Matison v. White
Decision Date | 22 March 1991 |
Docket Number | No. H. 86-0155.,H. 86-0155. |
Parties | Katie S. MATISON, Plaintiff, v. Glenn L. WHITE, et al., Defendants. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Mississippi |
Douglas S. Boone, William W. Sumrall, Laurel, Miss., for plaintiff.
Grady F. Tollison, Ronald W. Lewis, Oxford, Miss., Michael K. Randolph, Hattiesburg, Miss., William Ready, Sr., Meridian, Miss., Dennis L. Horn, Jackson, Miss., Thomas D. McNeese, S. Robert Hammond, Hattiesburg, Miss., for defendants.
This cause comes before the court on the plaintiff's motion for, inter alia, summary judgment or enforcement of an agreement of compromise and settlement, a motion of Dave A. Matison, the plaintiff's husband, to intervene, and defendant Glenn L. White's cross-motion to dismiss and, in the alternative, for summary judgment. The plaintiff seeks an amendment of or relief from the order dismissing defendant White with prejudice, an adjudication that the term "resign" in the parties' settlement agreement contemplated the plaintiff's reinstatement or reformation of the agreement, and specific performance.
During the jury trial of this cause, the parties executed a settlement agreement on June 8, 1989, thereby resolving all claims; counsel for all parties advised the court that the cause was settled and the trial was discontinued. The court gave the attorneys an opportunity to dictate the terms of the agreement into the record but, having agreed that certain terms would remain confidential, the attorneys neither presented the agreement for court approval nor read it into the record. On July 17, 1989 the court dismissed this cause with prejudice in accordance with the parties' announcement of their settlement. The plaintiff's motion was filed on or about July 26, 1989 and the cross-motion shortly thereafter.
The threshold issue is whether the court has subject matter jurisdiction over the pending motions which raise questions of contract law, separate and distinct from the issues in the original litigation. See Lee v. Hunt, 483 F.Supp. 826, 832 (W.D.La. 1979) (, )aff'd, 631 F.2d 1171 (5th Cir. 1980), cert. denied sub nom. Hunt v. Hunt, 454 U.S. 834, 102 S.Ct. 133, 70 L.Ed.2d 112 (1981). In Lee v. Hunt, the district court granted a motion to enforce a settlement agreement and denied a Rule 12(b) motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and other defects. The parties had reached a settlement agreement during trial, dictated the terms into the record at the court's request, and signed the transcribed agreement in the presence of the court with the understanding that a more formal document would be subsequently executed. The court discharged the jury and entered a judgment of dismissal with prejudice based on the settlement. Subsequently, a master settlement agreement was prepared and executed in part and, on motion, the court entered a final judgment ordering the remaining party to execute the master agreement. 631 F.2d at 1173. The court stated that a court clearly "may entertain an action to enforce a settlement of litigation pending before it" and relied on cases involving disputes before the dismissal of the action. Id. at 831-32 (citing Pearson v. Ecological Science Corp., 522 F.2d 171 (5th Cir.1975), cert. denied sub nom. Skydell v. Ecological Science Corp., 425 U.S. 912, 96 S.Ct. 1508, 47 L.Ed.2d 762 (1976); Massachusetts Casualty Insurance Co. v. Forman, 469 F.2d 259 (5th Cir.1972); Cia Anon Venezolana de Navegacion v. Harris, 374 F.2d 33 (5th Cir.1967)). The Fifth Circuit noted that the issue of subject matter jurisdiction was not raised on appeal but cited the above cases in recognition of federal courts' inherent power to enforce settlement agreements. 631 F.2d at 1173-74.
571 F.2d at 1304 ( ). Aro Corp. is distinguishable from the instant cause in that its dismissal was without prejudice. 531 F.2d at 1370, 1374.
Id. at 1398-1400 ( ). The court in Londono stated that in the event the parties had reached a settlement, the action would become moot and the court would have no authority to enforce the agreement absent an independent basis for federal jurisdiction. 768 F.2d at 1226. The cited language may be construed as dictum since the court explicitly reserved ruling as to the validity of the district court's enforcement of the settlement. Kent v. Baker, 815 F.2d at 1399 (citing Londono, 768 F.2d at 1226 n. 1, 1228-29). The court in Kent v. Baker rejected the reasoning in Londono but stated:
This case does not involve, and we do not address, the question of whether and when a district court may reopen a case after it has been dismissed to enforce a settlement agreement.
Id. at 548 n. 4. The court in Ho held that since a judicial consent decree is a final judgment, the district court, having a right to protect the finality of its judgment, had jurisdiction over the enforcement of its consent decree. Id. at 547, 548-49. See White Farm Equipment Co. v. Kupcho, 792 F.2d at 530 (). The court in Kupcho held:
In the instant cause, the parties' settlement agreement was not made a part of the record or incorporated into the final order of dismissal with prejudice and is therefore only a contract, as opposed to a court decree. White Farm Equipment Co. v. Kupcho, 792 F.2d at 529 (). The motions before the court call for judicial interpretation, reformation and/or enforcement of the contract and have no bearing on the original claims in dispute prior to the parties' resolution of this cause.
The instant motions are similar to the motion for clarification of settlement agreement recently addressed by the Seventh Circuit....
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