Mosley v. General Motors Corp. case brief

Mosley v. General Motors Corp. case brief summary
497 F.2d 1330 (1974)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Plaintiffs appealed a decision from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, severing 10 counts of plaintiffs' 12-count class action, which alleged 42 U.S.C.S. § 2000e et seq. and 42 U.S.C.S. § 1981 violations, and withholding determination of the propriety of the class until further discovery.

CASE FACTS
Plaintiffs jointly brought a 12-count action, alleging discriminatory employment practices by defendants. The district court severed the first 10 counts into 10 separate causes of action and withheld determination of the propriety of the purported class until further discovery. Plaintiffs appealed.

DISCUSSION

• Concluding that the district court abused its discretion in severing the joined actions, the court reversed the judgment of the district court, remanded with directions to permit the plaintiffs to proceed jointly under Fed. R. Civ. P. 20(a), and affirmed that portion of the district court's judgment withholding determination of the propriety of the purported class until further discovery. 
• The court found that defendants' company-wide policy purportedly designed to discriminate similarly arose out of the same series of transactions or occurrences. 
• The court also found that the discriminatory character of defendants' conduct was basic to each plaintiff's recovery.

CONCLUSION
Finding that severance of the joined actions was an abuse of discretion, the court reversed the district court's judgment disallowing joinder, remanded with directions to permit plaintiffs to proceed jointly, and affirmed that portion of the judgment withholding determination of the propriety of the purported class until further discovery.

Recommended Supplements for Civil Procedure