in admiralty
cases). Section 1292 also provides for discretionary interlocutory appeals, which allow, in certain
I Plaintiff also asserts in her motion that the court "completely ignored" her surreply in its consideration of the M&R
"under the auspice that plaintiffdid not seek leave to file said Surreply." (PI. 's Mot. J. 1-2.) Plaintiff is incorrect. While
the court did admonish plaintiff in its September 2, 20 II, order, for filing surreply without leave of court, in violation
of the local rules. the court clearly stated that in consideration of plaintiff's pro se status it did consider the surreply in
its decision,
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limited situations, for a district court, in its discretion, to choose to certify a non-final, interlocutory
order as eligible for immediate appellate review. § 1292(b).
For a party to appeal an interlocutory determination, the district court must, in writing, state
its opinion that the order "involves a controlling question of law as to which there is substantial
ground for difference of opinion and that an immediate appeal from the order may materially
advance the ultimate termination ofthe litigation." § 1292(b). Additionally, the application for such
an appeal does "not stay proceedings in the district court unless the district judge or the Court of
Appeals or a judge thereof shall so order." Id. The court's order of September 2, 2011, does not
involve a controlling question of law as to which there is substantial ground for difference of
opinion. In fact, the court's decisions in that order were based on a large body of case law that
supports its holdings. As such, the court cannot certify that its order is appropriate for interlocutory
appeal, and plaintiff's motion for certification is denied.
B.
Motion to Postpone Trial Date
Plaintiff s motion to postpone trial date seeks additional time for the appellate court to decide
her appeal, which appeal has been discussed herein and denied. In light of the court's denial of
plaintiffs motion for Rule 54(b) judgment and certification for interlocutory appeal, plaintiff's
motion is denied as moot in part.
However, the court notes that discovery in this case has been delayed, as is evidenced by
various discovery related motions currently pending for consideration by the magistrate judge. The
court also notes that the parties have not yet engaged in extensive motions practice and dispositive
motions, for the most part, have not been filed. As such, the case will not be ready for trial in a few
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months as scheduled, and plaintiff's motion to postpone trial is granted in part. The Clerk is directed
to remove this case from the court's civil docket in January 2012.
In order to promote efficiencies in case scheduling, the court waits for benefit of the
magistrate judge's M&R on the parties' various pending discovery motions. Upon this court's
consideration of the M&R, with benefit of the parties' objections, if necessary, this court will enter
further order as is appropriate to promote the efficient scheduling ofthis case, particularly the setting
of a new trial date.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, plaintiff's pro se motion to postpone trial date pending immediate
appeal ofthis court's September 2,2011, order (DE # 63) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part
as moot, and plaintiff's pro se motion for Rule 54(b) certification of final judgment and request for
interlocutory appeal (DE # 64) is DENIED.
l-
SO ORDERED, this the
L
day
tJ.r..t.
~
of~ber, 2011.
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