MURRY v. ALASKA AIRLINES, INC.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today released an order in MURRY v. ALASKA AIRLINES, INC., No. 06-15847, a diversity appeal. The panel consisted of Stephen Reinhardt, Melvin Brunetti and Raymond C. Fisher, Circuit Judges.
We respectfully request that the Supreme Court of California exercise its discretion and decide the certified question set forth in Part I of this order. I. Question Certified Pursuant to Rule 8.548 of the California Rules of Court, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, before which this appeal is pending, requests that the Supreme Court of California answer the following question: Should issue-preclusive effect be given to a federal agency’s investigative findings, when the subsequent administrative process provides the complainant the option of a formal adjudicatory hearing to determine the contested issues de novo, as well as subsequent judicial review of that determination, but the complainant elects not to invoke his right to that additional process? The decisions of the Supreme Court of California and the California Courts of Appeal do not provide controlling precedent regarding the certified question, the answer to which will be determinative of this appeal. We understand that the Supreme Court of California may reformulate our question, and we agree to accept and follow the court’s decision. To aid the Supreme Court of California in deciding whether to accept the certification, we provide the following statement of facts and explanation. II. Statement of Facts Kevin Murray (”Murray”), a quality assurance auditor at Alaska Airlines (”Alaska”) brought safety concerns to the attention of the Federal Aviation Administration (”FAA”), which then conducted an investigation that revealed “signifi. . .