Morimanno v. Taco Bell, 1:96-CV-0121.

• Decision Date: 17 July 1997
• Docket Number: No. 1:96-CV-0121.,1:96-CV-0121.
• Citation: 979 F.Supp. 791
• Parties: Michelle MORIMANNO, and Nichole Walls, Plaintiffs, v. TACO BELL, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Indiana

979 F.Supp. 791

Michelle MORIMANNO, and Nichole Walls, Plaintiffs, v. TACO BELL, Defendant.

No. 1:96-CV-0121.

United States District Court, N.D. Indiana, Fort Wayne Division.

July 17, 1997.

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Thomas N. O'Malley, Eric HJ Stahlhut, Gallucci, Hopkins and Theisen PC, Fort Wayne, IN, for Plaintiff.

John R. Maley, Derek D. Murphy, Barnes and Thornburg, Indianapolis, IN, D. Randall Brown, Barnes and Thornburg, Fort Wayne, IN, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER

WILLIAM C. LEE, Chief Judge.

This matter is before the court on Plaintiffs' respective Petitions for Award of Attorney's Fees and Litigation Expenses. Defendant Taco Bell challenges those Petitions, contending that Plaintiffs are entitled either to no fees or to reduced fees. For the reasons stated herein, the court orders Taco Bell to pay attorney's fees and expenses to Michelle Morimanno in the amount of $60,471.75 and to Nichole Walls in the amount of $44,619.31.

BACKGROUND

On March 20, 1997, a jury in the Northern District of Indiana, Fort Wayne Division, returned a verdict in favor of Plaintiffs, finding that Plaintiffs had been subjected to hostile work environment sexual harassment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The jury awarded Plaintiff Michelle Morimanno $5,400 in compensatory damages and $3,000 in punitive damages and awarded Plaintiff Nichole Walls $4,900 in compensatory damages and $3,000 in punitive damages.

After the trial, Plaintiffs each submitted a request for attorney's fees and expenses. Morimanno initially requested $42,320.30 for 265.25 hours of work, and Walls initially requested $37,757.56 for 241.5 hours of work. Those amounts include a bill of costs in the amount of $2,391.59 for Morimanno and $1,196.89 for Walls. Due to post-trial motions, Morimanno has subsequently requested additional fees in the amount of $15,950.61 for 95.5 hours of work, and Walls has requested an additional $5,855.61 for 38.5 hours of work. Plaintiffs' requests are based on the commonly accepted "lodestar" method of calculation.

In support of their Petitions, each Plaintiff has submitted an affidavit of her lead counsel, Thomas O'Malley, of the Ft. Wayne law firm Galluci, Hopkins & Theisen, P.C. ("Galluci"), which sets forth the hours and hourly rates of the lawyers who worked on the cases together with the opinion of Mr. O'Malley that all of the hours spent were reasonable and necessary. Mr. O'Malley lists his own hourly rate as $175.00 per hour; his normal, published rate was $105.00 per hour for routine legal work throughout the time of trial. That rate has since been raised to $125.00 per hour.

On July 14, 1997, a hearing was held at which Plaintiffs presented further evidence in support of their Petitions. The evidence included testimony from local attorneys as to what they believe is a reasonable hourly rate in the Fort Wayne area for similar legal services provided by a lawyer with skills and experience comparable to Plaintiffs' counsel. Taco Bell cross-examined each of Plaintiffs' witnesses and also presented its own testimony and brief oral argument in support of its position.

DISCUSSION

In determining reasonable attorney's fees, "[t]he most useful starting point ... is the number of hours reasonably expended on the litigation multiplied by a reasonable hourly rate." Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 1939, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983). This is what is commonly known as the lodestar method. There are, however, considerations that may lead to an upward or downward adjustment. Id. at 434, 103 S.Ct. at 1939-40. Ultimately though, district courts have "discretion in determining the amount of a fee award. This is appropriate in view of the district court's superior understanding of the litigation ..." Id. at 437, 103 S.Ct. at 1941.

Taco Bell puts forth several reasons for why the lodestar as submitted by Plaintiffs should be adjusted downward. First, Taco Bell contends that Plaintiffs are entitled to no fees whatsoever because they are not "prevailing parties." Second, Taco Bell argues that if Plaintiffs are awarded fees, those fees should be reduced to a total amount of $16,300.00 because of the limited results achieved. Third, Taco Bell contends that even if the court decides to apply the normal lodestar calculation, the hourly rate of Mr. O'Malley is too high and should be reduced. Finally, Taco Bell asks for a reduction because of discrepancies and other problems in Plaintiffs' Fee Petitions. In addition, Taco Bell says that each of Plaintiffs' Bill of Costs should be reduced by $147.00.

Are Plaintiffs Entitled to Reasonable Attorney's Fees?

Taco Bell contends that Plaintiffs should be awarded no attorney's fees at all because their damage awards were nominal and the results achieved de minimis. The court rejects this request of Taco Bell.

This issue turns on whether the award of damages in this case was nominal. A nominal damages award is given where a plaintiff proves a civil rights violation, but cannot prove actual damages. See Farrar v. Hobby, 506 U.S. 103, 112, 113 S.Ct. 566, 573-74, 121 L.Ed.2d 494 (1992). However, a nominal victor in a Title VII action is still a "prevailing party" and thus qualifies for reasonable attorney's fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988(b). See id. Nevertheless, a nominal victor is generally not entitled to attorney's fees if the results achieved are de minimis. See id. at 115, 113 S.Ct. at 575 (stating that when "a plaintiff recovers nominal damages ... the only reasonable fee is usually no fee at all"). The amount of attorney's fees for a plaintiff who has obtained only nominal damages is governed by a three-tier analysis set out by the Supreme Court in Farrar. See Maul v. Constan, 23 F.3d 143, 145 (7th Cir. 1994) (citing Cartwright v. Stamper, 7 F.3d 106, 109). The Maul Court emphasized that the Farrar analysis applies only when the damages award is nominal. See id.

Taco Bell contends that Plaintiffs are entitled to no fees because the results they achieved are de minimis in contrast to the results they sought. Taco Bell seems to mistakenly conflate the Farrar analysis of when a nominal damages award should be considered de minimis with whether a damages award should be considered nominal in the first place. Either that, or Taco Bell simply glosses over that question. In any event, Taco Bell would have the court jump right into the Farrar analysis to determine whether Plaintiffs are entitled to reasonable attorney's fees, and if so, whether that amount should be substantially reduced from the requested amount. That the court declines to do. As stated above, the Farrar analysis for when fees should not be awarded because of de minimis results presupposes that the compensatory damages award was nominal. Thus, the court need not reach the Farrar analysis at all because the court determines that the compensatory damage awards in these cases are not nominal.

That the jury's compensatory damages awards to Morimanno and Walls are not nominal is practically self-evident. Morimanno was awarded $5400.00 and Walls was awarded $4900.00. On their faces, those awards are not nominal. The clearest supporting evidence of that is the obvious relation the awards have to the number of days each of the Plaintiffs worked with the harassers. During closing arguments, Plaintiff's lead counsel, Thomas O'Malley, suggested, among other things, that the jury might award Morimanno and Walls $1000.00 for each of the days Plaintiffs had to work with one or more of the harassers. During deliberations, the jury sent the court a note asking to see the exhibit which listed the days on which Plaintiffs worked with the harassers. The court simply told them that Morimanno had worked with the harassers on 54 days, and that Walls had worked with the harassers on 49 days. The jury's verdict clearly awarded each of the Plaintiffs $100.00 for each day she had worked with the harassers. One hundred dollars per day is certainly not a nominal award. That is especially so considering that Plaintiffs' hourly wages at Taco Bell were less than $8.00 per hour, and that neither one claimed any out-of-pocket damages for medical bills, psychologist's bills, or the like.

Nominal damages have typically been awarded where the plaintiff has proved that his rights were violated but has not proved actual damages. In most cases, the nominal award is in the amount of $1.00 for compensatory damages. See, e.g., Farrar v. Hobby, 506 U.S. 103, 113 S.Ct. 566, 121 L.Ed.2d 494 (1992). In fact, every single case that Taco Bell cites involves compensatory awards of $1.00. See Farrar v. Hobby, 506 U.S. 103, 113 S.Ct. 566, 121 L.Ed.2d 494; Maul v. Constan, 23 F.3d 143 (7th Cir.1994); Cartwright v. Stamper, 7 F.3d 106 (7th Cir.1993); Kimbrew v. Evansville Police Department, 867 F.Supp. 818, 831 (S.D.Ind.1994). Although Taco Bell would have the court measure the damages awards against the original relief sought by Plaintiffs, that is part of the Farrar de minimis test, and it is accordingly irrelevant to the question of whether an award is nominal. Compensatory damages of $5400.00 and $4900.00 are simply not nominal awards. Thus, the court declines to reduce Plaintiffs' attorney's fees on the basis that their victory was nominal and the results obtained de minimis.

Should Plaintiffs' Attorney's Fees Be Reduced for Plaintiffs' Failure to Prevail on Most of Their Claims?

Taco Bell alternatively asks the court to reduce Plaintiffs' requested fees because they failed to prevail on most of their claims. Taco Bell points to the fact that Walls obtained relief on only one claim out of four initially raised in her complaint, and that Morimanno similarly obtained relief on only one of three initial claims. Taco Bell asks that the fees be reduced by two-thirds. The court declines to do that.

It is true that a prevailing party's attorney's fees should be reduced in some...