Parklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore

439 U.S. 322 (1979)

Facts

The SEC sued Parklane (D) for issuing a materially false and misleading proxy statement. The district court in that action ruled in favor of the SEC and it entered a declaratory judgment against D. D was found guilty without a jury trial. Shore (P) and other shareholders had brought a class action suit for damages, rescission of a merger, and recovery of costs prior to the SEC action. After the SEC results were in, P moved for a summary judgment. P argued that collateral estoppel precluded D from relitigating the proxy statement issue which had been resolved against D in the SEC action. The district court held that collateral estoppel would deny D its constitutional right under the Seventh Amendment to a jury trial. The court of appeals reversed. D appealed.