Brown v. Transforming Lives, Inc.

Superior Court of Delaware·Decided June 24, 2026·No. K24C-02-028 JJC·Published

Opinion

SUPERIOR COURT of the STATE OF DELAWARE

Jeffrey J Clark Kent County Courthouse Resident Judge 38 The Green Dover, DE 19901 Telephone (302) 735-2111

Dr. Erika R. Brown Ms. Michele D. Allen, Esquire 232 Camerton Lane Ms. Ashley C. Azato, Esquire Townsend, DE 19734 Allen & Associates 4250 Lancaster Pike, Suite 230 Wilmington, DE 19805

Submitted: May 27, 2026 Decided: June 24, 2026

RE: Brown v. Transforming Lives Inc., et al., K24C-02-028 JJC

Counsel and Dr. Brown: Defendants Transforming Lives, Inc., and Akoben, LLC (collectively, the “Companies”) secured summary judgment against Plaintiff Erika Brown’s claims under the Delaware Discrimination in Employment Act (hereinafter, the “DDEA”) and the Delaware Whistleblower Protection Act (hereinafter, the “DWPA”).1 Dr. Brown, as a self-represented litigant, alleged (1) gender discrimination and (2) that the Companies retaliated against her because of her complaints.2 The record contained no likely admissible evidence to support an inference that the Companies violated either statute and the Court granted them summary judgment.3

1 Brown v. Transforming Lives, et al., 2026 WL 184479, at *1 (Del. Super. Jan. 23, 2026). 2 Id. at *2–5. 3 Id. at * 16. The Companies then filed a post-judgment motion seeking $116,148.50 in attorneys’ fees and court costs. Dr. Brown appealed the summary judgment decision, however, before the Court could consider the fees and costs motion. That stayed the Court’s consideration of the motion until the Supreme Court dismissed her appeal as interlocutory and remanded the matter.4 The Companies rely on a DDEA provision, 19 Del. C. § 715(b) (hereinafter, “Subsection 715(b)”), when seeking attorneys’ fees. Subsection 715(b) provides for the discretionary award of fees to the prevailing party in a DDEA claim. Separately, the Companies seek costs under Superior Court Civil Rule 54(d) and 10 Del. C. § 5101. Those provisions provide cost recovery for expenses necessarily incurred after a party successfully obtains a judgment. As explained below, Delaware case law has not yet addressed the standard for triggering a DDEA attorneys’ fee award. Here, the Companies fail to meet the federal standard for such an award, which applies by analogy to their application. As to costs, some are recoverable for the reasons to follow and some are not. STANDARDS Dr. Brown sought relief under the DDEA for gender discrimination and the DWPA for retaliation. First, the Companies’ motion seeks fees under the DDEA’s attorneys’ fee provision. Subsection 715(b) provides the following: (b) Superior Court may order any of the following: . . . .. . (5) [t]he costs of litigation and reasonable attorney’s fees to the prevailing party. Separately, Superior Court Civil Rule 54(d) provides: [e]xcept when express provision therefor is made either in a statute or [by Rule], costs shall be allowed as of course to the prevailing party upon application to the Court within ten (10) days of the entry of final judgment unless the Court otherwise directs.

4 Brown v. Transforming Lives, et al., No. 67, 2026 WL 1298432 (Del. May 11, 2026) (ORDER). 2 Finally, 10 Del. C. § 5101 provides: [i]n a court of law, . . . upon a voluntary or involuntary discontinuance or dismissal of the action, there shall be judgment for costs for the defendant. Generally, a party for who final judgment in any civil action . . . is given in such action. . . shall recover, against the adverse party, costs of suit, to be awarded by the court. DISCUSSION Subsection 715(b) fee recovery is appropriately scrutinized under the same standard federal courts use when evaluating claims for attorneys’ fees under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (hereinafter, “Title VII”). Here, a fee award is not appropriate. As to cost recovery, only some of the requested expenses are appropriately awarded. A. The Companies do not substantiate their claim for attorneys’ fees and costs under the DDEA’s fee recovery provision. The Companies’ motion assumes entitlement to fee recovery as a matter of course. Subsection 715(b), however, makes the award discretionary though the use of the word “may.” Furthermore, Subsection 715(b) provides no guidance regarding how that discretion should be exercised. Nor does it differentiate between prevailing plaintiffs and defendants. Notwithstanding this silence, a court must apply a standard when exercising discretion. Doing so protects against arbitrariness and permits appellate review. Unfortunately, neither the parties nor the Court have identified Delaware decisional law that identifies the standard necessary to trigger an award under Subsection 715(b). The Companies located and cited a single Superior Court decision where the court awarded attorneys’ fees to a prevailing plaintiff under Subsection 715(b): McGlothlin v. Petrunich Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery.5 That decision does not answer the threshold question of what triggers an award, however. Rather, it immediately assumed fees were to be awarded to a prevailing plaintiff as a matter of

5 2023 WL 5747520 (Del. Super. Sept. 6, 2023). 3 course. Then, it immediately pivoted to the question of how much the award should be.6 The McGlothlin decision answered that by applying the factors recognized by the Delaware Supreme Court in General Motors Corp. v. Cox.7 Those factors track the factors in the Delaware Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct that are used to determine whether a fee is reasonable. Pointedly, McGlothlin is not helpful because it (1) examines an award for a plaintiff, and (2) focuses on the question of amount without addressing the standard for exercising the court’s discretion. As to the latter, the decision applies the Cox factors which answer only “how much” rather than the threshold question of “when.” Here, the Companies take the same track as the court did in McGlothlin by assuming fees must be awarded to them upon success. At the outset, the American Rule assumes that each party bears its own fees absent a statutory or other legally recognized exception.8 Subsection 715(b) provides a discretionary exception to the American Rule but contains no guidance regarding how to exercise that discretion. Delaware courts have long relied on federal interpretations of Title VII to inform their interpretation of the DDEA because of the similarity between the two statutes.9 Here, the fee provision in Title VII is identical in all relevant respects to Subsection 715(b). 10 As a result, federal interpretations of the nearly identical provision in Title VII apply to similar applications filed under Subsection 715(b).

6 Id. at *5–7. 7 304 A.2d 55, 57 (Del. 1973) (adopting the Delaware Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1.5(a) factors for assessing reasonableness of attorney’s fees). While the Cox decision evaluated a fee amount in the context of a workers’ compensation appeal, Delaware decisional law has since applied them broadly to other fee shifting inquiries. 8 Tandycrafts, Inc. v. Initio Partners, 562 A.2d 1162, 1164 (Del. 1989) (“The starting principle is recognition of the so-called American Rule, under which a prevailing party is responsible for the payment of his own counsel fees in the absence of statutory authority or contractual undertaking to the contrary.”). 9 See Riner v. Nat’l Cash Reg., 434 A.2d 375, 376 (Del. 1981) (instructing Delaware courts to take the “interpretive lead from federal decisions construing and applying Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964”). 10 Compare 42 U.S.C. § 2000e–5

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