Griffin v. Sevatec, Inc.

209 F. Supp. 3d 1313, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127657, 2016 WL 5110261
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedJuly 1, 2016
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 1:16-CV-0390-AT
StatusPublished

This text of 209 F. Supp. 3d 1313 (Griffin v. Sevatec, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Griffin v. Sevatec, Inc., 209 F. Supp. 3d 1313, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127657, 2016 WL 5110261 (N.D. Ga. 2016).

Opinion

ORDER

Amy Totenberg, United States District Judge

This matter, one of a series of actions brought by Dr. Griffin,1 is before the Court on Defendant Sevatec, Inc.’s (“Seva-tec”) Motion for Attorney’s Fees [Doc. 21]. On June 28, 2016, the Court held a hearing on this Motion.

I. ENTITLEMENT TO FEES

Defendant seeks attorney’s fees only under ERISA’s fee-shifting provision. Pursuant to that provision, a district court, “in its discretion may allow a reasonable attorney’s fee and costs of action to either [1316]*1316party,” 29 U.S.C. § 1132(g)(1) (2012), if that party achieved “some degree of success on the merits.” Hardt v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., 560 U.S. 242, 255, 130 S.Ct. 2149, 176 L.Ed.2d 998 (2010). This standard requires more than “trivial success on the merits” or a “purely procedural victory.” Id.

Once it is established that a party had “some degree” of success, the Eleventh Circuit “require[s] district courts to consider five factors when deciding whether to award fees to a prevailing party:

(1) the degree of the opposing parties’ culpability or bad faith;
(2) the ability of the opposing parties to satisfy an award of attorney’s fees;
(3) whether an award of attorney’s fees against the opposing parties would deter other persons acting under similar circumstances;
(4) whether the parties requesting attorney’s fees sought to benefit all participants and beneficiaries of an ERISA plan or to resolve a significant legal question regarding ERISA itself; [and]
(5) the relative merits of the parties’ positions.”

AirTran Airways, Inc. v. Elem, 767 F.3d 1192, 1201 (11th Cir.2014) (quoting Freeman v. Continental Ins. Co., 996 F.2d 1116, 1119 (11th Cir.1993)). “No one of these factors is necessarily decisive, and some may not be apropos in a given case, but together they are the nuclei of concerns that a court should address in applying Section 502(g).” Iron Workers Local No. 272 v. Bowen, 624 F.2d 1255, 1266 (5th Cir.1980).2 .

There may be other factors, too, that a Court should consider in a particular case. As explained by the current Fifth Circuit,

Bowen makes clear that ... the list of five factors to be considered in an ERISA § 502(g) attorneys’ fees case is a non-exhaustive,' ejusdem generis list (“[A] court should consider such factors as the following [five factors] .... [I]n any individual case, however, other considerations may be relevant as well.”).

Riley v. Adm’r of Supersaver 401K Capital Accumulation Plan for Employees of Participating AMR Corp. Subsidiaries, 209 F.3d 780, 782 (5th Cir.2000) (emphasis in original) (footnote omitted).

As for success on the merits, “[t]here is no doubt that the Defendant achieved ‘some degree of success on the merits’ as this Court [dismissed all of] Plaintiffs claims.” DeBartolo v. Health & Welfare Dep’t of the Const. & Gen. Laborers’ Dist. Council of Chicago & Vicinity, No. 09 CV 0039, 2011 WL 1131110, at *1 (N.D.Ill. Mar. 28, 2011) (dismissing plaintiffs claims at summary judgment based in part on lack of a valid assignment and granting attorney’s fees); see also Griffin v. Gen. Mills, Inc., 157 F.Supp.3d 1350, 1353 (N.D.Ga.2016). Sevatec thus obtained success on the merits.

Moving on to the five factors, an award of some amount of attorney’s fees is proper in this ease and is supported by at least four of the factors. (1) While Plaintiff views herself as pursuing the ends of justice, she has refused to acknowledge the [1317]*1317applicable law, reflecting a measure of legal bad faith that becomes more evident with every suit that is dismissed and decision that is affirmed on appeal. (2) With regard to Dr. Griffin’s ability to satisfy an award of fees, the Court recognizes that she is gainfully employed and has spent upward of $20,000 in filing fees alone in this series of cases. That does not mean that her resources are unlimited, though. Indeed, Dr. Griffin represents that she required an installment plan in order to pay fees ordered in a prior case. Even so, the Court has no doubt that Plaintiff can satisfy an award of some amount of attorney’s fees. Still, the Court must take into consideration the pendency of multiple other fee petitions against Dr. Griffin in connection with an assessment of her financial resources. (3) An award of attorney’s fees against Plaintiff might deter Plaintiff and others from continuing to file identical claims where the claims are asserted against the wrong party or have no viable basis under existing ERISA precedent.3 (4) The relative merits of the parties’ positions are by now quite clear. The force of these last two factors is mitigated because, for the first time, Plaintiff filed an amended complaint after she obtained an assignment of rights and benefits that is broader than her previous assignments. The new assignment likely would have given her a cause of action under the statute to claim the statutory penalties she seeks. Except that, at the end of the day, the plan still contained an anti-assignment provision that she should have recognized to have barred her claims.

In addition, Defendant Sevatec gave Dr. Griffin multiple opportunities to voluntarily dismiss this case. Nine days after the Complaint was filed, Defense counsel sent Dr. Griffin a letter explaining why she lacked a cause of action in this case just as she did in her others. The plan documents were attached to that letter so Dr. Griffin could see for herself that the plan contained an anti-assignment provision. After Defendant filed its first motion to dismiss, it again sent Dr. Griffin a letter requesting her to drop her case. In both instances, Sevatec warned her that it would seek fees if she did not and it eventually prevailed. These attempts demonstrate Sevatec’s good faith attempts to be forthright and frank—and to end this litigation as soon as possible without incurring fees.

After a thorough review of the record in this case and balancing all of the factors to be considered when awarding fees to the prevailing party, the Court finds that an award of some amount of fees pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 1132(g)(1) is appropriate in this case.

II. CALCULATION OF FEES

“The initial estimate of a reasonable attorney’s fee is properly calculated by multiplying the number of hours reasonably expended on the litigation times a reasonable hourly rate. Adjustments to that fee then may be made as necessary in the particular case.” Blum v. Stenson, 465 U.S. 886, 888, 104 S.Ct. 1541, 79 L.Ed.2d 891 (1984) (citation omitted).

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Bluebook (online)
209 F. Supp. 3d 1313, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127657, 2016 WL 5110261, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/griffin-v-sevatec-inc-gand-2016.