Ressler v. Clay Cnty.

• Decision Date: 31 July 2012
• Docket Number: No. WD 73601.,WD 73601.
• Citation: 375 S.W.3d 132
• Parties: M. Louise RESSLER, Appellant, v. CLAY COUNTY, MISSOURI, Respondent.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

375 S.W.3d 132

M. Louise RESSLER, Appellant,

v.CLAY COUNTY, MISSOURI, Respondent.

No. WD 73601.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District.

June 19, 2012.

Motion for Rehearing and/or Transfer to

Supreme Court Denied July 31, 2012.

Application for Transfer Denied Sept. 25, 2012.

Karen K. Howard, Kansas City, MO, for appellant.

Michelle R. Stewart, Overland Park, KS, and Kevin A. Graham, Liberty, MO, for respondent.

Division Three: KAREN KING MITCHELL, P.J., JAMES M. SMART, JR., and GARY D. WITT, JJ.

JAMES M. SMART, JR., Judge.

Louise Ressler, a former employee in the office of the Clay County Treasurer, sued Clay County, alleging among her claims a class action on behalf of herself and other female employees (“putative class members”) for gender discrimination in compensation in violation of the Missouri Human Rights Act (“MHRA”), Chapter 213, RSMo. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Clay County on her putative class action before addressing the class certification issue. She appeals the grant of summary judgment.

For the reasons discussed herein, we determine that the trial court did not err in granting defendant's motion. We also rule that the court was not required to make a determination on class certification prior to ruling on Clay County's motion for summary judgment. We affirm.

Factual Background

Louise Ressler worked in the office of the Clay County Treasurer from November of 1998 through November of 2008. During her time in the Treasurer's office, Ressler worked full time as a deputy treasurer underneath two different treasurers. The Clay County Treasurer is an elected office holder. Ms. Ressler's paycheck was issued by the County under a budget adopted by the Clay County Commission.

Ressler filed this action on February 17, 2010, asserting four counts against Clay County, including causes of action for sex discrimination, age discrimination, disability discrimination, and retaliation. She brought the cause of action for sex discrimination in Count I of her petition on behalf of herself and all other female employees of Clay County that are similarly situated against the County, not against any office holders. Ressler's cause of action for sex discrimination alleged that she and the putative female class members “received disparate treatment in terms of compensation,” in that the County paid similarly situated males more than Ressler and the putative female class members. Ressler identified the members of the putative class as including: (1) those female employees, including Ressler, holding job positions in the County, who were paid less than the male employees in the same classification; and (2) those female employees, including appellant, holding job positions which formerly had “internal equity” with male employees' job positions, but which were not upgraded when the male employees' job positions were upgraded to a higher classification level.

Clay County filed its motion for summary judgment as to Ressler's individual claims of gender discrimination. The County did not move for summary judgment on the putative class members' claims. Clay County contended that because there were no male employees working in the Clay County Treasurer's Office during the relevant time period challenged by Ressler, her argument for gender discrimination failed as a matter of law, because each individual elected official was in charge of determining salaries for their employees within the total appropriation for that office set by the County Commission.

Subsequently, Ressler filed (1) a motion for an order permitting class counsel reasonable time to determine whether a new class representative could be substituted to litigate the interests of the class, and (2) a motion for modification of the scheduling order to extend the time to file her motion for class certification. The court held a motion hearing on the matter. The court stated at the hearing that it would give Ressler additional time to file her Rule 52.08¹ motion for certification of the class, but denied the motion for an order allowing more time to determine whether a new class representative could be substituted. The motion for summary judgment as to Count I was taken under advisement.

Almost one month after the hearing, the trial court granted Clay County's motion for summary judgment as to Count I of Ressler's petition. The trial court found that the summary judgment on Count I should be treated as final because there “is no just reason for delay.” Ressler appeals the grant of the motion for partial summary judgment. In view of the fact that Ressler purported to bring a class claim as a class representative, and in view of the other circumstances of the case, we agree that treating the summary judgment on Count I as final and appealable is appropriate.

Discussion

Ressler's first three points on appeal all rely on the contention that the trial court erred by failing to rule on the certification of the putative class before considering and granting a pre-certification dispositive motion regarding her individual claims. Because all three points hinge on whether the trial court had the ability to address dispositive motions prior to certification, and a finding on this is dispositive of the class issues, we address all three points together.

Standard of Review as to Whether Class Certification Must First be Addressed

The parties purport to assert different standards of review as to the question of whether the trial court erred in ruling the defendant's motion for summary judgment on Count I before dealing with the issue of class certification. Ressler contends that because the trial court granted the underlying summary judgment motion as to Count I, we must apply the summary judgment standard of review. See ITT Commercial Fin. Corp. v. Mid–Am. Marine Supply Corp., 854 S.W.2d 371, 376 (Mo. banc 1993). Clay County, on the other hand, contends that the appropriate standard of review as to whether the class claim could go forward is abuse of discretion because the determination of whether an action should proceed as a class action ultimately rests within the sound discretion of the trial court. See State ex rel. Coca–Cola Co. v. Nixon, 249 S.W.3d 855, 860 (Mo. banc 2008).

Neither party has cited the precisely correct standard of review for this case. The issue in the first three points is whether the trial court was required to make a determination on Rule 52.08 certification before proceeding with dispositive motions on individual issues. Rule 52.08(c)(1) states, in part, that “[a]s soon as practicable after the commencement of an action brought as a class action, the court shall determine by order whether it is to be so maintained.” “Missouri Supreme Court rules are to be interpreted in the same fashion as statutes.” Joshi v. Ries, 330 S.W.3d 512, 514–15 (Mo.App.2010) (quoting Dynamic Computer Solutions, Inc. v. Midwest Mktg. Ins. Agency, L.L. C., 91 S.W.3d 708, 713 (Mo.App.2002)). “Statutory interpretation is a question of law, which we review de novo.” Id. at 515.

Analysis

No Missouri court has addressed this specific issue with regard to Rule 52.08.² Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, which governs class actions, is extremely similar to Missouri Rule 52.08, and the language in question here in Rule 52.08(c)(1) is almost identical to that of Federal Rule 23(c)(1)(A).³ When there is no Missouri interpretation of Rule 52.08, federal court interpretations of Federal Rule 23 are persuasive in interpreting Rule 52.08.⁴See State ex rel. Union Planters Bank, N.A. v. Kendrick, 142 S.W.3d 729, 735 n. 5 (Mo. banc 2004).

The federal courts have addressed this issue and are in consensus. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Wright v. Schock, 742 F.2d 541 (9th Cir.1984), considered the specific issue of whether a court may address substantive motions regarding a plaintiff's individual claims prior to making a decision on class certification. In Schock, the plaintiffs filed a putative class action alleging violation of federal and state securities laws. Id. at 542. The defendant banks and title companies filed motions to dismiss and for summary judgment as to the plaintiffs' individual claims. Id. The district court held that the defendants were entitled to summary judgment on the issue of liability and dismissed them from the case. Id. at 542–43. The plaintiffs appealed, arguing it was improper for the district court to order summary judgment in favor of the defendants without first ruling on class certification. Id. at 543.

The Schock court considered the text of Federal Rule 23(c)(1), which stated (identically to the current Missouri Rule 52.08(c) at that time) that the court must rule on the issue of class certification “[a]s soon as practicable after the commencement of an action brought as a class action....” Id. Noting that the drafters of Rule 23 considered and rejected a provision imposing a strict, mechanical approach to class action procedures, the court found that the language of section (c)(1) “leaves much room for discretion.” Id. In particular, the word “practicable” in (c)(1) “calls upon judges to weigh the particular circumstances of particular cases and decide concretely what will work.” Id. (internal quotations and citations omitted). Furthermore, the court also reviewed several other decisions where other circuit courts of appeals affirmed summary judgment in favor of a defendant in a putative class action case where there had not been a ruling on class certification and found these decisions to be consistent with the language of Federal Rule 23(c)(1).⁵

With this in mind, the court concluded that “the timing provision of Rule 23 is not absolute. Under the proper circumstances—where it is more practicable to do so and where the parties will not suffer significant prejudice—the district court has discretion to rule on a motion for summary judgment before it decides the certification issue.” Id. at 543–44. Furthermore...