Gottesman v. General Motors Corporation
| Decision Date | 18 July 1968 |
| Docket Number | No. 17,Docket 32412-32414.,17 |
| Citation | 401 F.2d 510 |
| Parties | Callman GOTTESMAN et al., Appellants, v. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION and E. I. duPont deNemours & Co., Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Clendon H. Lee, New York City (Netter, Netter, Down, Fox & Ness, Gordon, Brady, Caffrey & Keller, O'Connor & Farber, New York City, on the brief), for appellants.
Daniel W. Gribbon, Washington, D. C. (Covington & Burling, Washington, D. C.; Littauer, Gordon, Ullman & Riseman, Edward B. Wallace, New York City, on the brief), for appellees.
Before MOORE and HAYS, Circuit Judges, and TIMBERS,* District Judge.
Defendants-appellees General Motors Corporation (General Motors) and E. I. duPont deNemours & Co. (duPont) move to dismiss plaintiffs-appellants' appeal for the reason that the judgment appealed from constitutes only a partial adjudication in an action involving a single claim.
Plaintiffs, as minority stockholders of General Motors, instituted this derivative suit and in November 1959 filed a 52-page amended consolidated complaint containing fourteen causes of action. In essence, they alleged that duPont had dominated and controlled General Motors in the purchase of certain duPont products, including automotive fabrics and finishes, fluoride compound refrigerants (Freon), refrigerator finishes and tetraethyl lead. Due to the complexity of the issues, Judge Metzner was designated as the single judge for all purposes. With his guidance, counsel stipulated that the first question to be litigated should relate to automotive fabrics and finishes.
On December 13, 1967, after a lengthy nonjury trial, Judge Metzner found for the defendants. Gottesman et al. v. General Motors Corporation, 279 F.Supp. 361 (S.D.N.Y.1967). On March 29, 1968, final judgment was entered pursuant to an order signed on February 20, 1968, after a hearing, in which Judge Metzner said:
* * * I find that more than one claim for relief has been presented in the above entitled action, and I direct the entry of a final judgment dismissing the claims as to Automotive Fabrics & Finishes on the ground that there is no just reason for delay.
Plaintiffs appeal from this judgment.
Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b) permits the court to enter a final judgment as to one of the claims "when more than one claim for relief is presented." The word claim denotes "the aggregate of operative facts which give rise to a right enforceable in the courts." Original Ballet Russe v. Ballet Theatre, 133 F.2d 187, 189 (2 Cir. 1943); McNellis v....
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Gottesman v. General Motors Corporation
...no just reason for delay. This finding was upheld by this court in denying defendants' motion to dismiss plaintiffs' appeal in July 1968. 401 F.2d 510. On this appeal plaintiffs argue that numerous issues of law and fact were incorrectly decided by the court below. We do not have to reach m......
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...claims in the case. Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Mackey, 351 U.S. 427, 435-436, 76 S.Ct. 895, 100 L.Ed. 1297 (1956); Gottesman v. General Motors Corp., 401 F.2d 510 (2 Cir. 1968); Gas-A-Car, Inc. v. American Petrofina, Inc., supra, 484 F.2d at 1104-1105. These technical requirements of the Rule ......
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Aiken County v. BSP Div. of Envirotech Corp.
...claim was a separate claim in that it presented an aggregate of facts giving rise to an enforceable right. Gottesman v. General Motors Corp., 401 F.2d 510, 512 (2d Cir. 1968). Moreover, it was the largest and most important issue in the case,4 and the Court felt it would be inadvisable to d......
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Capital Dist. Physician's Health Plan v. O'Higgins
...question as requiring inspection of the factual relatedness of the different theories of recovery: In Gottesman v. General Motors Corp., 401 F.2d 510, 512 (2d Cir.1968), we defined the word "claim" in the context of Rule 54(b) as "the aggregate of operative facts which give rise to a right ......