Scates v. United Paperworkers International Union, Local 369

123 F.R.D. 599, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 778, 1989 WL 5375
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Arkansas
DecidedJanuary 23, 1989
DocketNo. 86-1044
StatusPublished

This text of 123 F.R.D. 599 (Scates v. United Paperworkers International Union, Local 369) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Scates v. United Paperworkers International Union, Local 369, 123 F.R.D. 599, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 778, 1989 WL 5375 (W.D. Ark. 1989).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

OREN HARRIS, Senior District Judge.

This action was commenced with the filing of complaint by the plaintiffs, Melvin Scates and numerous other named persons, April 7, 1986. They were members of the United Paperworkers International Union, AFL-CIO, Local 369 at Crossett, Arkansas. The members of the Union claimed a breach of duty by the defendants to fairly represent them as provided under Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA), 1947, (29 U.S.C. § 185).

After substantial discovery over an extended period of time, the case was scheduled for trial to a jury to commence October 24, 1988.

It was stipulated by the parties that there are sixty-two named plaintiffs which would require a great deal of time to present to the court and jury. The stipulation acknowledged that some or all of the plaintiffs’ testimony would be cumulative to the testimony of other plaintiffs. The stipulation was entered October 27, 1988, at the conclusion of four days of trial. A representative group of the plaintiffs had already testified and that the testimony of additional witnesses could not add anything to the claims and complaints if additional witnesses were called. It was, therefore, stipulated that the testimony of the plaintiffs who testified should be considered as a whole on behalf of the entire group.

The trial of the case was extensive and continued to and included October 24,1988, through November 3, 1988, an actual trial of nine days.

After the conclusion of the trial counsel for the parties summed up their respective contentions to the jury after which time the Court instructed the jury as to the applicable law for the jury’s guidance in their determination of the case. After substantial deliberation by the jury a verdict was reported in favor of the defendants, United Paperworkers International Union, AFL-CIO, Local 369, Crossett, Arkansas, and against the Plaintiffs Melvin Scates, et al. Judgment in accordance with the jury verdict was entered by the Court November 16, 1988, in which the complaint of the plaintiffs was dismissed with prejudice.

Subsequently counsel for the defendants filed with the clerk a Bill of Costs on behalf of the defendants against the plaintiffs seeking recovery of the sum of $3,013.51 as costs incident to taking of depositions by the defendants preliminary to the trial of the case. Counsel on behalf of the defendants identified and itemized the names and sums of those deposed by the defendants.

Additionally, the record discloses that those deposed were Mr. Tom Nix on two occasions. Plaintiffs Sharp, Stanley and Scates on another occasion, and at a different time Plaintiffs Williamson, Thrower, Ferguson, Sullivan, Crossley, Sylvester, Crisp, Works and Braggs. A review of the record reveals that Mr. Tom Nix who was deposed on two occasions and the named plaintiffs, most if not all, testified during the course of the trial. Also, portions of depositions by eight of the plaintiffs were read to the jury.

The Bill of Costs submitted on behalf of the defendants was based on the fact that the defendants were the prevailing parties in the litigation. No brief was submitted by counsel for the defendants in justification of their claim for costs in connection with the depositions referred to herein.

Counsel for the plaintiffs timely filed an objection to the request for costs contending that the costs as requested were not recoverable as listed by the defendants. A [601]*601brief in support of the opposition to the Bill of Costs was filed on behalf of the plaintiffs. The objection to the claim of the defendants as the prevailing party to the Bill of Costs was based primarily on a decision by the Honorable H. Franklin Waters, Chief Judge of the Western District of Arkansas, Evans v. Fuller, 94 F.R.D. 311 (WD Ark.1982).

Although more than thirty days has elapsed since the plaintiffs filed objections to the Bill of Costs, counsel for the defendants has failed to respond to the plaintiffs’ objections.

The question of defendants recovery of costs of litigation as prevailing parties to litigation has been a subject of consideration by various courts throughout the history of judicial procedures in this country. In the instant action counsel for the defendants relies on Title 28 U.S.C. § 1920 which provides:

A judge or clerk of any court of the United States may tax as costs the following:

(1) Fees of the clerk and marshal;

(2) Fees of the court reporter for all or any part of the stenographic transcript necessarily obtained for use in the case;

(3) Fees and disbursements for printing and witnesses; (4) Fees for exemplification and copies of papers necessarily obtained for use in the case;

(5) Docket fees under section 1923 of this title;

(6) Compensation of court appointed experts, compensation of interpreters, and salaries, fees, expenses, and costs of special interpretation services under section 1828 of this title.

A bill of costs shall be filed in the case and, upon allowance, included in the judgment or decree. Rule 54(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides: “Costs. Except when express provision therefor is made either in a statute of the United States or in these rules, costs shall be allowed as of course to the prevailing party unless the court otherwise directs; * * *. Costs may be taxed by the clerk on one day’s notice. On motion served within 5 days thereafter, the action of the clerk may be reviewed by the court.”1

In Farmer v. Arabian American Oil Company, 379 U.S. 227, 232, 85 S.Ct. 411, 415, 13 L.Ed.2d 248 (1964), the Supreme Court in commenting on the rule stated: “While this Rule could be far more definite as to what ‘costs shall be allowed,’ the words ‘unless the court otherwise directs’ quite plainly vest some power in the court to allow some ‘costs.’ ” This rule as stated by the Supreme Court is based on the well-established law that a prevailing defendant is entitled to costs and attorney’s fees only if the action of the plaintiff was considered to be “frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation, even though not brought in subjective bad faith.” Robinson v. Monsanto Co., 758 F.2d 331, 336 (8th Cir.1985); Christiansburg Garment Co. v. EEOC, 434 U.S. 412, 98 S.Ct. 694, 54 L.Ed.2d 648 (1978); Bass v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, Inc., 817 F.2d 44 (8th Cir.1987); Hughes v. Rowe, 449 U.S. 5, 14, 101 S.Ct. 173, 178, 66 L.Ed.2d 163 (1980).

It has been held that the expenses of a deposition may be taxed as costs if it is received in evidence, but such is not always the fact. Compare Cox v. Maddux, 285 F.Supp. 876 (W.D.Ark.1968) and Banks v.

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Related

Farmer v. Arabian American Oil Co.
379 U.S. 227 (Supreme Court, 1964)
Hughes v. Rowe
449 U.S. 5 (Supreme Court, 1980)
Crawford Fitting Co. v. J. T. Gibbons, Inc.
482 U.S. 437 (Supreme Court, 1987)
Banks v. Chicago Mill & Lumber Co.
106 F. Supp. 234 (E.D. Arkansas, 1950)
Cox v. Maddux
285 F. Supp. 876 (E.D. Arkansas, 1968)
Evans v. Fuller
94 F.R.D. 311 (W.D. Arkansas, 1982)
Bass v. Southwestern Bell Telephone, Inc.
817 F.2d 44 (Eighth Circuit, 1987)

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Bluebook (online)
123 F.R.D. 599, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 778, 1989 WL 5375, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/scates-v-united-paperworkers-international-union-local-369-arwd-1989.