Spencer v. General Elec. Co.

• Decision Date: 01 March 1989
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 87-1214-A.
• Citation: 706 F. Supp. 1234
• Parties: Anne E. SPENCER, Plaintiff, v. GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia

706 F. Supp. 1234

Anne E. SPENCER, Plaintiff, v. GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, Defendant.

Civ. A. No. 87-1214-A.

United States District Court, E.D. Virginia, Alexandria Division.

March 1, 1989.

Paul C. Sprenger, Jane Lang, Sprenger & Lang, Washington, D.C., for Anne E. Spencer.

Bernard J. DiMuro, Hirschkop, DiMuro & Mook, Alexandria, Va., for James Russell Neal.

C. Richard Miserendino, Fairfax, Va., Peter G. Nash and Frances C. Moran, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, Washington, D.C., for General Elec. Co.

ORDER

ELLIS, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on plaintiff's petition for a partial award of attorney's fees and costs pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(k). The trial of this matter, which initially involved more than Title VII claims, consumed eight days, involved the testimony of twenty witnesses and the admission of almost 40 exhibits.¹ At the conclusion of trial, this Court found defendant General Electric Company (GE) liable for maintaining a sexually hostile work environment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. Spencer v. General Elec. Co., 697 F.Supp. 204, 219-20 (E.D.Va.1988). Plaintiff, however, did not prevail on her other Title VII and tort claims. She now seeks a partial award of $381,580.64 in fees and costs for the claim on which she prevailed.

GE disputes plaintiff's entitlement to any fee award. As a threshold matter, GE contends that plaintiff is not a prevailing party and is, therefore, not entitled to fees or costs under 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(k). Even assuming plaintiff jumps this hurdle, GE alleges four independent grounds warranting denial of some or all the fees and costs claimed. First, GE argues that Rule 68, Fed.R.Civ.P., bars plaintiff from receiving fees and costs incurred after February 17, 1988 when GE made, and plaintiff rejected, an Offer of Judgment allegedly more favorable than the final judgment. Second, GE claims fees should be denied because the single claim on which plaintiff prevailed had been fully remedied before her lawsuit was filed. Third, GE contends plaintiff unreasonably rejected "generous" settlement offers, thereby unnecessarily prolonging the litigation. Fourth, fees should be denied, GE claims, because plaintiff's fee request is inflated and insufficiently detailed.

After consideration of the parties' briefs and arguments, the Court concludes that plaintiff is a prevailing party but that Rule 68, Fed.R.Civ.P., precludes her recovery of any fees and costs incurred after GE's February 17, 1988 Offer of Judgment. No other special circumstances preclude recovery of or mandate a reduction in fees before the February 17 Offer. It appearing to the Court, therefore, that plaintiff's request for fees and costs incurred before February 17, 1988 is reasonable, plaintiff is hereby awarded fees and costs in the amount of $56,709.40.

Analysis

1. Prevailing Party

The threshold issue is whether plaintiff is a "prevailing party" under Title VII; only a "prevailing plaintiff" is eligible for "a reasonable attorney's fee as part of the costs." 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(k).²See Delta Air Lines, Inc. v. August, 450 U.S. 346, 351-52, 101 S.Ct. 1146, 1149-50, 67 L.Ed.2d 287 (1981). To qualify as a "prevailing party," a plaintiff need not prevail on every claim or issue raised, but only "on any significant issue in litigation which achieves some of the benefit the parties sought in bringing suit." Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 1939, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983) quoting Nadeau v. Helgemoe, 581 F.2d 275, 278-79 (1st Cir.1978).³Accord Bonnes v. Long, 599 F.2d 1316, 1318 (4th Cir.1979). The Fourth Circuit's recent decision in Child v. Spillane, 866 F.2d 691 (4th Cir.1989) (Memorandum Opinion), teaches that the cornerstone of the "prevailing party" standard is proof of a causal connection between the relief obtained and a plaintiff's litigation efforts. Child v. Spillane, 866 F.2d at 693 citing Disabled in Action v. Pierce, 789 F.2d 1016, 1019 (3d Cir.1986). The standard is not unduly rigorous:⁴ A plaintiff need only prove that her efforts "`contributed in a significant way' to the winning of benefits or relief from the `factual/legal condition that the fee claimant has sought to change,'"⁵ or merely "`served to a limited extent to expedite the planning and achievement gained.'"⁶ Here, plaintiff has met this standard and demonstrated the requisite causal connection. She is, therefore, a "prevailing party."

First, plaintiff has demonstrated, as the "prevailing party" standard implicitly requires, that some demonstrable relief was obtained from the condition plaintiff attacked. Here, plaintiff's legal victory was limited. She prevailed only on one of several claims. She successfully proved that GE allowed the maintenance of a sexually hostile environment in violation of Title VII. But she failed to prove any quid pro quo, that is, that any job benefits hinged on her submission to her former supervisor's improper sexual advances. Nor did she carry her burden on the assorted tort claims launched against GE. For her efforts, court-ordered relief was minimal: Plaintiff received only $1.00 in nominal damages. No additional damages were awarded because plaintiff failed to prove that she suffered any tangible loss, and injunctive relief was rejected as unnecessary. See Spencer, 697 F.Supp. at 219-20; Spencer v. General Elec. Co., 703 F.Supp. 466 (E.D.Va.1989).⁷ For the purpose of determining a "prevailing party," however, the measure of relief obtained is not strictly limited to the terms of the formal judgment. Child v. Spillane, 866 F.2d at 692-693. Neither the absence of a monetary damage award nor the failure to win equitable relief precludes a plaintiff's designation as a "prevailing party" for the purpose of awarding costs and attorney's fees. Ganey v. Garrison, 813 F.2d 650, 651 (4th Cir.1987) (per curiam).⁸ Here, significant relief from the illegal condition alleged and proved was voluntarily provided by GE. First, individual relief for plaintiff had been largely obtained by the time she filed suit. At her request, plaintiff was promptly removed from the hostile environment and transferred to a comparable position in a different GE office and location. Spencer, 697 F.Supp. at 215. GE also promptly investigated plaintiff's complaint and, as a result, demoted and later fired Neal, the employee chiefly responsible for the harassment.

More significantly, however, GE also moved to provide more broad-based relief. Specifically, it recently adopted a comprehensive anti-sexual harassment policy. GE's former policy, in effect during the harassing incidents suffered by plaintiff, "was not sufficiently specific to inform plaintiff that sexual harassment was prohibited." Spencer, 697 F.Supp. at 218 n. 16 citing Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57, 72-73, 106 S.Ct. 2399, 2408-2409, 91 L.Ed.2d 49 (1986). The new policy, in contrast, defines and explains sexual harassment and advises employees of their right to redress through the company's confidential complaint procedure which, if necessary, bypasses employees' immediate supervisors. Spencer, 697 F.Supp. at 216; Spencer, 703 F.Supp. at 472. That policy— prefaced by a strong GE management statement against sexual harassment—is set forth in the employees' handbook, promoted through extensive management training, and also directly communicated to employees through corporate newsletters, orientation sessions, and written directives from managers. See Spencer, 703 F.Supp. at 471-473. In sum, GE, through its revised policy, has voluntarily taken "concrete, effective steps designed to minimize the risk of recurrence" of the illegal conditions which prompted plaintiff's suit. Id. at 473. This policy represents a clear and substantial benefit, not only for plaintiff as a current GE employee, but for all GE employees throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.⁹

Plaintiff has also demonstrated a causal connection between this benefit and her lawsuit. Based on the extensive documentation provided by both parties and the Court's knowledge of the chronology of events in this case, the Court is convinced that plaintiff's litigation efforts served as a catalyst for the prompt development and promulgation of GE's revised policy. At the very least, her efforts have "`served to a limited extent to expedite'" the development and promulgation of GE's policy. Disabled in Action, 685 F.2d at 886 quoting United Handicapped Federation v. Andre, 622 F.2d 342, 348 (8th Cir.1980). Accord Child v. Spillane, 866 F.2d at 693. Even accepting, arguendo, GE's contention that its policy revisions were prompted by internal recommendations long before plaintiff filed her lawsuit, the revision process still took more than two years. Plaintiff's complaint was filed with GE in October, 1986. In November 1987, when plaintiff filed this suit, the policy was still in the early stages of development. Not until May, 1988, on the eve of trial, did GE promulgate a draft version of their revised anti-sexual harassment policy. Spencer, 697 F.Supp. at 218 n. 16.¹⁰ The timing of the revised policy was more than coincidental. Just as the Court does not question GE's good faith in implementing this revised policy, the Court similarly does not question the important role plaintiff's litigation efforts undoubtedly played in the implementation timetable, if not in the scope and detail of the policy's terms. Because plaintiff clearly contributed to the relief obtained, she is a prevailing party and is, therefore, eligible for an award of attorney's fees.¹¹

The contrary result of Child v. Spillane, 866 F.2d 691 (4th Cir.1989), stems from facts distinguishable from the case at bar. In Child, a kindergarten student suffering from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was excluded from school on November 4, 1987. The school advised the Child's parents that the exclusion was temporary, pending...