N.A.A.C.P. v. American Family Mutual Insurance Co.
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
978 F.2d 287 (7th Cir. 1992)
The NAACP and its Milwaukee Branch (plaintiffs) sued American Family Mutual Insurance (defendant), alleging its redlining practices -- refusing to insure or charging higher premiums in certain zones -- violated the federal Fair Housing Act, other federal anti-discrimination laws, Wisconsin's Fair Housing Act, and state insurance law, framing the underlying practice as five separate 'claims' under different legal theories. After the district judge dismissed the Title VIII and state insurance-code theories and entered partial final judgment under Rule 54(b), treating each legal theory as a distinct claim, the plaintiffs appealed.
Whether a district judge may enter a final judgment on fewer than all claims in a lawsuit.