Radtke v. Caschetta, Case No: 06-cv-2031-RCL.

• Citation: 254 F.Supp.3d 163
• Decision Date: 07 June 2017
• Docket Number: Case No: 06-cv-2031-RCL.
• Parties: Kathy RADTKE, and Carmen Cunningham, Plaintiffs, v. Maria CASCHETTA, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

254 F.Supp.3d 163

Kathy RADTKE, and Carmen Cunningham, Plaintiffs,

v.Maria CASCHETTA, et al., Defendants.

Case No: 06-cv-2031-RCL.

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Signed June 7, 2017

Dennis Chong, Micah Salb, Lippman, Semsker & Salb, LLC, Bethesda, MD, for Plaintiffs.

Alan Lescht, Susan Laiken Kruger, Alan Lescht & Associates, Washington, DC, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Royce C. Lamberth, United States District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

This case comes before the court on plaintiffs' renewed motion for attorneys' fees, ECF No. 208. Over ten years ago, plaintiffs filed claims for failure to pay overtime wages in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Maryland state law. In 2014, a jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiffs, finding that their employers were not exempt from the requirement to pay overtime under either the administrative or professional exemptions of the FLSA. Ms. Radtke was awarded $5,114.62 in damages and Ms. Cunningham was awarded $729.67 in damages. Defendants appealed the jury verdict, arguing that they were entitled to judgment as a matter of law and for a new trial, but the Court of Appeals affirmed the verdict. Plaintiffs filed a motion for attorneys' fees and costs and were awarded $56,500, a 75% reduction in fees due to the court's conclusion that plaintiffs failed to provide a meaningful demand for the actual damages suffered until the eve of trial. This decision was reversed by the Court of Appeals, and the case was remanded for a de novo determination of fees.

Plaintiffs now bring this renewed motion for attorneys' fees totaling approximately $429,300¹ and costs totaling $2,559.28. Defendants argue that an award in this amount is improper and should be reduced for the following reasons: 1) plaintiffs' lack of success; 2) the denial, dismissal, or dropping of several claims, and plaintiffs should not be permitted to recover for time billed related to these unsuccessful claims; 3) plaintiffs have submitted excessive, redundant, and unnecessary charges; and 4) plaintiffs have acted in bad faith. In addition, the parties dispute whether current or historic Laffey rates should be used in calculating plaintiffs' award.

For the reasons stated below, the Court finds that current Laffey rates apply, but that a 40% reduction to the fees expended on pre-appellate work is warranted based on lack of success. No reduction is warranted for appellate work. The Court will award $307,980 in fees and $2,559.28 in costs, totaling $310,539.28.

II. BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiffs Kathy Radtke and Carmen Cunningham were medical records coders working for defendant Advanta Medical Solutions (Maryland) and Lifecare Management Partners (D.C.), respectively. In 2006, plaintiffs brought an action for failure to pay overtime wages in violation of the FLSA (as neither the administrative nor the professional exemptions to the FLSA applied) and Maryland state law. Ms. Radtke, who worked for Advanta, claimed that she was entitled to unpaid overtime wages from November 30, 2003 through January 6, 2006, pursuant to the Maryland three year statute of limitations applicable to Maryland wage and hour claims. Ms. Cunningham, who worked for Lifecare, claimed that she was entitled to unpaid overtime wages from November 30, 2003 through March 31, 2005 pursuant to the Maryland three year statute of limitations.² Ms. Cunningham argued that Lifecare was an employer subject to Maryland law. Lifecare argued that it was not subject to Maryland law—it is a District of Columbia general partnership and Ms. Cunningham performed work for Lifecare exclusively in D.C. Ms. Cunningham also argued that Advanta and Lifecare were joint employers jointly liable for damages, and therefore that Lifecare was liable under Maryland law based on the actions of Advanta. Finally, Ms. Cunningham, argued that she was employed by Lifecare while working as an independent contractor for Advanta. Independent contractors are not entitled to overtime pay, so Ms. Cunningham sought to establish she was an "employee" at this time.

Plaintiffs also argued that they were entitled to liquidated damages. Plaintiffs may obtain double damages under the FLSA, and treble damages under Maryland law, if they can show that their employer did not act in good faith. See 29 U.S.C. § 260 ; Md. Code Ann., Lab. & Empl. § 3-507.2(b). In sum, Ms. Radtke sought damages totaling $34,749.99. Ms. Cunningham sought damages totaling $52,633.23.³

Apart from their overtime claims, plaintiffs claimed in their Complaint that 1) that they were required as a common practice to work holidays; 2) that they were not paid overtime or holiday pay for services they were required to perform on holidays; 3) that they were not paid minimum wages; 4) that they were paid in an untimely manner; and 5) that defendants failed to provide an accurate and timely accounting of the method of computation of their pay. These claims were withdrawn prior to trial. Plaintiffs also brought a claim for breach of contract, arguing that such a breach was malicious.

In 2014, a jury returned a verdict for the plaintiffs, finding that defendants failed to establish that the plaintiffs were exempt from overtime requirements under either the administrative exception or the professional exception. After the second phase of the trial, the jury found 1) that the time Radtke spent traveling was part of her job (and therefore was compensable); 2) that defendant Maria Caschetta was not an employer (and therefore was not liable); 3) that none of the defendants were joint employers; 4) that plaintiffs failed to establish that the overtime dispute was not bona fide (i.e., that defendants had acted in bad faith); 5) that defendants had not acted willfully; and 6) that Ms. Cunningham was working as an independent contractor, not an employee, for defendant Advanta.

After trial, Judge Facciola found that plaintiffs failed to offer evidence in support of their breach of contract claim—noting that "plaintiffs' counsel admitted that he ‘did not know’ why he included a breach of contract claim, only that it would be ‘malpractice’ not to include it"—and dismissed the breach of contract count. He also found that Maryland's three year statute of limitations did not apply to Ms. Cunningham's work for Lifecare because Lifecare was not a Maryland employer and Lifecare and Advanta (which was a Maryland employer) were not joint employers jointly liable. In addition, because the jury found that the defendants did not act willfully, the FLSA's two year statute of limitations applied to Ms. Cunningham's claims. Judge Facciola further rejected Ms. Cunningham's arguments that she was not an independent contractor and that Advanta and Lifecare were joint employers. Finally, Judge Facciola found that liquidated damages were not appropriate because defendants had shown that they acted in good faith. Judge Facciola concluded that defendant Advanta was liable to Ms. Radtke for $3,245.66 ($5,114.62 with interest) and that defendant Lifecare was liable to Ms. Cunningham for $445.34 ($729.67 with interest).

Plaintiffs subsequently sought attorneys' fees totaling $255,898.80. Judge Facciola awarded fees in the amount of $56,464.70, significantly reducing the fee award after finding that the plaintiffs failed to provide a timely demand for their actual damages. See Radtke v. Caschetta, No. CV 06-2031 (JMF), 2014 WL 11802595, at *5 (D.D.C. Dec. 30, 2014). Both parties appealed; plaintiffs challenged the fee award as too low, and defendants challenged it as too high. The Court of Appeals determined that plaintiffs timely filed their fee petition and were entitled to fees, and that the lower court's error was "quite clear." Radtke v. Caschetta (Radtke II), 822 F.3d 571, 575 (D.C. Cir. 2016). It found that plaintiffs "were not negligent or dilatory in providing a damages estimate; they did so time and again, including before they filed suit," and that "[t]hey even offered an early settlement, but the Employers never responded." Id. The Courts of Appeals thus vacated Judge Facciola's decision and remanded for a new determination of fees. Judge Facciola having retired, this case was randomly assigned to the undersigned judge.

In addition, defendants appealed the jury decision against them, arguing for judgment as a matter of law, for a new trial, or to alter or amend the judgment. The Court of Appeals rejected the defendants' arguments, finding that the issue of whether plaintiffs' were exempt from overtime requirements was a question for the jury, and that defendants' failed to show that the evidence presented to the jury was "so one-sided that reasonable men and women could not have reached a verdict in plaintiff's favor." Radtke v. Lifecare Mgmt. Partners (Radtke I) , 795 F.3d 159, 165 (D.C. Cir. 2015). Defendants also argued for a new trial because 1) Ms. Radtke "blurted out" an answer even after the court had sustained the defendants' objection to the question; 2) Ms. Cunningham contradicted herself and the jury was not given a perjury instruction; 3) plaintiffs' counsel stated that defendants needed to prove Ms. Radtke and Ms. Cunningham were exempt by clear and convincing evidence, even though the standard is preponderance of the evidence. See id. at 166-68. The Court of Appeals rejected all three arguments. See id.

Plaintiffs state that they are seeking $435,000 in the substance of their motion. The Court will rely, however, on the figures used in plaintiffs' fee petition, attached to their motion as Exhibit 1-A, and which details the number of hours billed, the rates used (current Laffey )., and the time entry value for each entry. According to the fee petition, plaintiffs' counsel billed approximately 1,240 hours on this case, totaling approximately $477,000.⁴ Of those 1,240 hours, approximately 954 hours were billed for work prior to the two appeals described above, totaling approximately $337,000, and approximately 286 hours...