adequate representation

Carol Sosna married Michael Sosna on September 5, 1964, in Michigan. They lived together in New York between October 1967 and August 1971, after which they separated but continued to reside there. In August 1972 Sosna moved to Iowa with her three children. The following month she petitioned the District Court of Jackson County, Iowa, for dissolution of her marriage. Michael Sosna was personally served when he visited Iowa and made a special appearance to contest jurisdiction. The Iowa court dismissed the petition for lack of jurisdiction under Iowa Code § 598.6 because Sosna had not resided in the state for one year preceding the filing. Instead of appealing, Sosna filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa seeking injunctive and declaratory relief on constitutional grounds. A three-judge court was convened pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 2281 and 2284. While the federal action was pending, the Iowa Supreme Court decided In re Marriage of Williams, 217 N.W.2d 202 (1974), and upheld the statute's constitutionality. The three-judge court upheld the residency requirement. This Court noted probable jurisdiction. During the appeal Sosna obtained a divorce in New York, though custody and support issues remained unresolved from the Iowa proceeding. She returned to Iowa to prosecute the appeal. Sosna sought class certification under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23 to represent Iowa residents who had lived in the state less than one year and wished to initiate divorce actions but were barred by the residency requirement. The parties stipulated that numerous people were similarly situated, joinder was impracticable, her claims were representative, and she would adequately protect class interests. The district court approved the stipulation in a pretrial order.

Phillips Petroleum Company, a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Oklahoma, produced or purchased natural gas from leased land in 11 states during the 1970s. It sold most of the gas in interstate commerce at prices regulated by the Federal Power Commission, later the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Beginning in the mid-1970s Phillips proposed price increases. It collected higher amounts subject to refund with interest if disapproved. Phillips suspended royalty payments to lessors until final Commission approval. It paid the suspended royalties of $3.7 million in 1976, $4.7 million in 1977, and $2.9 million in 1978 without interest after the increases were approved. In 1979 the Commission began investigating overcharges. In 1983 it issued an opinion ordering refunds. Royalty owners Irl Shutts, a Kansas resident, and Robert and Betty Anderson, Oklahoma residents owning leases in Oklahoma and Texas, filed suit in Kansas state court seeking interest on the suspended royalties. They sought to represent a class of 33,000 royalty owners later reduced to 28,100 members after 3,400 opted out and 1,500 could not be notified. Fewer than 1,000 class members resided in Kansas and only about one-quarter of one percent of the leases were located there. The Kansas trial court certified the class under a state statute modeled on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 on an opt-out basis. It sent first-class mail notice describing the action and the right to opt out. The court applied Kansas law to award interest at Commission rates followed by the Kansas post-judgment rate of 15 percent. After the Kansas Supreme Court affirmed, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in 1984.

California amended its Fair Employment and Housing Act in September 1978 to prohibit certain forms of employment discrimination on the basis of pregnancy. The amendment, codified at California Government Code section 12945(b)(2), requires employers subject to Title VII to provide female employees an unpaid pregnancy disability leave of up to four months. The state agency interpreting the statute has construed it to require reinstatement to the same or a substantially similar job upon return from leave, unless business necessity prevents it. Petitioner California Federal Savings & Loan Association maintains a facially neutral leave policy permitting employees with three months of service to take unpaid leaves for disability and pregnancy. The policy attempts to provide a similar position upon return but reserves the right to terminate the employee if no similar position is available. In January 1982, employee Lillian Garland took pregnancy disability leave from her receptionist position at Cal Fed. Upon notifying the employer in April 1982 that she was able to return, Garland learned that her job had been filled and no similar positions were available. Garland filed a complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. The Department issued an administrative accusation against Cal Fed on her behalf charging violation of the state leave provision. Before the scheduled hearing, Cal Fed, along with the Merchants and Manufacturers Association and the California Chamber of Commerce, brought an action in the United States District Court for the Central District of California seeking a declaration that the state statute is preempted by Title VII and an injunction against its enforcement. The District Court granted summary judgment to the petitioners. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed that judgment. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to consider the preemption issue.