Card

MEMORANDUM *

Plaintiff Lewis Card sued defendants Brack Duker, Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. (CFAC), and Montana Aluminum Investors Corp. (MAIC), alleging a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations laws (RICO), failure to pay wages, fraud, and breach of contract. Card claims that he was entitled to profit-sharing under his employment contracts. The district court held that Card’s lawsuit was barred by the four-year limitations period, Rotella v. Wood, 528 U.S. 549, 552 , 120 S.Ct. 1075 , 145 L.Ed.2d 1047 (2000), and that it was not tolled by a class action brought by other employees.

A group of CFAC’s employees commenced class litigation over the profit-sharing plan in 1992. In 1994, the district court certified a class of all “present and former employees of CFAC since the fall of 1985, who are not subject to a collective bargaining agreement of any collective bargaining union at CFAC.” Card testified that he did not know whether he was considered a member of the class or not. He said he did not make an election either way, and that none of the managers were sure where they stood. The class litigation alleged numerous claims, including a violation of the…