Bader v. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
Plaintiff Jeffrey W. Bader appeals from the denial of his motion to enjoin defendants from issuing defendant Goldman Sachs’s 2008 annual proxy statement because of the method used to value compensatory stock options. We assume the parties’ familiarity with the facts and procedural history, which we reference only as necessary to explain our decision to affirm.
We review a district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction for abuse of discretion. See Doninger v. Niehoff, 527 F.3d 41, 47 (2d Cir. 2008); see also 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1). Section 1292(a)(1) review is, like all exercises of jurisdiction, limited by Article Ill’s live case and controversy requirement. See Independence Party of Richmond County v. Graham, 413 F.3d 252, 255 (2d Cir. 2005). Where “an event occurs while an appeal is pending that renders it impossible for the court to grant any form of effectual relief to plaintiff, the matter becomes moot and subject matter jurisdiction is lost.” In re Flanagan, 503 F.3d 171, 178 (2d Cir. 2007). That is this case.
Following the district court’s denial of Bader’s motion for a preliminary injunction, defendants issued their 2008 proxy statement on March 7, 2008, and on April 10, 2008, shareholders elected the unopposed slate of directors. These occurrences render plaintiffs motion for a preliminary injunction moot. See Bank of N.Y. Co. v. Ne. Bancorp, Inc., 9 F.3d 1065, 1067 (2d Cir. 1993) (“In general, an appeal from the denial of a preliminary injunction is mooted by the occurrence of the action sought to be enjoined.”).
Plaintiff asserts that his claim falls within the limited class of cases exempt from mootness as “capable of repetition, yet evading review.” Independence Party of Richmond County v. Graham, 413 F.3d at 256. We are not persuaded. As we have explained, “[t]o apply the ‘capable of repetition yet evading review’ exception to otherwise moot appeals of preliminary injunctions would ... impermissibly evade the ordinary rule, pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
For the foregoing reasons, the appeal from the district court’s February 14, 2008 denial of a preliminary injunction is hereby DISMISSED AS MOOT.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Jeffrey W. BADER v. The GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP, INC., Lloyd C. Blankfein, Alan M. Cohen, Gary D. Cohn, Jon Winkelried, John H. Bryan, Claes Dahlback, Stephen Friedman, William W. George, Rajat K. Gupta, James A. Johnson, Lois D. Juliber, Edward M. Liddy, Ruth J. Simmons, John S. Weinberg, Kevin W. Kennedy, David A. Viniar, David A. Palm, Esta E. Stecher and Sara G. Smith
- Status
- Published