Richardson v. Tex-Tube Co.

843 F. Supp. 2d 699, 2012 WL 489687, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24103
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedFebruary 10, 2012
DocketCivil Action No. H-09-2245
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 843 F. Supp. 2d 699 (Richardson v. Tex-Tube Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Richardson v. Tex-Tube Co., 843 F. Supp. 2d 699, 2012 WL 489687, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24103 (S.D. Tex. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER AND FINAL JUDGMENT

DAVID HITTNER, District Judge.

Pending before the Court is Defendant’s Motion for Attorney’s Fees and Costs (Document No. 32). Having considered the motion, submissions, and applicable law, the Court determines that Defendant’s motion should be granted in part and denied in part.

/. BACKGROUND

This is a case arising under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. Plaintiff Milton Richardson, Jr. (“Richardson”) is an employee of Defendant Tex-Tube Company (“Tex-Tube”). On February 8, 2008, Richardson was terminated by Tex-Tube. This termination led to two actions by Richardson: (1) a formal grievance filed pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement; and (2) a claim filed by Richardson with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the “EEOC”) and subsequent filing of the lawsuit at issue.

At the time of his termination, Richardson had been working at Tex-Tube as a machine operator. Tex-Tube claimed that termination was based on attendance and tardiness issues. Richardson filed a grievance seeking reinstatement under the applicable collective bargaining agreement, and the claim was scheduled for arbitration. On February 11, 2009, while the parties awaited arbitration, Richardson filed a Charge of Discrimination with the EEOC, alleging gender discrimination and retaliation, both related to his termination. The EEOC issued a Dismissal and Notice of Rights Letter to Mr. Richardson. On July 15, 2009, Richardson, proceeding pro se at the time, sued Tex-Tube for gender discrimination and retaliation — the lawsuit at issue.

On December 9, 2009, Richardson’s original grievance was submitted to arbitration. At issue in the arbitration was whether the number of tardies accumulated by Richardson were sufficient to justify termination. Richardson did not assert discrimination or retaliation claims in the arbitration. The arbitrator ruled in favor of Richardson and ordered his reinstatement at Tex-Tube, where he is still employed. Meanwhile, Richardson’s lawsuit remained active. Then, almost two years after the filing of the lawsuit, Richardson voluntarily dismissed the case with prejudice. Throughout the pendency of the case, Tex-Tube maintained that “Plaintiffs claims [were] unreasonable, frivolous, vexatious and brought for the purposes of harassment.”1 Based on those allegations, Tex-Tube now seeks attorney’s fees related to the litigation. Specifically, Tex-Tube seeks to recover $13,073.75 in attorney’s fees and $1,330.11 in costs. Richardson opposes Tex-Tube’s motion and argues that the request for attorney’s fees is, in effect, a collateral attack on the earlier arbitration award, which reinstated his employment. Richardson also contends that attorney’s fees should not be awarded because the “[C]omplaint sets forth color-able federal antidiscrimination claims, unrelated to the attendance and tardiness matters[,] which were the subject of the [704]*704arbitration.”2 Moreover, Richardson argues that attorney’s fees are unnecessary because, although litigation was pending for two years, during that time he did not make any requests for discovery or file any motions necessitating a response by Tex-Tube. The Court will analyze Tex-Tube’s and Richardson’s arguments in turn.

II. LAW & ANALYSIS

A. Awarding Attorney’s Fees in Civil Rights Cases

Congress has authorized the award of reasonable attorney’s fees to the prevailing party in Title VII disputes. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(k). While prevailing plaintiffs are almost always entitled to attorney’s fees, the Supreme Court of the United States has held that to recover attorney’s fees, prevailing defendants must show that “the plaintiffs action was frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation.” Christiansburg Garment Co. v. Equal Emp’t Opportunity Comm’n, 434 U.S. 412, 421, 98 S.Ct. 694, 54 L.Ed.2d 648 (1978). Therefore, when determining whether a movant is entitled to attorney’s fees, a court must (1) note whether the movant is the plaintiff or the defendant; (2) determine whether the movant is the prevailing party; and, if the defendant is the moving party, (3) determine whether the lawsuit was frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation. Dean v. Riser, 240 F.3d 505, 508 (5th Cir.2001); Univ. of Kan. v. Sinks, No. 06-2341-JAR, 2008 WL 750350, at *1 (D.Kan. Mar. 19, 2008). Here, the defendant, Tex-Tube, is moving for attorney^ fees, therefore the Court must determine whether Tex-Tube was the prevailing party and whether the lawsuit was frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation. Hilborn v. Klein Indep. Sch. Dist., No. H-09-840, 2010 WL 1463472, at *24 (S.D.Tex. Apr. 12, 2010) (Johnson, Mag. J.).

1. Whether Tex-Tube Is the Prevailing Party

Only a “prevailing party” is entitled to attorney’s fees in Title VII actions; this requirement is applicable whether the movant is a plaintiff or a defendant. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(k). The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has held that “a defendant is not a prevailing party [for purposes of awarding attorney’s fees] when a civil rights plaintiff voluntarily dismisses his claim, unless the defendant can demonstrate that the plaintiff withdrew to avoid a disfavorable judgment on the merits.” Dean, 240 F.3d at 511.3 The Fifth Circuit explained that this approach sought to encourage “civil rights plaintiffs to dismiss voluntarily nonviable claims while [also] protecting civil rights defendants from the burdens of frivolous litigation.” Id. Merely months after the Fifth Circuit issued its opinion in Dean, the Supreme Court of the United States, in Buckhannon Board & Care Home, Inc. v. West Virginia Department of Health & Human Resources, held that to qualify as a “prevailing party,” fee-shifting statutes require “judicial imprimatur” that materi[705]*705ally alters the legal relationship of the parties in favor of the movant. 532 U.S. 598, 605, 121 S.Ct. 1835, 149 L.Ed.2d 855 (2001). Buckhannon dealt with a plaintiff who was seeking attorney’s fees as the prevailing party after a defendant voluntarily altered their behavior in response to the lawsuit, thereby mooting the litigation. Known as the catalyst theory of “prevailing party,” some circuits had previously upheld attorney’s fees awards to plaintiffs under similar circumstances. In Buckhannon, however, the Supreme Court rejected the catalyst theory and held that a plaintiff is not a prevailing party unless there is some sort of judicial action or court-issued order. Id.

Since Buckhannon, several circuits have held that a judicial order granting a plaintiffs request for voluntary dismissal with prejudice is sufficient judicial imprimatur to satisfy the requirement set out by the Supreme Court in

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
843 F. Supp. 2d 699, 2012 WL 489687, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24103, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/richardson-v-tex-tube-co-txsd-2012.