This afternoon at 2:00 p.m. in San Francisco, an eleven-judge en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit will hear oral argument on rehearing in Dukes v. Wal-Mart, Inc. (see this blog post for more). In 2007, a three-judge panel (with one judge dissenting) affirmed the trial court's order granting class certification under Rule 23(b)(2) of plaintiffs' Title VII claims for gender discrimination. Dukes v. Wal-Mart, Inc., 509 F.3d 1168 (9th Cir. 2007).
Time permitting, I'm going to attend the Ninth Circuit argument today and provide a report here tomorrow.
UPDATE: This morning's Daily Journal reports on the upcoming argument and provides the names of the eleven judges on the en banc panel: Alex Kozinski; Stephen Reinhardt; Marsha Berzon; Michael Daly Hawkins; Barry G. Silverman; Susan P. Graber; Richard A. Paez; Raymond C. Fisher; Pamela Ann Rymer; Carlos T. Bea; and Sandra S. Ikuta.
According to the article, seven were appointed by Democratic presidents. Kozinski, Rymer, Bea, and Ikuta are "[t]he conservatives on the panel." John Roemer, "Wal-Mart Will Try (Again) to Block Class Action," Daily Journal (Mar. 24, 2009).
Judge Hawkins was part of the two-judge majority in the original proceeding. Neither Judge Harry Pregerson, who wrote the majority opinion, nor Andrew J. Kleinfeld, who dissented, is part of the en banc panel.
Comments