Fitzgerald v. Vishay Intertechnology Inc., (Del. Supr., Jan. 24, 2007), read decision  here .

This Supreme Court Order dismissed the appeal by someone who was not a party to the proceedings below. The appellant filed an appeal from the October 25, 2005 order of the Chancery Court which enjoined a class of plaintiff shareholders from prosecuting an action pending in the Superior Court of California, the claims in which were released by a Delaware class action by the October 25, 2005 order. The appellant, despite notification, did not object to the settlement and the settlement hearing both on and prior to the October 25, 2005 order approving the settlement. The court rejected the appellant’s argument that he should be permitted to appeal the Court of Chancery judgment on the sole ground that he was a member of the plaintiff class affected by the decision below, even though he did not object to the settlement. 

The Supreme Court noted that a non-party to an action generally has no standing to take an appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court despite the fact that the non-party may have an interest in the outcome of the litigation (citing Townsend v. Griffith, 570 A.2d 1157, 1158 (Del. 1990) and Bryan v. Doar). The Bryan case was summarized on this blog here.