Hansson v. Norton

• Decision Date: 10 June 2005
• Docket Number: No. 04-5157.,04-5157.
• Parties: Marian K. HANSSON Appellant v. Gale A. NORTON, Secretary, United States Department of the Interior, Appellee
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

Page 231

411 F.3d 231

Marian K. HANSSON Appellant v. Gale A. NORTON, Secretary, United States Department of the Interior, Appellee

No. 04-5157.

United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued February 24, 2005.

Decided June 10, 2005.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (No. 02cv02028).

David C. Vladeck argued the cause and filed the briefs for appellant.

Marina Utgoff Braswell, Assistant U.S. Attorney, argued the cause for appellee. With her on the briefs were Kenneth L. Wainstein, U.S. Attorney, and Michael J. Ryan, Assistant U.S. Attorney. R. Craig Lawrence entered an appearance.

John A. Payton and Paul R. Wolfson were on the brief for amicus curiae NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. in support of appellant.

Before: EDWARDS, ROGERS and GARLAND, Circuit Judges.

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge ROGERS.

ROGERS, Circuit Judge.

Marion Hansson seeks to recover $37,077.94 in attorney's fees that she incurred in settling her administrative complaints against the Bureau of Indian Affairs ("BIA") in the Department of the Interior for discrimination on the basis of her national origin and age in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (2000), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq. (2000). When the Secretary of the Interior awarded only one-fourth of the requested attorney's fees, Hansson filed suit in the district court, alleging that the Secretary's final fee award violated Title VII, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") regulations, and the parties' settlement agreement. The district court granted the Secretary's motion to dismiss the complaint, ruling that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(3).

Upon de novo review, see Gen. Elec. Co. v. EPA, 360 F.3d 188, 190-91 (D.C.Cir.2004), we hold that the district court lacked jurisdiction over Hansson's complaint because it was a contract claim against the United States for more than $10,000, over which the Court of Federal Claims has exclusive jurisdiction under the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1491 (2000). This court generally treats settlement agreements as contracts subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Federal Claims, see Shaffer v. Veneman, 325 F.3d 370, 372 (D.C.Cir.2003), and the court recently held in Brown v. United States, 389 F.3d 1296, 1297 (D.C.Cir.2004), that a claim for breach of a Title VII settlement agreement is a contract claim within the meaning of the Tucker Act. Because Hansson's claim for attorney's fees neither requires an interpretation of Title VII with respect to her discrimination complaint nor seeks equitable relief, it involves "only straightforward contract issues" that belong in the Court of Federal Claims. Shaffer, 325 F.3d at 373. Accordingly, we vacate the opinion and judgment of the district court and remand the case to the district court with instructions to transfer the case to the Court of Federal Claims. See 28 U.S.C. § 1631 (2000).

I.

Marian Hansson, "an American of Kiowa (American Indian) origin" who is over sixty years of age, is employed by the BIA as a curator of American Indian art. Compl. ¶ 2, at 2. In November 2001, she retained the law firm of Gebhardt & Associates, LLP ("Gebhardt"), to file several administrative complaints with the BIA alleging employment discrimination on the basis of her national origin and age. On June 28, 2002, the BIA executed a Resolution Agreement granting Hansson substantially all of the relief sought in her complaints, including "reasonable attorney's fees and costs" in accordance with the EEOC regulations at 29 C.F.R. § 1614.501(e) (2004). Resolution Agreement ¶ 8m, at 8. In exchange, Hansson agreed to withdraw all pending and potential discrimination complaints against the BIA, through the date of the Resolution Agreement. Id. ¶ 5, at 3. The settlement agreement provided that "should the Agency fail to honor its obligations as set forth in this Resolution Agreement for any reason not attributed to acts or conduct by the Complainant, the provisions outlined in 29 C.F.R. § 1614.504 shall govern." Id. ¶ 11, at 9.

In accordance with the Resolution Agreement, Gebhardt submitted to the BIA a statement of its fees and costs associated with its representation of Hansson, totaling $37,077.94. By letter of September 12, 2002, the Director of the Office for Equal Opportunity ("OEO") for the Department of the Interior awarded Gebhardt $8,959.44, explaining that the law firm was not entitled to fees for pre-complaint services or for services related to Hansson's age discrimination claim. The OEO letter also stated that this was the agency's final decision regarding Hansson's claim for attorney's fees and costs, and that she could appeal the decision to the EEOC within 30 days or, "[i]n lieu of an appeal to the Commission, [she could] file a civil action in an appropriate United States District Court" within 90 days, naming the Secretary of the Interior as the defendant.

On October 16, 2002, Hansson sued the Secretary in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that the final decision to award less than one-fourth of the requested attorney's fees was arbitrary, capricious, and in violation of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(k),¹ the EEOC regulations, 29 C.F.R. § 1614.501(e), and the Resolution Agreement. She sought recovery of the $37,077.94 in attorney's fees incurred in settling her administrative complaints — the same amount her attorney requested pursuant to the Resolution Agreement — plus reasonable attorney's fees and costs incurred in maintaining this action. The Secretary moved to dismiss the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under Title VII and for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, and Hansson cross-moved for summary judgment. The district court granted the Secretary's motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and Hansson appeals.

II.

In dismissing Hansson's complaint, the district court ruled that 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(3), which grants jurisdiction over "actions brought under" Title VII, does not extend to actions brought solely to recover attorney's fees incurred during Title VII administrative proceedings. It relied on North Carolina Department of Transportation v. Crest Street Community Council, Inc., 479 U.S. 6, 107 S.Ct. 336, 93 L.Ed.2d 188 (1986), which held that 42 U.S.C. § 1988 does not authorize courts to award attorney's fees in actions brought solely to recover attorney's fees incurred during Title VI administrative proceedings. Id. at 15, 107 S.Ct. 336. On appeal, Hansson contends that her case is governed by New York Gaslight Club v. Carey, 447 U.S. 54, 100 S.Ct. 2024, 64 L.Ed.2d 723 (1980), which stated that Title VII's "authorization of a civil suit in federal court encompasses a suit solely to obtain an award of attorney's fees for legal work done in state and local proceedings." Id. at 66, 100 S.Ct. 2024. She maintains that the district court erred in relying on Crest Street because the language and structure of Title VI are different from that of Title VII: first, § 1988 authorizes an award of attorney's fees in "actions or proceedings to enforce" Title VI, while § 2000e-5(k) authorizes an award of attorney's fees for any "action or proceeding under" Title VII, and second, administrative proceedings are voluntary under Title VI, while they are mandatory under Title VII.

In supplemental briefs on appeal the parties addressed two issues: first, whether Hansson was a "prevailing party" within the meaning of § 2000e-5(k) in light of the court's recent decision in Alegria v. District of Columbia, 391 F.3d 262 (D.C.Cir.2004), which applied Buckhannon Board & Care Home, Inc. v. West Virginia Department of Health & Human Resources, 532 U.S. 598, 121 S.Ct. 1835, 149 L.Ed.2d 855 (2001), to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. (2000); and second, whether the district court had jurisdiction over Hansson's claim for attorney's fees in light of the court's recent decision in Brown, 389 F.3d 1296. The court expresses appreciation to the parties for this assistance. We now conclude that Hansson's claim for attorney's fees is a contract claim that belongs in the Court of Federal Claims, and we do not reach the question whether Title VII authorizes an award of attorney's fees in an action brought solely to recover attorney's fees or the question whether Hansson is a "prevailing party."

Although Hansson maintains on appeal that her complaint raises a Title VII claim for attorney's fees and not a contract claim to enforce the Resolution Agreement, the record indicates otherwise. Hansson's complaint seeks "relief for harm caused to her by [the Agency's] unlawful refusal to comply with the Resolution Agreement ... in that the Agency has without justification refused to pay reasonable attorney's fees." Compl. ¶ 1, at 1. Specifically, the complaint alleges three "causes of action": first, that the Secretary's final fee award "is arbitrary, capricious, and unsupported by law, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(k) and 29 C.F.R. § 1614.501(e)"; second, that it "violates the Resolution Agreement signed by [Hansson] and the BIA"; and third, that it "constitutes an improper deferral of decision-making authority from the BIA to the Office of the Secretary." Id. ¶¶ 14-16, at 4. Hansson's complaint does not allege that the denial of her requested attorney's fees violated Title VII because it was discriminatory; nor does she seek redetermination of her original discrimination claims. Cf. Scott v. Johanns, 409 F.3d 466 (D.C.Cir.2005). On appeal, Hansson relies primarily on the first cause of action, which appears to invoke this court's authority under the Administrative Procedure Act to review final agency actions. See 5 U.S.C. § 704 (2000). Such...