IN RE: Pension Fund Class Action Litigation

Case MDL No. 131 Document 2 Filed 04/30/15 Page 1 of 3
BEFORE THE JUDICIAL PANEL ' Cn
@® NOM. LITIGATION | EAE
JU 13 i579IN RE PENSION FUND CLASS 1) Cl
ACTION LITIGATION ) DOCKET No. 131,
OPINION AND ORDER
BEFORE ALFRED P, MURRAH, CHAIRMAN, AND JOHN MINOR WISDOM,
EDWARD WEINFELD, EDWIN A. ROBSON, WILLIAM H. BECKER,
JOSEPH S. LORD, III, AND STANLEY A. WEIGEL, JUDGES OF THE PANEL
PER CURIAM
Class actions on behalf of policemen and firemen in
the cities of Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and El Paso, Texas
and New Orleans, Louisiana, are pending in federal courts in
Texas and Louisiana. The five actions attack the constitution-
@ ality of statutes establishing and providing for the adminis-
tration of pension funds for policemen and firemen in those cities.
Plaintiffs in the five actions move the Panel, pursuant to
28 U.S.C. §1407, for an order transferring these actions to
a single district for coordinated or consolidated pretrial
proceedings.
The statutes in issue require a deduction from the
salary of each policeman or fireman employed by the city to be
contributed to a pension fund. Plaintiffs contend that those
contributions are not refunded to the employee if he terminates
his employment either prior to qualifying for pension benefits
at the end of a prescribed number of years of service or for
[| X any reason other than total disability caused in line of duty.

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eo And it is alleged that this legislatively sanctioned practice
constitutes a deprivation of property without due process of law
and violates plaintiffs' constitutional rights under the Equal
Protection Clause. | |
We are not persuaded that these actions involve
"one or more common questions of fact," 28 U.S.C. §1407 (a); nor
are we persuaded that there is a possibility of overlapping or
inconsistent class determinations unless—the actions are transferred.
Upon consideration of the papers submitted and the hearing held,
we find that the actions in this litigation involve predominantly,
if not entirely, questions of law and that transfer under Section
1407 would neither serve the convenience of the parties and wit-
nesses nor promote the just and efficient conduct of the litigation.
9® IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that plaintiffs' motion to
transfer the actions on the attached Schedule A to a single district
for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings pursuant to
28 U.S.C. §1407 be, and the same hereby is, DENIED.
Pa

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@ SCHEDULE 2A DOCKET NO. 131
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
J. W. Walker, et al. v. City of Houston, Civil Action
et al. No. 69-H-168
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
Billy Jack Gaines, et al. v. City Civil Action
of Dallas, et al. No. 3-6170
WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
Raymond Marquiz, et al. v. City Civil Action
of San Antonio, et al. No. SA-72-CA-271
William N. Gould, et al. v. City Civil Action
of El Paso, et al. No. EP~72-CA-209
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
Willjam J. Warner, Jr., et al. v. Civil Action
Board of Trustees of the Police Pension No. 72-3019
Fund of the City, et al.