Walker v. Teamsters Local No. 71

830 F. Supp. 291, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12435, 1993 WL 334782
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. North Carolina
DecidedAugust 26, 1993
DocketNo. C-C-86-462-M
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 830 F. Supp. 291 (Walker v. Teamsters Local No. 71) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Walker v. Teamsters Local No. 71, 830 F. Supp. 291, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12435, 1993 WL 334782 (W.D.N.C. 1993).

Opinion

ORDER

McMILLAN, District Judge.

This case was filed in 1986 and, after a bench trial, was decided in 1988. The plaintiffs, truck drivers, won their case against the Union and the employer trucking companies.

Under the terms of the judgment, defendants were ordered to pay back wages to a certified class of inter-city truck drivers.

The defendants appealed, and the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed this court’s decision, with a modification that somewhat narrowed the plaintiff class. 930 F.2d 376.

The defendants moved for rehearing and rehearing en banc; those motions were denied by the Court of Appeals.

The defendants’ petitions for writs of certiorari were denied by the United States Supreme Court on December 9, 1991.

The plaintiffs, as prevailing parties, have now moved for attorney’s fees and costs.

Attorney’s Fees Issues

The plaintiffs have requested:

1. Attorney’s fees against the union and the employer in the amount of $191,940.00;

2. Lost wages and other expenses that individually named plaintiffs have incurred in litigating their claims in the amount of $17,-598.12; and

3. Expenses in the amount of $6,214.68.

Prevailing Party

The plaintiff class brought this action against the Teamsters Union under Title I of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA). The United States Supreme Court held in Hall v. Cole that, when plaintiffs prevail under the LMRDA, attorney’s fees are available under the common benefit doctrine. Hall v. Cole, 412 U.S. 1, 8, 93 S.Ct. 1943, 1947, 36 L.Ed.2d 702 (1973). The rationale is that, by prevailing, the plaintiff has also accomplished a victory for the other members of the union.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that, in LMRDA litigation, as in civil rights litigation, “attorney fees should be awarded absent special circumstances rendering such award unjust.” Landry v. Sabine Indep. Seamen’s Ass’n, 623 F.2d 347, 350 (5th Cir.1980). There are in this case no such “special circumstances.”

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that prevailing party plaintiffs to whom defendant owes a duty of fair representation are entitled to fees under the common benefit doctrine. Harrison v. UTU, 530 F.2d 558 (4th Cir.1975). The Harrison court interpreted Hall to require the award of attorney’s fees. Id. at 564.

Courts have also awarded attorney’s fees to plaintiffs prevailing in duty of fair repre[293]*293sentatíon suits against unions under the theory that fees and expenses are part of compensatory damages that may be awarded against the union.

The costs of litigation, including attorney’s fees, are a principal component of such damages. Self v. Drivers, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers Local Union No. 61, 620 F.2d 439, 444 (4th Cir.1980). In Self, the Fourth Circuit stated, “Employees should be awarded a judgment in a reasonable amount to cover their expenses including attorneys fees and costs, incurred in seeking a fair resolution of the claim against their employer.” 620 F.2d 439, 444 (4th Cir.1980). (Emphasis added.)

Both defendants, the employer Consolidated Freightways (“CF”) and the Teamsters Union (“Union”) have filed responses objecting to an award of attorney’s fees in full, asserting that plaintiffs did not prevail on all their claims.

The defendants base their contention on the fact that the suit originally was filed against numerous defendants, and that seven of those defendants were dismissed before trial. In addition, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals modified this court’s judgment, reducing somewhat the amount of the award and the size of the plaintiff class. Therefore, defendants claim that under Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983), the amount of attorney’s fees awarded should be reduced to reflect that lack of success on all claims asserted.

However, these plaintiffs’ claims for relief involve, or have, a common core of facts and are based on related legal theories. Much of counsel’s time was devoted to the litigation as a whole. The Supreme Court in Hensley held that, in such cases, “the district court should focus on the significance of the overall relief obtained by the plaintiff in relation to the hours reasonably expended on the litigation.” Hensley at 435, 103 S.Ct. at 1940 (Emphasis added.)

Hensley v. Eckerhart, as it relates to this case, indicates that the plaintiffs and their counsel are entitled to fees that adequately compensate them for all their services “reasonably expended” during the preparation and trial of this case, without being reduced by the amount of their labor which was spent developing theories which hindsight may show not to have been necessary to sustain the ultimate results.

A re-reading of Justice Powell’s opinion of the Court in Hensley makes it clear that although results are important, plaintiff may get fees even though not successful on all claims asserted. It is also clear from Hensley that a plaintiff must be a “prevailing party” to recover attorney’s fees.

These plaintiffs have prevailed.

Named Plaintiffs’ Costs and Expenses

The named plaintiffs showed by affidavit that they expended substantial sums totaling $17,598.12 in the form of lost wages and expenses necessarily incurred in preparing and prosecuting the case. They seek compensation for those items of lost wages and out-of-pocket expenses.

There appears no particular contest of the figures involved; defendants, in reply, simply say that the law doesn’t allow litigants to recover items like lost wages and expenses.

The court disagrees. Plaintiffs should recover their personal out-of-pocket lost wages and expenses necessarily incurred in preparing and prosecuting their case.

Conclusions

The following conclusions are reached from the evidence in this case:

Plaintiffs are the prevailing parties. They obtained substantially the relief they sought. Their labors have produced benefits common to all the plaintiffs. They are entitled to recover their costs and expenses, including attorney’s fees for hours reasonably expended in the prosecution of the litigation.

The court remembers the admonition from Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424 at 437, 103 S.Ct. 1933 at 1941, that:

“A request for attorney’s fees should not result in a second major litigation.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
830 F. Supp. 291, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12435, 1993 WL 334782, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/walker-v-teamsters-local-no-71-ncwd-1993.