Schatte

Paul Hinst, one of the appellants in the above entitled action, has moved this court for an order substituting Clarence E. Todd as his counsel and for leave to file a petition for rehearing. Both motions are opposed by counsel for the remaining 25 appellants. The motions were submitted on affidavits, briefs and oral argument.

Ordinarily substitution of counsel is granted a litigant upon request. But in this case we think the circumstances are such that to permit such a substitution at this stage of the proceedings would result in confusion and perhaps injustice insofar as the remaining twenty-five appellants are concerned.

Appellant Hinst and twenty-five other individuals brought this action for damages arising out of the loss of their employment. The complaint purports to have been brought on behalf of 2,000 other individuals similarly situated but, since each plaintiff’s claim is individual and several, and no specific property can be affected by the action, the action is a “spurious. class suit” under Rule 23(a)(3) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A. Such a suit is merely a permissive joinder device in which the right and liability of each individual…