Scardelletti v. Debarr
| Decision Date | 31 October 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 00-1525,No. 99-2619,No. 00-1411,99-2619,00-1411,00-1525 |
| Citation | 265 F.3d 195 |
| Parties | (4th Cir. 2001) ROBERT A. SCARDELLETTI; FRANK FERLIN, JR.; JOEL PARKER; DON BUJOLD, as Trustees of the Transportation Communications International Union Staff Retirement Plan, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. GEORGE THOMAS DEBARR, Individually and as representatives of a class of all persons similarly situated; ANTHONY SANTORO, SR., Defendants-Appellees, and DONALD A. BOBO; R. I. KILROY; F. T. LYNCH; FRANK MAZUR, Defendants, v. ROBERT J. DEVLIN; RETIRED EMPLOYEES PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION, Movants-Appellants, and A. MEADERS; JAMES H. GROSKOPF; THOMAS C. ROBINSON; DOYLE W. BEAT; MIRIAM E. PARRISH; ROBERT A. PARRISH; DESMOND FRASER; JAMES L. BAILEY; DOROTHY DEERWESTER; THOMAS J. HEWSON; CLAY B. WOLFE; KENNETH B. LANE; BRIAN A. JONES; CHARLES O. SWASY, Parties in Interest. ROBERT A. SCARDELLETTI; FRANK FERLIN, JR.; JOEL PARKER; DON BUJOLD, as Trustees of the Transportation Communications International Union Staff Retirement Plan, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. GEORGE THOMAS DEBARR, Individually and as representatives of a class of all persons similarly situated; ANTHONY SANTORO, SR., Defendants-Appellees, and DONALD A. BOBO; R. I. KILROY; F. T. LYNCH; FRANK MAZUR, Defendants, v. ROBERT J. DEVLIN; RETIRED EMPLOYEES PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION, Movants-Appellants, and A. MEADERS; JAMES H. GROSKOPF; THOMAS C. ROBINSON; DOYLE W. BEAT; MIRIAM E. PARRISH; ROBERT A. PARRISH; DESMOND FRASER; JAMES L. BAILEY; DOROTHY DEERWESTER; THOMAS J. HEWSON; CLAY B. WOLFE; KENNETH B. LANE; BRIAN A. JONES; CHARLES O. SWASY, Parties in Interest. ROBERT A. SCARDELLETTI; FRANK FERLIN, JR.; JOEL PARKER; DON BUJOLD, as Trustees of the Transportation Communications International Union Staff Retirement Plan, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. GEORGE THOMAS DEBARR, Individually and as representatives of a class of all persons similarly situated; ANTHONY SANTORO, SR., Defendants-Appellees, and DONALD A. BOBO; R. I. KILROY; F. T. LYNCH; FRANK MAZUR,Defendants, v. ROBERT J. DEVLIN; RETIRED EMPLOYEES PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION, Movants-A |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
Appeals from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore. J. Frederick Motz, Chief District Judge.
[Copyrighted Material Omitted] COUNSEL ARGUED: Arthur McKee Wisehart, WISEHART & KOCH, New York, New York, for Appellants. William Francis Hanrahan, GROOM LAW GROUP, CHARTERED, Washington, D.C.; Barbara J. Kraft, BEINS, AXELROD & KRAFT, P.C., Washington, D.C.; Kenneth M. Johnson, TUGGLE, DUGGINS & MESCHAN, P.A., Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: KAHN, SMITH & COLLINS, P.A., Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellants. Leonie Hassel, GROOM LAW GROUP, CHARTERED, Washington, D.C., for Appellees Scardelletti, et al.
Before WILLIAMS and MICHAEL, Circuit Judges, and Joseph F. ANDERSON, Jr., Chief United States District Judge for the District of South Carolina, sitting by designation.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded by published opinion. Judge Williams wrote the majority opinion in which Chief Judge Anderson joined. Judge Michael wrote an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.
Appellant Robert Devlin unsuccessfully sought to intervene to challenge a class action settlement in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. Under the class settlement, the trustees (the new trustees)1 of the Transportation Communications International Union Staff Retirement Plan (the Plan) and the named representatives of the class2 agreed to the elimination of cost of living adjustment ("COLA") benefits that had been previously enacted by the Plan's former trustees3 (former trustees) (we will refer to the appellees collectively as "the Trustees"). On appeal, Devlin asserts that he was entitled to intervene before the district court under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a) and (b) to challenge the settlement and that even if the district court properly denied his motion to intervene, he is nevertheless entitled to appeal from the district court's final order approving the settlement. Devlin also argues that the district court's injunction under the All Writs Act prohibiting him from collaterally attacking the settlement in another jurisdiction was improper under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65. We conclude that the district court did not err in denying Devlin's untimely motion to intervene and that Devlin, therefore, lacks standing to appeal the merits of the class action settlement. We reverse and remand the district court's All Writs Act injunction, however, so that the district court may articulate its reasons for issuing the injunction as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65.
The Transportation Communications International Union (TCU) is a labor union representing approximately 85,000 employees, mostly in the railroad and service industries. The Plan is a defined benefits pension plan that covers TCU's officers and employees. In October 1990, the former trustees recommended that the Plan be amended to add a COLA adjustment equal to the increase in the COLA index for every three years after a participant's retirement. As a result of the amendment, which became effective on January 1, 1991, the existing retirees received increases in their pensions based upon the number of years they had been retired.
In late 1991, TCU elected new officers and selected the new trustees to replace the former trustees. In 1993, however, it was revealed that the former trustees had relied upon an incorrect valuation of the Plan's liabilities in deciding to enact the COLA amendment and that enactment of the COLA amendment had increased the Plan's liabilities by approximately $20 million. The new trustees believed that they could not rescind the COLA benefits across the board because, under ERISA, they were prohibited from amending the Plan to reduce accrued benefits. See 29 U.S.C.A. S 1054(g)(1) (providing that accrued benefits "may not be decreased by amendment of the plan").4 Accordingly, they amended the Plan to "freeze the COLA as it pertain[ed] to the future service accrual for active employees," (J.A. at 3), thereby "eliminating COLA increases based on future service under the Plan." (Appellee's Br. at 11.) The amendment did not, however, eliminate the COLA benefits for participants who were retired as of January 1, 1991.
In January 1995, the new trustees filed suit against the former trustees in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland seeking damages and an equitable decree declaring the COLA amendment void as a product of fiduciary breaches.5 See Scardelletti v. Bobo, 897 F. Supp. 913 (D. Md. 1995); Scardelletti v. Bobo, No. JFM-95-52 (D. Md. Sept. 8, 1997). The district court found in favor of the new trustees, agreeing that the former trustees had breached their fiduciary duties. The district court also concluded that the 1991 COLA benefit was not an accrued benefit for pre-1991 retirees such as Devlin because it had not been received prior to their retirement.6 In accordance with the district court's decision, the new trustees amended the Plan and rescinded the COLA for participants who had retired prior to January 1, 1991 (the 1997 amendment).
On October 14, 1997, the new trustees filed the present action as a class action in anticipation of challenges to the 1997 amendment, seeking a declaration that the 1997 amendment was binding on all Plan participants or, in the alternative, that the 1991 COLA amendment was void as to all participants. The new trustees' original complaint named Devlin as a class representative for the Retiree Subclass because he previously had been active in challenging the new trustees' efforts to eliminate the COLA benefits. Devlin, however, refused to accept the position. The new trustees, therefore, named a new representative for the Retiree Subclass, Anthony Santoro.
On February 9, 1999, the district court for the District of Maryland conditionally certified the class pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(1)7 and divided it into two subclasses: those who would benefit from the removal of COLA (the Active Subclass), and those who would benefit from the retention of COLA (the Retiree Subclass). In May 1999, with the assistance of a magistrate judge, the new trustees and the class representatives agreed upon a settlement under which the COLA benefits would be eliminated in exchange for certain other benefits. Under the proposed settlement, it was agreed that the district court would enter a consent order declaring the 1991 COLA benefit void at its inception.
In the meantime, Devlin and four other retirees 8 were pursuing actions in the Southern District of New York alleging claims under the ADEA and ERISA against TCU relating to their death benefits and medical benefits. They also included a claim relating to the 1997 Amendment, arguing that the 1997 Amendment was motivated by age discrimination. See Devlin v. Transportation Communications Int'l Union, 175 F.3d 121, 126 (2d Cir. 1999). On April 13, 1999, the Second Circuit affirmed the Southern District of New York's dismissal of Devlin's COLA claim, stating that ...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Allied Title Lending, LLC v. Taylor
..."the prejudice that delay might cause other parties," and "the reason for any tardiness in moving to intervene." Scardelletti v. Debarr , 265 F.3d 195, 203 (4th Cir. 2001), rev'd on other grounds sub nom. Devlin v. Scardelletti , 536 U.S. 1, 122, 122 S.Ct. 2005, 153 L.Ed.2d 27 (2002). Among......
-
U.S. v. Yielding
...of the conduct that is being proscribed.” In re Baldwin–United Corp., 770 F.2d 328, 338 (2d Cir.1985); but cf. Scardelletti v. Debarr, 265 F.3d 195, 212 (4th Cir.2001) (applying Rule 65 to an All Writs Act injunction issued in a civil case), [657 F.3d 728] rev'd on other grounds sub nom., D......
-
Echevarria v. United States
...to as the All Writs Act, "'empowers a district court to fashion extraordinary remedies when the need arises.'" Scardelletti v. Debarr, 265 F.3d 195, 212 (4th Cir. 2001) (quoting Fla. Med. Assoc. v. U.S. Dep't of Health, Educ., & Welfare, 601 F.2d 199, 202 (5th Cir. 1979)), rev'd on other gr......
-
In re Jimmy John’s Overtime Litig.
...Fourth, and Fifth Circuits agree that Rule 65 and traditional injunction rules apply to anti-suit injunctions. See Scardelletti v. Debarr, 265 F.3d 195, 212 (4th Cir. 2001), rev’d on other grounds, Devlin v. Scardelletti, 536 U.S. 1, 122 S.Ct. 2005, 153 L.Ed.2d 27 (2002) (finding "no reason......