Woolen v. Surtran Taxicabs, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
684 F.2d 324 (1982)
- Written by Mary Phelan D'Isa, JD
Facts
An antitrust class action challenging the Dallas/Fort Worth airport’s restriction of solicitation of taxicab passengers to limited permit holders pitted two groups of plaintiffs against each other. One group, the Whorton group, was concerned primarily about damages, and the other group, the Campisi group, was concerned with injunctive relief. More than 200 Whorton-group members, believing that their interests diverged from and would not be adequately represented by the Campisi group, motioned to be excluded from the class, and four members motioned to intervene under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a) so they could participate as active parties and thereby protect the Whorton group’s interests. The district court denied intervention and certified the class under Rule 23(b)(2), which in practical effect denied the Whorton group members’ motion for exclusion because a judgment in a 23(b)(2) class action binds absentee class members. The Whorton plaintiffs appealed and argued that they were being locked into a mandatory class action and that they were not going to be adequately represented.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Brown, J.)
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