Dyer v. Unified School District No. 500

63 F. Supp. 3d 1326, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 152962, 2014 WL 5488755
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedOctober 29, 2014
DocketCase No. 12-2081-JTM
StatusPublished

This text of 63 F. Supp. 3d 1326 (Dyer v. Unified School District No. 500) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dyer v. Unified School District No. 500, 63 F. Supp. 3d 1326, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 152962, 2014 WL 5488755 (D. Kan. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

J. THOMAS MARTEN, District Judge.

Plaintiff Mozella Dyer brought the present action claiming that she was fired from her job with the Kansas City, Kansas Unified School District because of racial discrimination. The court granted the defendants summary judgment, finding that the uncontroverted facts established, among other things, that Dyer was legally terminated from her administrative position. (Dkt. 161). Following her appeal, this determination was affirmed by the Tenth Circuit. (Dkt. 168).

The Clerk of the Court accordingly taxed the costs of the action against Dyer. The matter is before the court on the plaintiffs Motion to Review Taxation of Costs, which argues that Clerk should not have imposed costs under the circumstances of the case.

At the outset, the court notes that much of Dyer’s argument is simply contrary to the law of the case or is otherwise entirely without factual foundation. She alleges, for example, that the defendants [1327]*1327have acted in bad faith and have refused to produce documents required for the case. (Dkt. 173, at 4). A review of the record reveals nothing to support this claim.

The United States Magistrate Judge granted in part and denied in part plaintiffs Motion to Compel, requiring the defendants to produce prior School District policies and salary information. At the same time, the court found that the plaintiffs requests were “not describe[d] with reasonable particularity,” that many of the plaintiffs requests for production were moot following supplemental disclosures, that “a number of plaintiffs discovery request lack specificity,” and rejected plaintiffs request for unredacted personnel information.

The Magistrate Judge made no findings of intention or deliberate obstruction, and based on the history of the action, such a conclusion is entirely unfounded. The discovery disputes, on both sides, are entirely typical for modern civil litigation.

Dyer further contends that costs should not be taxed because “Summary Judgment was not appropriate in this case” and that the award of summary judgment deprived her of various constitutional rights. (Id. at 7). Similarly, Dyer devotes much of her Reply (Dkt. 177, at 4-7) essentially reargu-ing the facts of the case. Both this court and the Tenth Circuit, however, concluded that summary judgment was appropriate in light of the uncontroverted evidence.

Much of Dyer’s remaining argument is premised on the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Association of Mexican-American Educators v. California, 231 F.3d 572, 592 (9th Cir.2000). The cited case bears little resemblance to the present action. In it, the Ninth Circuit did not hold that taxation of costs against the plaintiffs was inappropriate, it simply held that the district, court had not abused its discretion in declining to tax costs. In reaching this conclusion, the court stressed the exceptional nature of the case, in which the plaintiffs challenged a state test (the California Basic Education Skills Test, or CBEST) for certain basic skills as a prerequisite to state employment.

The statute was challenged by a broad class of Mexican-American, Asian-American, and African-American teachers, who argued that CBEST. violated their civil rights under Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act. The court found that the district court had not abused its discretion in refusing to award costs because

the case (1) “involve[s] issues of substantial public importance,” specifically “educational quality, interracial disparities in economic opportunity, and access to positions of social influence;” (2) there is great economic disparity between Plaintiffs, who are individuals and “small nonprofit educational organizations,” and the State of California; (3) the issues in the case are close and difficult; and (4) Plaintiffs’ case, although unsuccessful, had some merit, as evidenced by the 1995 modification of the CBEST to eliminate “higher order” mathematics questions.

231 F.3d at 592 (quoting the district court, footnote omitted). The Ninth Circuit recognized that under Fed.R.Civ.Pr. 54(d)(1), “costs are to be awarded in the ordinary case,” and specifically cautioned that “[w]e do not mean to suggest that the presumption in favor of costs does not apply to defendants in civil rights actions.” Id. at 593.

Association of Mexican-American Educators, could indeed be deemed “close and difficult.” The plaintiffs there scored a partial victory: the district court granted partial summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs, holding that Titles VI and VII applied to CBEST, and that CBEST had a [1328]*1328disparate impact on minority teachers. The plaintiffs lost only in the district court’s determination the plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate the existence of other, equally-effective teacher screening tests. Nothing comparable was presented in the present action. The defendants fully prevailed on all claims advanced by Dyer. This was not a class action, and involved no broad issues relevant to employees , on a state-wide basis! Dyer advanced claims relating to her employment situation qnly. The case lacked even partial merit, with all of Dyer’s claims being fully and completely dismissed at summary judgment.

Plaintiff suggests that, as a pro se civil rights plaintiff, taxation of costs against her is inappropriate. But, while Dyer now (again) appears pro se, she was represented throughout most of the action, and the appeal, by competent and capable counsel, from an established law firm, who zealously and professionally advanced her claims. Thé result suggested by Dyer was directly put to doubt by the very case she relies on, which observed that it was not suggesting that, a general matter, civil rights actions are immune the general requirement for the imposition of costs.

Costs are presumptively awarded to the prevailing party under Rule 54 and 28 U.S.C. § 1920. The court finds that the amount of costs taxed here, $4,267.10, is reasonable in amount, given the nature of the action, and is fully supported by sufficient evidence.

Finally, plaintiff argues that' costs should not be awarded because she is indigent. The affidavit submitted to the court indicates that Dyer is not currently employed, and her husband receives a monthly social security disability stipend. Plaintiff has submitted no proof that she has otherwise sought, but been denied, employment.

The defendants, in opposition, argue that “Claimant’s poverty may make the judgment for costs uncollectible, but it should not constitute a reason for the costs not to be assessed.” (Dkt. 17,6, at 2). This is inaccurate, as the financial status of the nonprevailing party is. one element the court considers in taxing costs. But it is not a controlling factor. The Tenth Circuit has explicitly concluded that a district court has the discretion to authorize the payment of costs by an indigent nonprevailing party. Johnson v. Oklahoma, No. 99-6322, 2000 WL 1114194, *3 (10th Cir. 2000). In that decision, the losing plaintiff argued (just as Dyer does here) that costs should not be taxed both because of her indigency and because of the supposed chilling effect on other civil rights actions.

The Tenth Circuit in

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Bluebook (online)
63 F. Supp. 3d 1326, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 152962, 2014 WL 5488755, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dyer-v-unified-school-district-no-500-ksd-2014.