Nicole Henry filed a petition for a writ of mandamus in the Fourth Circuit, challenging a July 14, 2025 order from the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. The district court had summarily denied the plaintiffs' unilateral motion for preliminary approval of a class settlement. Henry sought two primary remedies: first, an order vacating the district court's denial and directing it to conduct a Rule 23(e) analysis to determine if the settlement was fair, reasonable, and adequate; second, alternatively, she requested that her petition be treated as a direct appeal from the July 14 order. The underlying dispute centered on whether procedural protections for class settlements remained applicable after the court had already determined that the case could not proceed as a class action.
The Fourth Circuit, in an unpublished per curiam opinion, denied the petition based on two distinct legal grounds. First, the court addressed the substantive obligation of the district court under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(e). The court reasoned that because the district court had previously denied class certification, there was no class to settle. Consequently, the district court had no legal obligation under Rule 23(e) to evaluate any proposed settlement agreement. The court noted that the procedural protections established for class action settlements are triggered by the existence of a certified class, which was absent in this instance. Second, the court addressed the procedural mechanism Henry attempted to use. The opinion emphasized that mandamus is a drastic remedy reserved for extraordinary circumstances where the petitioner has a clear right to the relief and no other adequate means to attain it. Citing In re Lockheed Martin Corp., the court held that mandamus may not be used as a substitute for an appeal. Since Henry had adequate appellate remedies available to challenge the district court's order, the writ was inappropriate.
This decision clarifies that the Rule 23(e) fairness review is inapplicable when class certification has been denied, preventing parties from using settlement approval proceedings to circumvent certification denials. It also reinforces the Fourth Circuit's strict stance on the writ of mandamus, ensuring it remains a limited extraordinary remedy rather than a tool for bypassing standard appellate review. The petition was denied, leaving the district court's July 14 order in place. No remand instructions were issued as the petition was dismissed on threshold grounds.
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