BLUE v. U.S. DEPT. OF ARMY

Nos. 88-1364, 88-1376 to 88-1380.

914 F.2d 525 (1990)

Sandra L. BLUE, Plaintiff-Appellant, and Mattiebelle C. Harris, Samuel P. Sheppard, Edward R. Humphrey, Robert L. Evans, Beulah Mae Harris, Leonetta Bibby, Annette Todd, William Kincy, James T. Love, Manuel Early, Bernard Fields, Betty Reid, Lynn Siler, Lelia Walker, Thelma Curry, John Smith, James N. Fleming, Geraldine Ballew, Robert Bronson, Omie White, Carlton Giles, Edith B. McMillan, Mitchell McKeller, Carol J. Anderson, Veola McLean, Alicia Chisholm, King S. Cameron, Jeane Hendon, Joyce Malone, Deborah McMillan, Doris Turner, Violet Henderson, Nancy Alexander, Catherine Gutierrez, Nancy McGlone, Jessie Williams, Dianne Sheppard, Leonza Loftin, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF the ARMY, John O. Marsh, Jr., Secretary, U.S. Department of the Army, Defendants-Appellees. Beulah Mae HARRIS, Plaintiff-Appellant, and Mattiebelle C. Harris, Samuel P. Sheppard, Edward R. Humphrey, Robert L. Evans, Leonetta Bibby, Annette Todd, William Kincy, James T. Love, Manuel Early, Bernard Fields, Betty Reid, Lynn Siler, Lelia Walker, Thelma Curry, John Smith, James N. Fleming, Geraldine Ballew, Robert Bronson, Omie White, Carlton Giles, Edith B. McMillan, Mitchell McKeller, Carol J. Anderson, Veola McLean, Alicia Chisholm, King S. Cameron, Jeane Hendon, Joyce Malone, Deborah McMillan, Doris Turner, Violet Henderson, Nancy Alexander, Catherine Gutierrez, Nancy McGlone, Jessie Williams, Dianne Sheppard, Leonza Loftin, Sandra L. Blue, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF the ARMY, John O. Marsh, Jr., Secretary, U.S. Department of the Army, Defendants-Appellees. In re FERGUSON, STEIN, WATT, WALLAS & ADKINS, P.A., Appellant. Mattiebelle C. HARRIS, Samuel P. Sheppard, Edward R. Humphrey, Robert L. Evans, Beulah Mae Harris, Leonetta Bibby, Annette Todd, William Kincy, James T. Love, Manuel Early, Bernard Fields, Betty Reid, Lynn Siler, Lelia Walker, Thelma Curry, John Smith, James N. Fleming, Geraldine Ballew, Robert Bronson, Omie White, Carlton Giles, Edith B. McMillan, Mitchell McKeller, Carol J. Anderson, Veola McLean, Alicia Chisholm, King S. Cameron, Jeane Hendon, Joyce Malone, Deborah McMillan, Doris Turner, Violet Henderson, Nancy Alexander, Catherine Gutierrez, Nancy McGlone, Jessie Williams, Dianne Sheppard, Leonza Loftin, Sandra L. Blue, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF the ARMY, John O. Marsh, Jr., Secretary, U.S. Department of the Army, Defendants. In re Geraldine SUMTER, Appellant. Mattiebelle C. HARRIS, Samuel P. Sheppard, Edward R. Humphrey, Robert L. Evans, Beulah Mae Harris, Leonetta Bibby, Annette Todd, William Kincy, James T. Love, Manuel Early, Bernard Fields, Betty Reid, Lynn Siler, Lelia Walker, Thelma Curry, John Smith, James N. Fleming, Geraldine Ballew, Robert Bronson, Omie White, Carlton Giles, Edith B. McMillan, Mitchell McKellar, Carol J. Anderson, Veola McLean, Alicia Chisholm, King S. Cameron, Jeane Hendon, Joyce Malone, Deborah McMillan, Doris Turner, Violet Henderson, Nancy Alexander, Catherine Gutierrez, Nancy McGlone, Jessie Williams, Dianne Sheppard, Leonza Loftin, Sandra L. Blue, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF the ARMY, John O. Marsh, Jr., Secretary, U.S. Department of the Army, Defendants. In re Julius L. CHAMBERS, Appellant. Mattiebelle C. HARRIS, Samuel P. Sheppard, Sandra L. Blue, Edward R. Humphrey, Robert L. Evans, Beulah Mae Harris, Leonetta Bibby, Annette Todd, William Kincy, James T. Love, Manuel Early, Bernard Fields, Betty Reid, Lynn Siler, Lelia Walker, Thelma Curry, John Smith, James N. Fleming, Geraldine Ballew, Robert Bronson, Omie White, Carlton Giles, Edith B. McMillan, Mitchell McKeller, Carol J. Anderson, Veola McLean, Alicia Chisholm, King S. Cameron, Jeane Hendon, Joyce Malone, Deborah McMillan, Doris Turner, Violet Henderson, Nancy Alexander, Catherine Gutierrez, Nancy McGlone, Jessie Williams, Dianne Sheppard, Leonza Loftin, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF the ARMY, John O. Marsh, Jr., Secretary, U.S. Department of the Army, Defendants-Appellees. NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND, INC., Appellant, and Mattiebelle C. Harris, Samuel P. Sheppard, Edward R. Humphrey, Robert L. Evans, Beulah Mae Harris, Leonetta Bibby, Annette Todd, William Kincy, James T. Love, Manuel Early, Bernard Fields, Betty Reid, Lynn Siler, Lelia Walker, Thelma Curry, John Smith, James N. Fleming, Geraldine Ballew, Robert Bronson, Omie White, Carlton Giles, Edith B. McMillan, Mitchell McKeller, Carol J. Anderson, Veola McLean, Alicia Chisholm, King S. Cameron, Jeane Hendon, Joyce Malone, Deborah McMillan, Doris Turner, Violet Henderson, Nancy Alexander, Catherine Gutierrez, Nancy McGlone, Jessie Williams, Dianne Sheppard, Leonza Loftin, Sandra L. Blue, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, John O. Marsh, Jr., Secretary, U.S. Department of the Army, Defendants-Appellees.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Decided September 18, 1990.

As Amended October 12, 1990.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Bonnie Kayatta-Steingart, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, New York City, William Clarence McNeill, III, Employment Law Center, San Francisco, Cal., George Cochran, Law Center, University, Miss. (John Sullivan, Douglas H. Flaum, Tricia Kallett Klosk, Peter L. Simmons, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, New York City, Cressie H. Thigpen, Jr., Raleigh, N.C., Morton Stavis, Center for Constitutional Rights, New York City, Stephen B. Burbank, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, Pa., Georgene Vairo, Fordham Law School, New York City, Jerold Solovy, Laura Kaster, Jenner & Block, Chicago, Ill., Barrington D. Parker, Jr., Leslie D. Callahan, Morrison & Foerster, New York City, on brief), for appellants.

Mark B. Stern, Civil Div., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C. (Stuart M. Gerson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Robert S. Greenspan, Thomas M. Bondy, Civil Div., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., Margaret P. Currin, U.S. Atty., Raleigh, N.C., on brief), for appellees.

Before ERVIN, Chief Judge, and PHILLIPS and WILKINSON, Circuit Judges.


WILKINSON, Circuit Judge:

In this case we must determine whether the district court erred in imposing sanctions on two Title VII plaintiffs, their counsel, and counsel's law firm. The court invoked a number of different yet overlapping legal theories to justify its imposition of sanctions, including Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 11 and 16, the "bad faith" exception to the American Rule, and 28 U.S.C. § 1927. In imposing the sanctions, the court ordered not...

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