Summary
The Second Circuit reviewed an NLRB award of attorneys' fees to The Brandeis School under the Equal Access to Justice Act after the NLRB pursued an insufficiently justified unfair-labor-practice claim. The court held that reducing the requested fees to 2/17 of the amount sought was an abuse of discretion and modified the award to 50% of the requested fees and expenses, or $8,697.12.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the NLRB abused its discretion in calculating the amount of attorney's fees awarded to Brandeis under the Equal Access to Justice Act after Brandeis prevailed on one of three interrelated claims.
- Whether the partial success on the dismissed claim justified an award greater than 2/17 of the requested fees and expenses.
Holdings
- When a party prevails on only part of an interrelated case, the fee award must focus on the significance of the overall relief obtained in relation to the hours reasonably expended, with the degree of success being the most critical factor.
- The NLRB abused its discretion by reducing Brandeis's requested fee award to 2/17 of the amount sought; Brandeis was entitled to 50% of its fees and expenses, or $8,697.12.
Key quotations
“We recognize that an executive agency has appropriate discretion in determining whether or by what formula to reduce the fee to reflect that the victory was incomplete. Nonetheless, we believe that reducing the award to 2/17 of the amount Brandeis requested was, on these facts, an abuse of that discretion.” (871 F.2d at 5)
“Although its success on the Sec. 8(a)(3) claim was not so substantial as to justify awarding Brandeis the full amount of attorneys fees it sought, we think it more appropriately justifies an award of half (50%) of Brandeis' fees and expenses or $8,697.12.” (871 F.2d at 5)
Factual background
Brandeis School, a private Jewish school in Lawrence, New York, was involved in a teachers' strike in September 1981. The NLRB filed a complaint alleging three violations of the National Labor Relations Act, but the teachers had not filed the section 8(d) notice required as a predicate to the section 8(a)(3) claim. Brandeis obtained dismissal of that claim after four days of trial, while the other two claims were settled. Brandeis requested $17,394.25 in fees and expenses, but the NLRB awarded only $2,646.40.
Procedural history
The NLRB filed a complaint alleging violations of sections 8(a)(1), 8(a)(3), and 8(a)(5) of the National Labor Relations Act. The ALJ dismissed the section 8(a)(3) claim after determining that the required section 8(d) strike notice had not been filed, awarded fees attributable to that claim, and refused to dismiss the other claims. The remaining claims were settled. The NLRB affirmed with modifications, increasing the hourly rate and allowing time spent on the fee application, but awarded only $2,646.40. The Second Circuit modified the NLRB's decision to award $8,697.12 and affirmed as modified.