Perry v. Schumacher Grp. of La., Corp., No. 16-15400

• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit)
• Writing for the Court: TJOFLAT, Circuit Judge
• Citation: 891 F.3d 954
• Decision Date: 04 June 2018
• Docket Number: No. 16-15400
• Parties: Pamela M. PERRY, M.D., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The SCHUMACHER GROUP OF LOUISIANA, a Louisiana Corporation, The Schumacher Group of Florida, Inc., a Florida Corporation, Defendants-Appellees, Collier Emergency Group, LLC, a Florida Limited Liability Company, Defendant-Cross Defendant-Cross Claimant-Appellee, Health Management Associates, Inc., a Florida Corporation, Defendant-Cross Claimant-Appellee, Health Management Associates, Inc., a Michigan Corporation, Defendant-Appellee, Naples HMA, LLC, a Florida Limited Liability Company, dba Physicians Regional Healthcare System, Defendant-Cross Claimant-Cross Defendant-Appellee.

891 F.3d 954

Pamela M. PERRY, M.D., Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
The SCHUMACHER GROUP OF LOUISIANA, a Louisiana Corporation, The Schumacher Group of Florida, Inc., a Florida Corporation, Defendants-Appellees,

Collier Emergency Group, LLC, a Florida Limited Liability Company, Defendant-Cross Defendant-Cross Claimant-Appellee,

Health Management Associates, Inc., a Florida Corporation, Defendant-Cross Claimant-Appellee,

Health Management Associates, Inc., a Michigan Corporation, Defendant-Appellee,

Naples HMA, LLC, a Florida Limited Liability Company, dba Physicians Regional Healthcare System, Defendant-Cross Claimant-Cross Defendant-Appellee.

No. 16-15400

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

June 4, 2018

Jason Gordon, Law Offices of Jason Gordon, P.A., Hollywood, FL, Glen H. Waldman, Waldman Barnett, PL, Coconut Grove, FL, for Plaintiff–Appellant.

Theresa Gallion, Marci E. Britt, Fisher & Phillips, LLP, Tampa, FL, Jason Matthew Leo, Littler Mendelson, PC, Orlando, FL, Denise L. Wheeler, Jaime A. Maurer, FordHarrison, LLP, Fort Myers, FL, Thomas J. Walsh, Jr., FordHarrison LLP, Memphis, TN, for Defendants–Appellees.

Before TJOFLAT and MARTIN, Circuit Judges, and MURPHY,^* District Judge.

TJOFLAT, Circuit Judge:

891 F.3d 955

In this workplace-discrimination, retaliation, and breach-of-contract case, Dr. Pamela Perry appeals the District Court’s denial of her motion to enter final judgment, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b), as to seven of her eight causes of action against three companies (referred to collectively as "Defendants") for whom she once worked. The District

891 F.3d 956

Court disposed of those claims on the merits by dismissing some, granting summary judgment in favor of Defendants as to some, and entering judgment as a matter of law in favor of Defendants as to others. This left pending and due to be tried only one claim against one Defendant: a 42 U.S.C. § 1981 discrimination claim against Defendant Naples HMA, LLC ("NHMA").

In an effort to appeal the disposition of her other causes of action instead of trying the § 1981 claim in isolation, Dr. Perry entered into a joint stipulation with NHMA purporting to voluntarily dismiss the § 1981 claim pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1) and then moved the District Court to enter final judgment on the remaining claims. The District Court denied the motion, finding that it no longer had jurisdiction over the action after Dr. Perry voluntarily dismissed her lone remaining claim.

After careful consideration of the record, and with the benefit of oral argument, we reverse because the parties' joint stipulation of dismissal was invalid. Rule 41(a)(1), according to its plain text, permits voluntary dismissals only of entire "actions," not claims. Thus, the invalid joint stipulation did not divest the District Court of jurisdiction over the case.

I.

Dr. Perry is an African-American physician who, during the time period relevant to the case, worked as medical director of Pine Ridge Medical Center in Naples, Florida. There are five named Defendants in this case, four of which are still part of the case and parties to this appeal. Two are subsidiaries of The Schumacher Group ("TSG"), a company that specializes in placing physicians in hospitals in numerous states and worked with Dr. Perry in her placement at Pine Ridge. Collier Emergency Group, LLC ("CEG") is an affiliate of TSG which offered Dr. Perry the position. Naples HMA, LLC ("NHMA") operated the Pine Ridge facility. A fifth Defendant, Health Management Associates ("HMA"), was not affiliated with any of the other Defendants, and Dr. Perry stated that she sued this company in error. Accordingly, she voluntarily dismissed HMA from the case.

In January 2013, Dr. Perry brought suit in the Middle District of Florida against Defendants, alleging that they discriminated and retaliated against her during her employment with them, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 42 U.S.C. § 1981. After the case began, she asked for and received leave to amend her complaint four times. The final iteration, the Fourth Amended Complaint, contained eight claims raised in separate counts, each alleged against a specific Defendant or Defendants.

As the case progressed, the District Court gradually disposed of seven of the eight counts, eliminating some by granting a joint motion to dismiss, others by granting summary judgment on some claims in favor of some Defendants, and still others by entering judgment for some Defendants on some claims as a matter of law. When the dust settled, only one count, § 1981 discrimination,¹ against one Defendant, NHMA, remained.

891 F.3d 957

Preferring not to proceed to trial on that claim alone, Dr. Perry attempted to first make it possible to appeal the disposal of her other claims. In an attempt to effectuate immediate appeal, she entered on November 9, 2014 into a "Joint Stipulation for Voluntary Dismissal Without Prejudice of Count III ( 42 U.S.C. § 1981 ) of Fourth Amended Complaint" ("the Stipulation"). The Stipulation stated,...