Johnson v. GDF, Inc. 

• Decision Date: 13 February 2012
• Docket Number: No. 11–1934.,11–1934.
• Citation: 668 F.3d 927,162 Lab.Cas. P 35991,18 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 1217
• Parties: Robert S. JOHNSON, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. GDF, INC. d/b/a Domino's Pizza, Defendant–Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

162 Lab.Cas. P 35,991

18 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 1217

668 F.3d 927

Robert S. JOHNSON, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.GDF, INC. d/b/a Domino's Pizza, Defendant–Appellee.

No. 11–1934.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued Oct. 21, 2011.Decided Feb. 13, 2012.

Ernest T. Rossiello (argued), Attorney, Ernest T. Rossiello & Associates, P.C., Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff–Appellant.

Donald S. Rothschild (argued), Attorney, Goldstine, Skrodzki, Russian, Nemec & Hoff, Burr Ridge, IL, for Defendant–Appellee.

Before BAUER and TINDER, Circuit Judges and MAGNUS–STINSON, District Judge.^*TINDER, Circuit Judge.

When a prevailing party is entitled to “a reasonable attorney's fee,” see, e.g., 42 U.S.C. § 1988; 29 U.S.C. § 216(b), the district court must make that assessment, at least initially, based on a calculation of the “lodestar”—the hours reasonably expended multiplied by the reasonable hourly rate—and nothing else. See Pickett v. Sheridan Health Care, 664 F.3d 632, 640–43 (7th Cir.2011). In limited circumstances, once calculated, the lodestar amount may be adjusted. See Perdue v. Kenny A. ex rel. Winn, ––– U.S. ––––, 130 S.Ct. 1662, 1673–74, 176 L.Ed.2d 494 (2010); Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 430, 436, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983); Robinson v. City of Harvey, 489 F.3d 864, 871–72 (7th Cir.2007). This case, however, does not involve the acceptability of an adjustment but only the correct calculation of the lodestar (plus costs). And although a district court has significant discretion in determining the lodestar, it cannot base its decision on an irrelevant consideration or reach an unreasonable conclusion. See Pickett, 664 F.3d at 645–46 (abuse of discretion to determine attorney's fee based on an irrelevant consideration); United States v. Thouvenot, Wade & Moerschen, Inc., 596 F.3d 378, 386 (7th Cir.2010) (“The concept of ‘abuse of discretion’ recognizes the possibility that a judge will at times reach a result that persuades the appellate court that he made an unreasonable ruling....”). In this case, as we will see, the district court did both. So, despite our support for the idea that “[a] request for attorney's fees should not result in a second major litigation,” Hensley, 461 U.S. at 437, 103 S.Ct. 1933, we must reverse and remand this case for a new calculation of fees.

To understand this fee dispute, we have to go back to 2005 when Robert S. Johnson was a pizza maker at GDF's Domino's Pizza franchise in Oak Park, Illinois. In May of that year, Johnson filed a class-action complaint in state court seeking overtime wages for himself and similarly-situated employees under the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, 820 ILCS § 105/4a, and the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1). In July 2005, Johnson stopped working at Domino's. (According to Johnson—and the jury in the subsequent federal trial agreed—he was fired in retaliation for his overtime lawsuit. GDF sees things differently and has argued that he quit voluntarily or was terminated for violating Domino's sexual harassment policy.) In April 2006, GDF deposed Johnson and learned at least two important things: First, Johnson was reemployed as of August 2005 by two cab companies and a bakery and, second, Johnson had criminal convictions that he did not disclose when he applied to work at Domino's.

Class certification in the state suit was denied in July 2006. One year later, in July 2007, Johnson filed this suit in federal court, alleging that he was fired in retaliation for his overtime claim in violation of the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. § 215(a)(3). As trial in the state suit approached, GDF offered to settle “everything”—the state and federal suits—for $25,000. Johnson rejected the offer. The state suit was resolved by a consent judgment a month later and GDF paid Johnson $4,328.77 in overtime wages plus interest and attorney's fees. Meanwhile the federal suit rolled on. The Final Pretrial Order states that “[t]he possibility of settlement of this case was considered” but the parties concede that other than the early offer to “settle everything” there was no settlement talk or even a request for a settlement conference, nor was there a Rule 68(a) offer of judgment, not even one limited to the issue of liability. There was, however, a three-day trial. On the third day, the jury returned a verdict for Johnson, awarding him $1,000 in back pay and $4,000 in punitive damages. Johnson filed a motion to amend the judgment to include liquidated damages and GDF filed a motion for judgment as a matter of law. The district court denied both motions and the parties appealed. After mediation the appeals were dismissed with GDF paying Johnson an additional $5,455. The only remaining matter was attorney's fees and the case was remanded on that issue alone.

As the prevailing party, Johnson is entitled to “a reasonable attorney's fee to be paid by defendant, and the costs of the action.” 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). Johnson's attorney, Earnest T. Rossiello, moved for $112,566.87 in fees and expenses, billing 182.66 hours at $600 per hour for himself and 8.33 hours at $275 per hour for his associates. His motion included, among other supporting documents, affidavits from employment attorneys practicing in the same market. In response, GDF argued that Johnson wasn't actually the prevailing party, and so wasn't entitled to any fees, because Rossiello's contingent fee agreement with Johnson—33.33% of any settlement, with guaranteed payment of the first $8,500, plus any attorney's fees awarded under 29 U.S.C. § 216(b)—left Johnson with nothing. In the alternative, GDF argued that Rossiello should be compensated for 47.08 hours, at most, at no more than $375 per hour. GDF's response concluded with a pages-long discussion of court opinions criticizing Rossiello's litigation tactics in other cases and discussing his history with the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.

The fee dispute was referred to a magistrate judge, who described this case as “yet another example of Ernest T. Rossiello's self-serving litigation tactics, where he places his own financial interests ahead of his client.” He went on to criticize the contingent fee arrangement and concluded that the only reason the case lasted as long as it did was because Rossiello consistently over-represented Johnson's damages. The case would have settled quickly, he surmised, if Rossiello would have been honest about his client's damages. Relying on Spegon v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago, 175 F.3d 544 (7th Cir.1999), a case in which Rossiello's fees were cut significantly because he unnecessarily delayed a settlement, the magistrate judge concluded that a settlement should have been reached within three hours. As for Rossiello's hourly rate, the magistrate judge rejected Rossiello's submissions and settled on $375 per hour, “the highest rate awarded to Rossiello by a Northern District court in an FLSA case where his fees have been challenged.” All associate time was cut. For costs, the magistrate judge recommended $364.20—$350 for the filing fee and $14.20 for copies. All told, he recommended an award of $1,864.20. The district court adopted the magistrate judge's Report and Recommendation in full. In particular, the district court agreed that if Johnson's damages had been candidly disclosed—if Rossiello hadn't misrepresented his damages until the start of trial—the case would have settled quickly. On Rossiello's hourly rate, the district court agreed that the relevant measure is Rossiello's rate in cases where his fee had been challenged and so agreed that $375 per hour was correct.

We review the district court's award of attorney's fees for abuse of discretion and its legal analysis and methodology de novo. Pickett, 664 F.3d at 638–40; Anderson v. AB Painting & Sandblasting Inc., 578 F.3d 542, 544 (7th Cir.2009). Because this is a dispute about the correct calculation of plaintiff's “reasonable attorney's fee” as set by the lodestar, “plus costs,” 29 U.S.C. § 216(b), our review will follow the three determinations required to set that figure: (1) the number of hours reasonably expended by plaintiff's counsel, (2) the reasonable hourly rate for those services, and (3) costs. See Anderson, 578 F.3d at 544 (citing Hensley, 461 U.S. at 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933).

Hours Reasonably Expended. GDF must pay for hours reasonably expended by Rossiello and his associates. That means GDF is not required to pay for hours that are “excessive, redundant, or otherwise unnecessary.” Hensley, 461 U.S. at 434, 103 S.Ct. 1933; Spegon, 175 F.3d at 552. Applying Spegon, the district court concluded that all but four of the one hundred and ninety billed hours were unnecessary.

Spegon involved FLSA claims made by Kenneth Spegon, a church maintenance man, for overtime and retaliatory dismissal. 175 F.3d at 549. From the start, the Diocese accepted responsibility for its failure to pay overtime, characterizing it as a simple mistake. The parties disagreed, however, about the amount of overtime due. Spegon made an initial settlement demand for $6,600 that included more than $3,600 in fees. After a hearing, the Diocese made an offer of judgment for “$1,100 plus court costs and a reasonable attorney's fee to be determined by the court.” Id. Spegon accepted. For attorney's fees, Spegon initially requested $7,280.70. That, unsurprisingly, didn't go over too well. The district court cut all but 4.6 hours of Rossiello's time, and then cut those hours in half due to Spegon's limited success (he didn't prevail on the retaliation claim). The district court concluded that “within three hours, an attorney of Rossiello's experience and skill could have met with Spegon, assessed his claim, called the Bishop and negotiated a settlement.” Id. at 551. We affirmed, explaining that the only issue in dispute was overtime and that involved a simple calculation. Id. The many hours Rossiello wanted to charge were unnecessary given that...