Connell

We hold today that when nominal damages are awarded in a civil rights class action, every member of the class whose constitutional rights were violated is entitled to nominal damages. An award of nominal damages to only the named class representatives fails to appreciate the difference between a class action and a conventional lawsuit.

We also hold that, pursuant to Ninth Circuit Rule 39-1.6, a request for attorney’s fees incurred on appeal must be made to us, not to the district court. The district court is not authorized to award attorney’s fees for an appeal unless we transfer the fee request to the district court for consideration.

I. Facts

This is the second time this case has been on appeal. A detailed description of the facts underlying this case is set out in Cummings v. Connell, 316 F.3d 886 (9th Cir.2003) (“Cummings I”). We briefly summarize them here. Defendant California State Employees Association, Local 1000, Service Employees International Union, AFL-CIO-CLC is the exclusive representative for nine bargaining units of California state employees. The seven named plaintiffs are nonunion employees of the State of California. Although the plaintiffs have no…