UNPUBLISHED ORDER
Not to be cited per Circuit Rule 53
United States Court of Appeals
For the Seventh Circuit
Chicago, Illinois 60604
Submitted April 18, 2006
Decided May 19, 2006
Before
Hon. FRANK H. EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge
Hon. KENNETH F. RIPPLE, Circuit Judge
Hon. DIANE P. WOOD, Circuit Judge
DONALD BRADFISCH, Appeal from the United States
Plaintiff-Appellant, District Court for the Southern
District of Illinois.
NO. 05-3390 V.
No. 05 C 298
TEMPLETON FUNDS, INC. and TEMPLETON GLOBAL Michael J. Reagan, Judge.
ADVISORS, LTD.,
Defendants-Appellees.
VINCE KWIATKOWSKI, EDMUND WOODBURY AND Appeals from the United States
JOSEPH PARISE, JR., District Court for the Southern
Plaintiffs-Appellants, District of Illinois.
Nos. 05-3558, 05-3559 & v. Nos. 05 C 299
05-3586 05 C 301
05 C 300
TEMPLETON GROWTH FUND, INC., et al., G. Patrick Murphy, Chief Judge.
Defendants-Appellees.
Order
These four appeals are governed by the Supreme Court's decision in Merrill Lynch,
Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Dabit, 126 S. Ct. 1503 (2006). Although the plaintiffs maintain
Nos. 05-3390, 05-3558, 05-3559 and 05-3586 Page 2
that Dabit does not control because (in their view) the defendant funds have been negligently
managed, they have not sought relief through derivative litigation and therefore cannot take
advantage of the exception for that kind of suit in the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards
Act of 1998. For direct litigation, labels are not material, as we explained in Kircher v. Putnam
Funds Trust, 403 F.3d 478 (7th Cir. 2005), cert. granted on other grounds, 126 S. Ct. 969 (2006),
a decision that the Supreme Court approved in Dabit.
These appeals are not affected by the grant of certiorari in Kircher. The Supreme Court
limited the writ to a dispute about appellate jurisdiction of appeals by defendants from remand
orders under the SLUSA. These defendants did not appeal from the district court's orders in 2004
remanding the suits. They removed again following the decision on the merits in Kircher, and
the only appeals have been filed by the plaintiffs.
On the authority of Dabit and Kircher, the judgments are affirmed.