State of Nevada v. LABR ( 2019 )


Menu:
  •      Case: 18-40246   Document: 00515020033        Page: 1       Date Filed: 07/02/2019
    IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
    United States Court of Appeals
    Fifth Circuit
    No. 18-40246                    FILED
    July 2, 2019
    Lyle W. Cayce
    STATE OF TEXAS                                                      Clerk
    Plaintiff - Appellee
    CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL, INCORPORATED; CHIPOTLE SERVICES,
    L.L.C.,
    Petitioners - Appellees
    v.
    UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
    Defendant
    CARMEN ALVAREZ, and her Counsel,
    Respondent - Appellant
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Eastern District of Texas
    Before JOLLY, DENNIS, and HIGGINSON, Circuit Judges.
    JAMES L. DENNIS, Circuit Judge:
    In November 2016, the United States District Court for the Eastern
    District of Texas (the Texas federal court) enjoined the Department of Labor’s
    Case: 18-40246      Document: 00515020033        Page: 2     Date Filed: 07/02/2019
    No. 18-40246
    (DOL) proposed Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Overtime Rule 1 and
    specifically enjoined the DOL from implementing and enforcing that proposed
    rule, pending further order of that court. The proposed Overtime Rule raised
    the salary threshold of executive, administrative, or professional employees
    exempted from the FLSA’s requirement that employers provide overtime pay.
    In June 2017, Carmen Alvarez, a restaurant worker in New Jersey, sued her
    former employer, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. and Chipotle Services, L.L.C.
    (Chipotle), in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
    (the New Jersey federal court) for unpaid overtime pay, relying on the proposed
    Overtime Rule. In her suit, Alvarez contended that, because Texas federal
    court’s injunction did not stay the effective date of the proposed Overtime Rule,
    the rule and its higher salary level for exempt employees became effective and
    Alvarez, whose salary was below that level, was entitled to overtime pay as a
    non-exempt employee.
    One week after filing its answer in the New Jersey federal court,
    Chipotle moved in the Texas federal court to hold Alvarez and her attorneys in
    contempt. 2 After a hearing, the Texas federal court held Alvarez and her
    counsel in contempt, reasoning that they were bound by the November 2016
    injunction because they had acted in privity with the DOL and therefore their
    lawsuit and allegations against Chipotle in the New Jersey federal court were
    in violation of the injunction. The court also assessed attorneys’ fees against
    them. Alvarez and her attorneys appealed.
    The issue is whether the Texas federal court may hold Carmen Alvarez
    and her lawyers in contempt for filing the FLSA lawsuit against Chipotle in
    1  The Overtime Rule is also referred to as the Final Rule by the parties, and was
    published in the Federal Register as follows: Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for
    Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees, 81 Fed.
    Reg. 32,391-01, 32,393 (May 23, 2016) (to be codified at 29 C.F.R. pt. 541).
    2 Chipotle filed its answer in the New Jersey federal court on July 26, 2017 and its
    motion for contempt in the Texas federal court on August 1, 2017.
    2
    Case: 18-40246          Document: 00515020033         Page: 3   Date Filed: 07/02/2019
    No. 18-40246
    the New Jersey federal court and contending that she was entitled to overtime
    pay according to the proposed Overtime Rule. We conclude that Texas federal
    court did not have the authority under Rule 65(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil
    Procedure to hold Alvarez and her attorneys in contempt, because Alvarez and
    her attorneys did not act in privity with, and she was not adequately
    represented by, the DOL in the injunction case; hence, the Texas federal court
    lacked personal jurisdiction over Alvarez and her attorneys. Accordingly, we
    reverse the judgment of the District Court, including the award of attorneys’
    fees against Alvarez and her lawyers, and we render judgment in their favor.
    I.     BACKGROUND
    A.       The Nevada v. DOL Injunction
    On November 22, 2016, in Nevada v. United States Dep’t of Labor, 
    218 F. Supp. 3d 520
    , 524–25 (E.D. Tex. 2016), the Texas federal court entered a
    preliminary injunction against the DOL and its agents in favor of Nevada and
    twenty other states, 3 enjoining the Overtime Rule and the DOL from enforcing
    or implementing the rule.              Specifically, the Overtime Rule proposed to
    substantially expand the class of employees entitled to overtime pay by raising
    the salary threshold by which executive, administrative, and professional
    employees are exempted from the right to overtime pay under the FLSA.
    B.       The Alvarez v. Chipotle Action (The New Jersey Action)
    In June 2017, six months after the district court’s preliminary injunction
    in Nevada v. DOL, Carmen Alvarez, through her lawyers (together with
    Alvarez, Respondents), filed a lawsuit against Chipotle, her former employer,
    3   The injunction, in relevant part, read as follows:
    [T]he Department’s Final Rule described at 81 Fed. Reg. 32,391
    is hereby enjoined. Specifically, Defendants are enjoined from
    implementing and enforcing the following regulations as
    amended by 81 Fed. Reg. 32,391; 29 C.F.R. §§ 541.100, 541.200,
    541.204, 541.300, 541.400, 541.600, 541.602, 541.604, 541.605,
    and 541.607 pending further order of this Court.
    3
    Case: 18-40246       Document: 00515020033         Page: 4    Date Filed: 07/02/2019
    No. 18-40246
    in New Jersey federal court alleging Chipotle violated the Overtime Rule by
    classifying Alvarez as exempt despite her weekly salary falling below the
    revised higher threshold. Alvarez’s pleadings acknowledged that the DOL had
    been enjoined from enforcing or implementing the Overtime Rule, but
    contended that, because the district court in Nevada v. DOL had not stayed
    the Overtime Rule’s effective date under the Administrative Procedure Act, the
    rule itself had taken effect on December 1, 2016. Chipotle answered that, in
    its view, the Nevada v. DOL order prevented the Overtime Rule from ever
    becoming effective in any way. 4          The New Jersey action has been stayed
    pending disposition of this appeal. 5
    C.     The Present Contempt Proceeding by Chipotle Against
    Alvarez and Her Counsel
    On August 1, 2017, Chipotle filed a motion against Respondents in the
    Texas federal court in the Nevada v. DOL action, asking that court to hold
    them in contempt for violating the injunction issued in that case. 6 Other than
    filing an answer in the New Jersey action, Chipotle did not further engage in
    that litigation. 7 Chipotle contended in its contempt motion that Alvarez was
    bound by the injunction because the DOL had adequately represented her
    interests in that litigation, making her its privy, and that the court should hold
    her and her lawyers in contempt for alleging and invoking the Overtime Rule
    in the New Jersey action. Respondents argued that the Texas federal court
    lacked personal jurisdiction over them; that the Nevada v. DOL injunction did
    not bind them under Rule 65(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure because
    4  Answer and Affirmative and Other Defenses, Alvarez v. Chipotle Mex. Grill, Inc., et
    al., No. 2:17-cv-4095 (D.N.J. July 26, 2017), ECF No. 5.
    5 Order Granting Stay, No. 2:17-cv-4095 (D.N.J. May 8, 2018), ECF No. 37.
    6 At the time of Alvarez’s New Jersey action and Chipotle’s contempt motion, the
    Texas federal court had not yet entered a final judgment in the Nevada v. DOL litigation. It
    did so later in August 2017, declaring the Overtime Rule “invalid.”
    7 See Answer ¶¶ 22-23, Alvarez v. Chipotle, No. 2:17-cv-4095 (D.N.J. July 26, 2017),
    ECF No. 5.
    4
    Case: 18-40246       Document: 00515020033          Page: 5     Date Filed: 07/02/2019
    No. 18-40246
    they were not in privity with the DOL or otherwise subject to the terms of Rule
    65(d); and that the terms of the injunction did not foreclose the filing of private
    FLSA lawsuits. Respondents submitted uncontradicted declarations attesting
    that they had not in any way participated, coordinated, or acted in concert with
    the federal defendants in the Nevada v. DOL case.
    On March 19, 2018, the district court granted Chipotle’s motion and held
    Respondents in contempt.              In its opinion, the district court rejected
    Respondents’ argument that it lacked personal jurisdiction over them.                        It
    concluded that Alvarez was bound by the injunction in privity with the DOL
    because the DOL represents the interests of employees like Alvarez; that its
    injunction was “wholly unambiguous” in proscribing the filing of private
    lawsuits alleging or invoking the Overtime Rule; and that, although Chipotle’s
    service of process on Respondents was imperfect, Respondents had not proven
    they were prejudiced thereby.             The court ordered that Respondents pay
    Chipotle’s attorneys’ fees for the contempt proceeding. 8 Respondents timely
    appealed, 9 contending that the Texas federal court’s injunction did not bind
    them in any way.
    II.    STANDARD OF REVIEW
    We review a district court’s contempt determination for abuse of
    discretion. See Piggly Wiggly Clarksville, Inc. v. Mrs. Baird’s Bakeries, 
    177 F.3d 380
    , 382 (5th Cir. 1999). Thus, “[t]he district court’s underlying findings
    of fact are reviewed for clear error and its underlying conclusions of law
    reviewed de novo.” Am. Airlines, Inc. v. Allied Pilots Ass’n, 
    228 F.3d 574
    , 578
    (5th Cir. 2000).      The district court’s ultimate finding that privity existed
    8  The district court refused to limit the contempt finding to senior attorneys with
    decisionmaking authority but imposed it on junior attorneys and local counsel as well.
    9 As to nonparties, a contempt order constitutes a final order for purposes of appellate
    jurisdiction. See S. Ry. Co. v. Lanham, 
    403 F.2d 119
    , 124 (5th Cir. 1968) (“[A]n adjudication
    of civil contempt is final and appealable as to a non-party who would be unable to appeal
    from the final decision on the merits”).
    5
    Case: 18-40246     Document: 00515020033       Page: 6   Date Filed: 07/02/2019
    No. 18-40246
    between Respondents and the DOL is a legal conclusion that we review de
    novo. See Drummond Co. v. Dist. 20, United Mine Workers of Am., 
    598 F.2d 381
    , 385 (5th Cir. 1979) (“While the district court’s findings of facts . . . will be
    reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard, the interpretation of the scope
    of the injunctive orders is a question of law to be determined by the
    independent judgment of this Court.”). Similarly, we review legal conclusions
    surrounding a determination of personal jurisdiction de novo, while reviewing
    underlying factual findings for clear error. See In re Chinese-Manufactured
    Drywall Products Liab. Litig., 
    753 F.3d 521
    , 528–29 (5th Cir. 2014).
    III.   DISCUSSION
    A.     The District Court Erred in Concluding that Respondents
    Acted in Privity with the DOL
    We consider here the proper reach of an injunction—specifically, the
    extent to which an injunction can bind individuals who are not parties to the
    action in which the injunction is entered.         “‘It is a principle of general
    application . . . that one is not bound by a judgment in personam in a litigation
    in which he is not designated as a party or to which he has not been made a
    party by service of process.’” Taylor v. Sturgell, 
    553 U.S. 880
    , 884 (2008)
    (quoting Hansberry v. Lee, 
    311 U.S. 32
    , 40 (1940)); Zenith Radio Corp. v.
    Hazeltine Research, Inc., 
    395 U.S. 100
    , 110 (1969) (“It is elementary that one
    is not bound by a judgment in personam resulting from litigation in which he
    is not designated as a party or to which he has not been made a party by service
    of process.”); see also Freeman v. Lester Coggins Trucking, Inc., 
    771 F.2d 860
    ,
    865–66 (5th Cir. 1985) (“An underlying principle is that ‘[i]t is a violation of
    due process for a judgment [in a prior suit] to be binding on a litigant who was
    not a party or a privy and therefore has never had an opportunity to be heard.’”
    (quoting Parklane Hosiery Co., Inc. v. Shore, 
    439 U.S. 322
    , 327 n.7 (1979))).
    This principle derives from the “‘deep-rooted historic tradition that everyone
    6
    Case: 18-40246     Document: 00515020033      Page: 7   Date Filed: 07/02/2019
    No. 18-40246
    should have his own day in court.’” 
    Taylor, 553 U.S. at 892
    –93 (quoting
    Richards v. Jefferson Cty., 
    517 U.S. 793
    , 798 (1996)). The central exception to
    this principle limiting the effect of judgments to parties is where nonparties
    have actual notice of an injunction and aid and abet or act in concert with a
    named defendant or as the defendant’s privy in violating the injunction. See
    WRIGHT, MILLER & KANE, 11A FED. PRAC. & PROC. CIV. § 2956, at 384–85 (3d
    ed. 2013); see also 
    Richards, 517 U.S. at 798
    (“Of course, these principles do
    not always require one to have been a party to a judgment in order to be bound
    by it. Most notably, there is an exception when it can be said that there is
    ‘privity’ between a party to the second case and a party who is bound by an
    earlier judgment.”); Nat’l Spiritual Assembly of Baha’is of U.S. Under
    Hereditary Guardianship, Inc. v. Nat’l Spiritual Assembly of Baha’is of U.S.,
    Inc., 
    628 F.3d 837
    , 847 (7th Cir. 2010).
    “Rule 65(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which governs
    injunctions and temporary restraining orders, codifies both the general
    principle and its exceptions.” Nat’l Spiritual Assembly of 
    Baha’is, 628 F.3d at 847
    ; see Regal Knitwear Co. v. N.L.R.B., 
    324 U.S. 9
    , 14 (1945) (noting that Rule
    65(d) “is derived from the commonlaw doctrine that a decree of injunction not
    only binds the parties defendant but also those identified with them in interest,
    in privity with them, represented by them or subject to their control” (internal
    quotation omitted)); 11A FED. PRAC. & PROC. CIV. § 2956, at 382 (“Rule 65(d)(2)
    does not really add or detract from the range of persons that were bound by a
    decree under basic equity practice and due-process principles applied on the
    equity side of the federal courts prior to 1938.”).
    Rule 65(d)(2) provides that an injunction “binds only the following who
    receive actual notice of it by personal service or otherwise: (A) the parties; (B)
    the parties’ officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys; and (C) other
    persons who are in active concert or participation with anyone described in
    7
    Case: 18-40246     Document: 00515020033      Page: 8    Date Filed: 07/02/2019
    No. 18-40246
    Rule 65(d)(2)(A) or (B).” FED. R. CIV. P. 65(d)(2). The portion of the rule stating
    its only significant exception, subpart (C), contemplates two categories of
    persons who may be bound by an injunction. See 11A FED. PRAC. & PROC. CIV.
    § 2956, at 384–85. First, “a nonparty may be held in contempt if he aids or
    abets an enjoined party in violating an injunction”; second, “an injunction may
    be enforced against a nonparty in ‘privity’ with an enjoined party.” Nat’l
    Spiritual Assembly of 
    Baha’is, 628 F.3d at 848
    –49; 11A FED. PRAC. & PROC.
    CIV. § 2956, at 384–85 (citing, inter alia, Am. Airlines, Inc. v. Allied Pilots
    Ass’n, 
    53 F. Supp. 2d 909
    (N.D. Tex. 1999), aff’d, 
    228 F.3d 574
    (5th Cir. 2000)).
    For privity, “[f]ederal courts have deemed” three “types of relationships
    ‘sufficiently close’ to justify preclusion”: (1) “a non-party who has succeeded to
    a party’s interest in property,” (2) “a non-party who controlled the original
    suit,” and (3) “a non-party whose interests were represented adequately by a
    party in the original suit.” Sw. Airlines Co. v. Tex. Int’l Airlines, Inc., 
    546 F.2d 84
    , 95 (5th Cir. 1977). As to the third type, adequate representation does not
    exist where a nonparty is merely interested in the same issue or same set of
    facts, “or because the issue being litigated is one that might affect their
    interests by providing a judicial precedent that would be applied in a
    subsequent action.” 11A FED. PRAC. & PROC. CIV. § 2956, at 390 (citing Int’l
    Bhd. of Teamsters v. Keystone Freight Lines, 
    123 F.2d 326
    (10th Cir. 1941);
    Baltz v. The Fair, 
    178 F. Supp. 691
    , 693 (N.D. Ill. 1959), aff’d, 
    279 F.2d 899
    (7th Cir. 1960)). “Similarly, the mere fact that a person has committed the
    enjoined act does not necessarily mean that the injunction should be enforced
    against that person.” 11A FED. PRAC. & PROC. CIV. § 2956, at 390. Ultimately,
    a determination that privity exists “represents a legal conclusion that the
    relationship between the one who is a party on the record and the non-party is
    sufficiently close.” Sw. 
    Airlines, 546 F.2d at 95
    ; 
    Freeman, 771 F.2d at 864
    ; see
    8
    Case: 18-40246     Document: 00515020033     Page: 9   Date Filed: 07/02/2019
    No. 18-40246
    also Nat’l Spiritual Assembly of 
    Baha’is, 628 F.3d at 849
    (noting same in the
    context of enforcing an injunction).
    Here, the first two subparts of Rule 65(d)(2), as well as the “aiding and
    abetting” theory, are undisputedly inapplicable. Respondents are clearly not
    parties to the Nevada v. DOL case; nor are they any “parties’ officers, agents,
    servants, employees, and attorneys.”         FED. R. CIV. P. 65(d)(2)(A)–(B).
    Furthermore, although they had notice of the injunction, as demonstrated by
    the references in the complaint in the New Jersey action, it is uncontested that
    Respondents did not aid and abet, or otherwise assist or act in concert with,
    the DOL or any of the its agents to violate the injunction.           In holding
    Respondents in contempt, the district court relied on the concept of adequate
    representation, holding that the DOL adequately represented Alvarez’s
    interests in the Nevada v. DOL litigation.        However, the district court’s
    assessment that the DOL adequately represented Alvarez’s interests was
    mistaken. We have held that privity by virtue of adequate representation
    requires “the existence of an express or implied legal relationship in which
    parties to the first suit are accountable to non-parties who file a subsequent
    suit raising identical issues,” Pollard v. Cockrell, 
    578 F.2d 1002
    , 1008 (5th Cir.
    1978), and that “a showing of parallel interests” alone is insufficient, 
    Freeman, 771 F.2d at 864
    ; see also Benson & Ford, Inc. v. Wanda Petroleum Co., 
    833 F.2d 1172
    , 1175 (5th Cir. 1987). There is no evidence of such an express or implied
    legal relationship between Alvarez and the DOL here.
    In erroneously finding Respondents in privity with the DOL, the district
    court relied exclusively on this court’s preclusion decision in Southwest Airlines
    Co. v. Texas International Airlines, Inc., 
    546 F.2d 84
    (5th Cir. 1977). However,
    the holding of preclusion in Southwest Airlines is inapposite here.          The
    Southwest Airlines litigation began when the Cities of Dallas and Fort Worth
    and the Dallas/Fort Worth Regional Airport Board (the DFW Airport Board)
    9
    Case: 18-40246       Document: 00515020033     Page: 10    Date Filed: 07/02/2019
    No. 18-40246
    filed a federal declaratory judgment action to exclude Southwest, an intrastate
    airline carrier, from using Love Field in Dallas, under a bond ordinance calling
    for the phase-out of commercial air service at that airport. See Southwest
    
    Airlines, 546 F.2d at 87
    . Southwest counterclaimed for a declaratory judgment
    of its right to remain at Love Field. 
    Id. The district
    court declared that the
    cities and the DFW Airport Board could not lawfully exclude Southwest from
    using Love Field. 
    Id. at 88.
    The Fifth Circuit affirmed. 
    Id. (citing City
    of
    Dallas v. Sw. Airlines Co., 
    494 F.2d 773
    , 776–77 (5th Cir. 1974)). Several
    interstate airlines next filed claims in Texas state court seeking to compel
    Southwest to cease using Love Field. 
    Id. At Southwest’s
    behest, the federal
    district court then preliminarily enjoined the state suit, thereby precluding the
    cities, the DFW Airport Board and the interstate airlines from relitigating in
    state court or in any other court, Southwest’s right of access to Love Field. 
    Id. at 89.
             In affirming the district court’s order enjoining the state suit, this court
    held that the interstate airline plaintiffs were in privity with the governmental
    entities—the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, and the DFW Airport Board—in
    the prior federal suit for preclusion purposes because the “legal interests of the
    carriers do not differ from those of [the government entities] in [the earlier
    lawsuit]” and thus “they received adequate representation in the earlier
    litigation and should be bound by the judgment.” 
    Id. at 100.
    This court was
    careful to note that the government entities adequately represented the
    plaintiff carriers’ interests in this later litigation only because of certain
    specific facts: (1) the carriers “d[id] not claim a breach of legal duty by
    Southwest, apart from the alleged violation of the general duty to obey valid
    ordinances,” (2) “the carriers request[ed] the same remedy denied the
    [government entities], namely the enforcement of the phase-out provision of
    the ordinance to exclude Southwest from Love Field,” and (3) “the ordinance
    10
    Case: 18-40246    Document: 00515020033       Page: 11   Date Filed: 07/02/2019
    No. 18-40246
    does not establish a statutory scheme looking toward private enforcement of
    its requirements.” 
    Id. at 100;
    see also WRIGHT, MILLER & COOPER, 18A FED.
    PRAC. & PROC. JURIS. § 4458.1 (3d ed. 2017), at 573–74 (in discussing
    Southwest, identifying these three considerations as the support for the basic
    conclusion of no private legal wrong, and therefore preclusion through privity).
    The district court was in error in concluding that Southwest supports a
    finding of privity between Respondents and the DOL. Alvarez’s FLSA action
    in New Jersey relies on far more than a “general duty to obey valid ordinances”
    as those at issue in the interstate airlines’ lawsuit in Southwest, 
    see 546 F.2d at 100
    . The FLSA imposes a legal duty on every employer to pay overtime to
    non-exempt employees and, unlike the phase-out ordinance at issue in
    Southwest, explicitly establishes a private right of action to enforce that duty.
    See 29 U.S.C. §§ 207, 216(b); see also Benson & Ford, 
    Inc., 833 F.2d at 1175
    –
    76 (distinguishing Southwest by noting that “[o]ur holding rested on the
    proposition that private parties cannot relitigate to enforce an ordinance after
    the public body fails in its attempt to enforce the same ordinance,” whereas the
    plaintiff in Benson & Ford “[did] not seek to relitigate [another party’s] rights”).
    Importantly, in Southwest, this court expressly endorsed the proposition
    that government actors would not be in privity with private litigants under
    Title VII, a federal employment statute that, similar to the FLSA, authorizes
    both government litigation and private actions. 
    See 546 F.2d at 98
    (citing
    Rodriguez v. E. Tex. Motor Freight, 
    505 F.2d 40
    (5th Cir. 1977), vacated on
    other grounds sub nom. E. Tex. Motor Freight Sys. Inc. v. Rodriguez, 
    431 U.S. 395
    (1977); Williamson v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., 
    468 F.2d 1201
    (2d Cir. 1972)).
    In doing so, this court noted that “litigation by a government agency will not
    preclude a private party from vindicating a wrong that arises from related facts
    but generates a distinct, individual cause of action.” 
    Southwest, 546 F.2d at 98
    . Such actions, like Alvarez’s FLSA lawsuit, are “for violation of distinct
    11
    Case: 18-40246         Document: 00515020033           Page: 12     Date Filed: 07/02/2019
    No. 18-40246
    legal duties owed individual employees,” rather than “for violation of legal
    duties owed the public.” 
    Id. More generally,
    Chipotle’s theory that the DOL represents every
    worker’s legal interests through its enforcement of the FLSA so as to bind every
    worker in the United States to an injunction where the DOL is the only bound
    party lacks authoritative support. Although, as the district court noted, the
    FLSA concerns itself with “the general welfare of employees employed in
    certain industries engaged in American commerce,” Congress’s statement of
    such a policy does not create a legal nexus or the kind of close identity of
    interests between a party to litigation and a nonparty required to amount to
    privity. Instead, as in Title VII discrimination suits, Alvarez’s New Jersey
    action “claim[s] remedies distinct from the relief imposed in the government
    litigation” and complains of a “violation of distinct legal duties owed individual
    employees.” 
    Southwest, 546 F.2d at 98
    –99 (citing Rodriguez, 
    505 F.2d 40
    ;
    Williamson, 
    468 F.2d 1201
    ). 10
    Because Respondents were not in privity with the DOL and not
    otherwise bound by the injunction, the district court erred in granting
    Chipotle’s motion for contempt. 11
    10  We intimate no view whatever on the merits of Alvarez’s contentions in the New
    Jersey action, as those contentions are before the New Jersey federal court rather than this
    court.
    11 As the district court correctly noted, this court has held that “[t]he movant in a civil
    contempt proceeding bears the burden of establishing by clear and convincing evidence: (1)
    that a court order was in effect; (2) that the order required certain conduct by the respondent;
    and (3) that the respondent failed to comply with the court’s order.” Petroleos Mexicanos v.
    Crawford Enters., 
    826 F.2d 392
    , 401 (5th Cir. 1987). However, because we disagree with the
    district court’s conclusion that the Alvarez and her lawyers acted in privity with the DOL or
    were represented by the DOL so as to be bound by the district court’s injunction, application
    of that standard is pretermitted here. Likewise, the district court’s ruling on whether process
    was properly served on Respondents is pretermitted.
    12
    Case: 18-40246        Document: 00515020033          Page: 13     Date Filed: 07/02/2019
    No. 18-40246
    B.     The District Court Lacked Personal Jurisdiction Over
    Respondents
    Because the district court’s contempt order exceeded the bounds of Rule
    65(d), its exercise of jurisdiction over Respondents was also improper. 12 The
    district court did not find that minimum contacts supported its exercise of
    jurisdiction over Respondents, and instead relied exclusively on the principle
    expressed in Waffenschmidt v. McKay, 
    763 F.2d 711
    , 714 (5th Cir. 1985), that
    “[n]onparties who reside outside the territorial jurisdiction of a district court
    may be subject to that court’s jurisdiction if, with actual notice of the court’s
    order, they actively aid and abet a party in violating that order.” As we have
    concluded, Respondents did not aid and abet the DOL or participate in the
    Nevada v. DOL injunction litigation in any manner. Thus, there was no basis
    for the district court’s exercise of personal jurisdiction over Respondents.
    ***
    For these reasons, the judgment of the district court is REVERSED, and
    judgment is RENDERED in favor of Respondents.
    12Because we reverse the district court’s contempt order on the basis of Rule 65(d)
    and lack of personal jurisdiction, we also reverse the district court’s award of attorneys’ fees
    to Chipotle.
    13