Parmar v. Jeetish Imports, Inc.

• Decision Date: 07 June 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-9340,98-9340
• Citation: 180 F.3d 401
• Parties: , Mohinder PARMAR, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JEETISH IMPORTS, INC., Defendant-Appellant. Second Circuit
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Page 401

180 F.3d 401, Mohinder PARMAR, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JEETISH IMPORTS, INC., Defendant-Appellant.

No. 98-9340.

United States Court of Appeals,Second Circuit.

June 7, 1999.

Appearing for appellant: Michael B. Wolk, N.Y., N.Y.

Appearing for appellee: Kenneth A. Goldberg, N.Y., N.Y.

Before: HON. AMALYA L. KEARSE, HON. ROSEMARY S. POOLER, Circuit Judges, HON. MILTON POLLACK, District Judge ^*.

In the present Title VII matter, defendant, a private entity, filed an appeal from the district court's denial of its motion to dismiss the complaint on statute-of-limitations grounds. Because such a denial is an interlocutory order, and because the prerequisites to an immediate interlocutory appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) had not been met, this Court dismissed the appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction.

Plaintiff has moved for an order requiring defendant to pay him double costs, attorneys' fees, and damages in connection with the appeal. Defendant has opposed, contending principally that the denial of a motion to dismiss a Title VII complaint on statute-of-limitations grounds is immediately appealable under the collateral order doctrine. That contention is meritless under well established principles. To come within that doctrine, an order must at a minimum (1) " 'conclusively determine the disputed question,' " (2) " 'resolve an important issue completely separate from the merits of the action,' " and (3) " 'be effectively unreviewable on appeal from a final judgment.' " Richardson-Merrell Inc. v. Koller, 472 U.S. 424, 431, 105 S.Ct. 2757, 86 L.Ed.2d 340 (1985) (quoting Coopers & Lybrand v. Livesay, 437 U.S. 463, 468, 98 S.Ct. 2454, 57 L.Ed.2d 351 (1978)). At least two of these conditions are absent here. First, the denial of defendant's motion to dismiss did not conclusively determine its statute-of-limitations defense. All interlocutory orders remain subject to modification or adjustment prior to the entry of a final judgment adjudicating the claims to which they pertain. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b); United States v. LoRusso, 695 F.2d 45, 53 (2d Cir.1982) ("whether the case sub judice be civil or criminal[,] so long as the district court has jurisdiction over the case, it possesses inherent power over interlocutory orders, and can reconsider them when it is consonant with justice to do so" (internal quotation marks omitted)), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1070, 103 S.Ct. 1525, 75 L.Ed.2d 948 (1983). Second, the denial of a statute-of-limitations defense may effectively be reviewed on appeal from a final judgment. "[T]he possibility that a ruling may be erroneous and may impose additional litigation expense is not sufficient to set aside the finality requirement imposed by Congress." Richardson-Merrell Inc. v. Koller, 472 U.S. at 436.

Defendant's additional contention that it believed an immediate appeal was available...