Christopher Aburime v. Northwest Airlines

United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT _____________

No. 97-4383MN _____________

Christopher D. Aburime; Bobby W. * Lucas; Blanche Clay; Joseph R. * Richburg; Sandra Williams; Alvin * Williams; Gwendolyn J. Stevens; Larry * Washington; Marcia L. Atkins; Robert * Garner; Richard M. Jones; James Baul; * Sandra Holmes; Deartice Sanders; Susan * Hagood; Gloria Williams; Marshall * Adams; Brandon Carter; Carolyn * Cockfield; Jeff A. Cooper; Darcy Davis; * David Francis; Lloyd Gay; Charles * Mack; Harold Richardson; Jarvis * Shotwell; Anthony Turner; Steven * Wagner, * Appeal from the United States * District Court for the District Plaintiffs-Appellants, * of Minnesota. * v. * [UNPUBLISHED] * Northwest Airlines, Inc., * * Defendant-Appellee, * * Air Line Pilots Association * International; International Association * of Machinists and Aerospace Workers; * International Brotherhood of Teamsters; * Northwest Airlines, Foreman's * Association; Northwest Airlines, * Meteorologist's Association; Transport *

Workers Union of America, * * Defendants. * _____________

Submitted: June 8, 1998 Filed: July 7, 1997 _____________

Before FAGG, BRIGHT, and BEAM, Circuit Judges. _____________

PER CURIAM.

The Christopher D. Aburime appellants appeal the district court's order granting in part and denying in part the appellants' motion for attorneys' fees and expenses. The appellants also contend the district court denied them the opportunity to file a supplemental fee motion. Having considered the record and the arguments and briefs of the parties, we reject the appellants' arguments. The consent decree governing attorneys’ fees for this case sets out in painstaking detail the circumstances when fees are to be awarded. Given this attention to detail, if the parties intended to award attorneys’ fees incurred during the litigation of fee petitions, we believe they would have stated so. The consent decree contains no such provision, however, and we refuse to imply one. Cf. Jones v. MacMillan Bloedel Containers, Inc., 685 F.2d 236, 239 (8th Cir. 1982) (unless expressly prohibited by the consent decree, the district court should award attorneys’ fees for litigating fee petition). The district court correctly determined that the appellants are not entitled to the fees resulting from their fee petition. We conclude that any further discussion of the issues will serve no useful purpose in this long-running class litigation that now appears before the court for the third time. We thus affirm the district court without an extended opinion. See 8th Cir. R. 47B.

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Attest:

CLERK, U.S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT.

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