Harding v. Kurco, Inc.
| Decision Date | 15 August 1979 |
| Docket Number | No. 78-1548,78-1548 |
| Citation | 603 F.2d 813 |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
| Parties | 24 Wage & Hour Cas. (BN 251, 86 Lab.Cas. P 33,823 CA 79-3076 Kathleen A. HARDING, Kathleen A. Nuzum, Debra J. Cross, John M. Ramsey, Garret Giann, Ben F. Foecke, Fred A. Bessol and John A. Biggs, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. KURCO, INC., a Colorado Corporation dba Fred Astaire Dance Studios of Colorado and dba Fred Astaire Dance Studio Co. of Denver and dba Fiesta Dance Club, Defendant-Appellant. Ernie GOMEZ and Roxanne Gomez, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. KURCO, INC., a Colorado Corporation dba Fred Astaire Dance Studios of Colorado and dba Fred Astaire Dance Studio Co. of Denver and dba Fiesta Dance Club, Defendant-Appellant. |
Gregory B. Kanan of Rothgerber, Appel & Powers, Denver, Colo., filed Response to Show Cause Order on behalf of defendant-appellant.
H. Earl Moyer of Moyer & Beal, Lakewood, Colo., appeared on behalf of plaintiffs-appellees.
Before SETH, Chief Judge, and BARRETT and LOGAN, Circuit Judges.
These actions were brought by plaintiffs-appellees under the Fair Labor Standards Act against their former employer for wages due, but unpaid. After rejecting defendant's challenge to the district court's subject matter jurisdiction, Judge Matsch ordered that the two actions be consolidated "for all purposes" and referred to the United States Magistrate "for trial to final judgment." In addition, the parties stipulated that the matter would be tried before the magistrate and that the magistrate's judgment would be final, not reviewable by the district court and any appeals would be taken directly to the court of appeals. The latter portion of the stipulation apparently was in response to the district court's local Rule 17(a) which states, in part:
Stipulations for the trial of civil cases to a Magistrate shall detail the review procedures agreed to by the parties.
Following trial, the magistrate filed a detailed Memorandum Opinion and Order in which he found for the plaintiffs and against the defendant. He directed entry of judgment in specific amounts in favor of each of the several plaintiffs and also for attorney's fees and costs. There were no further orders. This appeal was taken from the judgment entered upon the magistrate's order.
Earlier, the parties were requested to address the question of our jurisdiction to entertain this appeal which is taken directly from a judgment entered on a magistrate's direction and order. In our view, the judgment appealed from is not within the class of "final decisions of the district courts" appealable directly to a court of appeals under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Consequently, the appeal must be dismissed. Accord: Horton v. State Street Bank and Trust Company, 590 F.2d 403 (1st Cir. 1979); Sick v. City of Buffalo, 574 F.2d 689 (2d Cir. 1978); Carmena v. International Union of Operating...
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Matter of Seven Springs Apartments, Phase II
...The Article III limitations on the entering of final orders and judgments by non-Article III judges are clear. In Harding v. Kurco, Inc., 603 F.2d 813 (10th Cir.1979), the plaintiff appealed a judgment entered upon the order of a United States Magistrate to whom the action was referred for ......
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Baker Industries, Inc. v. Cerberus, Ltd., Civ. A. No. 82-526.
...Cir.1980) (in banc) (diversity action in tort referred to a master after remand from the court of appeals); Harding v. Kurco, Inc., 603 F.2d 813, 814 (10th Cir.1979) (per curiam) (Fair Labor Standards Act case; parties stipulate that the magistrate's judgment will be unreviewable by the dis......
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Colorado Bldg. and Const. Trades Council v. B.B. Andersen Const. Co., Inc.
...of the district judge and the judge retains the 'ultimate responsibility for decision making in every instance.' " Harding v. Kurco, Inc., 603 F.2d 813, 814 (10th Cir.1979) (quoting Mathews v. Weber, 423 U.S. 261, 270, 96 S.Ct. 549, 554, 46 L.Ed.2d 483 (1976)). Accord United States v. South......
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Pettyjohn v. Sullivan
...judge and the judge retains the `ultimate responsibility for the decision making in every instance,'" (quoting Harding v. Kurco, Inc., 603 F.2d 813, 814 (10th Cir.1979)) (in turn quoting Mathews v. Weber, 423 U.S. 261, 270, 96 S.Ct. 549, 554, 46 L.Ed.2d 483 (1976)); Paris, 795 F.Supp. at 51......