Executive Software North America, Inc. v. United States District Court for the Central District

Executive Software North America, Inc., Craig Jensen, and Sally Jensen (“Petitioners”) petition this court for a writ of mandamus to compel the United States District Court for the Central District of California to retain jurisdiction over certain pendent state law claims filed in an employment discrimination suit against them by the plaintiff-real-party-in-interest, Donna Page. Petitioners 1 contend that, in remanding the plaintiffs pendent state law claims, the district court misapprehended the scope of the supplemental jurisdiction statute, 28 U.S.C.A. § 1367 (West 1993), and failed to undertake the case-specific analysis required by that statute. In addition, Petitioners contend that, on a proper application of section 1367, a remand of their state law claims cannot be justified. Finally, Petitioners assert that mandamus is their only means of remedying this asserted error. We grant the writ, but on narrower grounds than urged by the parties.

Factual and Procedural Background

On April 8, 1993, Donna Page filed a complaint in state court against the petitioners. She claimed to have experienced several acts of discrimination during her employment with Executive Software.…

dissenting:

I dissent.

Prior to the passage of 28 U.S.C. § 1367 , the district courts had wide-ranging discretion whether to entertain jurisdiction over pendent state claims. The issue presented itself whenever a district court was faced with the question of whether to retain jurisdiction over a pendent claim or to decline jurisdiction by remanding the claim in removed cases or by dismissing it in others. There was no requirement that a district court give reasons for exercising or declining to exercise jurisdiction. Rather, the decision on pendent claims was committed wholly to the district courts’ discretion. Schneider v. TRW, Inc., 938 F.2d 986, 993 (9th Cir.1991).

As part of an attempt to remedy “mounting public and professional concern with the federal court’s congestion, delay, expense, and expansion,” the Chief Justice, at the direction of Congress, appointed the Federal Courts Study Committee to, among other things, propose a solution to those problems. Report of the Federal Court Study Committee, at 3 (April 2, 1990) (hereinafter “Committee Report”). The Committee was “not asked to propose changes in substantive law.” Id. Rather, the “proposals [were to be]…