Barrios v. CA. Interscholastic Fed.

• Decision Date: 16 January 2002
• Docket Number: No. 00-56479,DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES,PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,00-56479
• Citation: 277 F.3d 1128
• Parties: (9th Cir. 2002) VICTOR BARRIOS,, v. CALIFORNIA INTERSCHOLASTIC FEDERATION; CALIFORNIA INTERSCHOLASTIC FEDERATION OPINION SOUTHERN SECTION,
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 1128

277 F.3d 1128 (9th Cir. 2002)

VICTOR BARRIOS, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT, v. CALIFORNIA INTERSCHOLASTIC FEDERATION; CALIFORNIA INTERSCHOLASTIC FEDERATION OPINION SOUTHERN SECTION, DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES.

No. 00-56479

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

Argued and Submitted December 5, 2001

Filed January 16, 2002

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Lew Hollman, Center for Law in the Public Interest, Los Angeles, California, for the plaintiff-appellant.

Judith Z. Gold, Lynberg & Watkins, Los Angeles, California, for the defendants-appellees.

Brad Seligman, Berkeley, California, for amici curiae The Impact Fund, Disability Rights and Education Defense Fund, the Employment Law Center, and Protection & Advocacy, Inc.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California J. Spencer Letts, District Judge, Presiding D.C. No. CV 99-4466 JSL

Before: Harry Pregerson, A. Wallace Tashima, and Marsha S. Berzon, Circuit Judges.

Tashima, Circuit Judge

Plaintiff-Appellant Victor Barrios ("Barrios") sued Defendants-Appellees California Interscholastic Federation ("CIF") and California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section ("CIFSS") for discrimination claims arising under federal and state law. After entering into a settlement agreement, Barrios moved for attorneys fees and costs as the "prevailing party."¹ The district court denied Barrios' motion. Barrios timely filed this appeal, arguing that he is entitled to reasonable attorneys' fees and costs under both federal and state law. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.§§ 1291, and we reverse.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Victor Barrios is an assistant baseball coach for Westminster High School, part of the Huntington Beach Union School District. Westminster High School is a member of both the CIF and CIFSS.² Barrios has been paraplegic since 1992. As of 1999, he had coached high school baseball from an athletic wheelchair for four consecutive seasons in the CIFSS league. During games, Barrios' responsibilities included acting as a first or third base coach, which required him to be in the coach's box just outside the baseline to interact with his players, and deciding when to make pitching changes, which required him periodically to visit the pitcher's mound to assess the strength, energy, and focus of his pitcher.

Barrios' athletic wheelchair was specially adapted for the rigors of sports, where it is commonplace for collisions to occur both with other wheelchairs and with able-bodied referees. According to the manufacturer of Barrios' wheelchair: "[The athletic wheelchair is] used in wheelchair basketball, hockey and other contact sports along with everyday use. Many times competing players will collide with each other. And on some occasions able-bodied referees will make contact with the chairs at high speeds. To date, no injuries have been reported as a result of wheelchair design. We have been producing wheelchairs for over 30 years." In the years that Barrios has coached high school baseball, he has never been injured nor caused an injury with his wheelchair.

At the first game of the 1999 season, on February 27, an umpire told Barrios before the game that, for his own safety, he would not be permitted to coach on the field. When Barrios protested, the umpire issued an ultimatum: either Barrios forego coaching on the field or the umpire would leave. Barrios and the other team's coach agreed to play the game without the umpire so that Barrios could fulfill his duties as an assistant coach.

On March 6, 1999, Barrios was scheduled to coach a double-header in games officiated by an umpire from the Orange County Baseball Officials Association ("OCBOA"). The umpire informed Barrios that the OCBOA would not allow him onto the field to coach runners or pitchers because his presence on the field would "slow the game down." At the next game on March 9, an OCBOA umpire again prohibited Barrios from coaching on the field.

On March 10, William R. Clark ("Clark"), the CIFSS Assistant Commissioner, wrote Kathleen Miller ("Miller"), the principal of Westminster High School. Clark informed Miller that the CIFSS would permit Barrios to coach from the field, but only if "all exterior hard surfaces of his wheelchair shall be covered with `no less than one-half inch thick, high density, closed cell polyurethane, or an alternate material of the same minimum thickness and similar properties.' " The language quoted by Clark came from a rule in the National Federation Football Rulebook that pertained to the padding of hard surfaces of football players' equipment. Clark further suggested that "this letter be kept with coach Barrios to present to any officials challenging his status."

At the next game, on March 19, an OCBOA umpire asked Barrios if he had complied with the letter sent by Clark. Barrios replied that he had neither obtained the padding nor brought Clark's permission letter. While the umpire allowed Barrios to coach the game,³ he warned Barrios that other OCBOA umpires would not allow him onto the field without compliance with Clark's letter. In fact, OCBOA umpires subsequently excluded Barrios from on-field coaching in a game held on March 30.

Barrios sought legal assistance from Laura Diamond ("Diamond"), an attorney with the Center for Law in the Public Interest. Diamond contacted Clark on April 5, 1999, in an effort to resolve the situation. Clark responded to Diamond on April 6, reiterating the "need to have any hard surfaces padded" and asserting that the head umpire has authority to require such padding. After Clark's response Barrios was, once more, on April 14, excluded by OCBOA umpires from coaching a game.

On April 20, Jilana Miller ("Miller") from the Center for Law in the Public Interest, and Christopher Knauf ("Knauf") from the Western Law Center for Disability Rights sent a letter to the CIF, the CIFSS, and the OCBOA. In this letter, Miller and Knauf alleged discrimination against Barrios, demanded that certain immediate conditions be satisfied to prevent litigation,⁴ and warned that if Barrios was excluded from coaching in the upcoming April 23 game, "we will enforce Mr. Barrios' rights under the law."

On April 21, Diamond discussed Barrios' situation with Andrew Patterson ("Patterson"), legal counsel for the CIF. In a letter dated April 22, Patterson acknowledged that Barrios "is not a safety hazard," suggested that "there has been a glitch with the umpires with respect to the presence of Mr. Barrios wheelchair on the field of play," and promised that he would obtain a "variance" from the National Federation to permit Barrios' coaching presence on the baseball field. No details were offered regarding the scope of such a variance or when it would be forthcoming.

Despite Patterson's assurances, however, Barrios was again excluded from on-field coaching on April 23. Later that day, Knauf both faxed a letter and left messages at Clark's office, informing him of Barrios' intent to file a complaint and seek a temporary restraining order against the CIF, CIFSS, and OCBOA on April 26. Barrios, in fact, filed his complaint and application for a temporary restraining order on April 27, 1999.

On April 28, Barrios again was excluded from coaching his high school baseball team.

On April 29, Patterson spoke with Miller, informing her that the CIF had granted Barrios a variance to coach his team on the playing field and that the OCBOA would be informed of this variance. In an effort to memorialize this agreement in writing, Miller drafted, signed, and sent Patterson a stipulation whereby Barrios would "withdraw the . . . application for a Temporary Restraining Order" if the CIF, CIFSS, and OCBOA agreed to "allow Plaintiff to coach from the field, without condition, effectively immediately, until the last game of the season . . . ." Patterson refused to sign this stipulation, and the hearing scheduled for April 30 went forward.

The parties met with the court in chambers on April 30, where Patterson agreed orally that Barrios should be allowed to coach on the field for the remainder of the season. In light of this commitment, the court declined to rule on the application for a temporary restraining order. Again Barrios' counsel sought to memorialize this commitment via a written stipulation, again Patterson refused to sign the proffered stipulation, and again Barrios was excluded, at the next game following the meeting with the court, from coaching his baseball team despite Patterson's in-chambers oral commitment.

Patterson sent letters to Miller, on May 13 and June 10, 1999, informing her that Barrios had been granted a variance and expressing his frustration over (what he viewed to be) unnecessary litigation. Patterson, however, remained unwilling to sign a written stipulation regarding Barrios' variance. On June 4, Miller responded to Patterson's concerns, explaining that Barrios' recurrent exclusion, in the face of purported "variances," made legal action necessary.

On July 12, Barrios' counsel sent a lengthy proposed settlement agreement to the CIF's counsel. Defense counsel responded to this proposal on August 11, outlining their concerns. On August 12, the CIF's counsel requested (with the agreement of Barrios' counsel) an extension to September 10, 1999, to file a responsive pleading "in order for us to continue to explore the possibility of reaching a settlement agreement."

Over the next few months, the dialogue between the parties continued, finally culminating in a settlement agreement. The agreement provided that Barrios "shall continue to be allowed to coach baseball on the field, absent a material change in his ability to coach or in his wheelchair." Barrios also was to receive $10,000 in compensatory damages. The agreement further provided that "the PARTIES agree that the issue of whether any PARTY is the prevailing party and whether any PARTY is entitled to attorneys' fees, and, if so, the amount...