Olympia Hotels Corp. v. Johnson Wax Development Corp.
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
908 F.2d 1363 (1990)
Olympia (plaintiff) built and operated a hotel for Racine (defendant) and sued for breach of contract and civil conspiracy based on Racine's post-contract conduct; Racine counterclaimed for breach of contract (also based on post-contract conduct) and for fraudulent inducement (based on pre-contract conduct). The district court severed the fraudulent-inducement counterclaim under Rule 54(b), tried the remaining claims to verdicts for Olympia, and both parties appealed.
Whether a district court has discretion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b) to enter judgment on some claims while reserving disposition of other claims, where the claims are legally distinct and involve at least some separate facts.