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191514P.pdf 03/24/2020 Quinton Harris v. Union Pacific Railroad Company
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 19-1514
U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska - Omaha
[PUBLISHED] [Before Gruender, Author, with Kelly and Erickson, Circuit
Judges]
Civil case - Class Actions. The district court abused its discretion in
finding that plaintiffs met the Rule 23(b)2) and (b)(3) requirements and
in certifying a class of all employees who have been or will be subject to
fitness-for-duty evaluation because of a reportable health event from
September, 2014 until the end of the class; the individualized inquiries
cannot be addressed in a manner consistent with Rule 23; both the text of
the ADA and the record demonstrate that the district court would be
required to consider the unique circumstances of each position in question
to determine whether the company's policy was unlawfully discriminatory;
this inherently individualized process defeats both the predominance and
cohesiveness requirements of Rule 23. Judge Kelly, concurring.