Slevin v. AB Hollywood, LLC

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Oregon considers sanctions arising from an ADA accessibility lawsuit brought by Connor Slevin against AB Hollywood, LLC. The court denies the defendant’s Rule 11 motion because the case had been dismissed before the motion was filed, but finds that plaintiff’s counsel acted in bad faith and imposes sanctions under the court’s inherent power, including recovery of the defendant’s defense fees.

Holdings

1. Rule 11 sanctions were unavailable because defendant served and filed its sanctions motion after the action had been dismissed, depriving plaintiff and counsel of the Rule 11 safe-harbor opportunity to withdraw or correct the challenged pleading.
2. The court may impose compensatory sanctions under its inherent authority when an attorney acts in bad faith, including by bringing and maintaining a case for an improper purpose and abusing the judicial process.
3. Because the attorney's bad-faith conduct infected the action from its inception, defendant was entitled to recover the entire amount of reasonable attorney fees incurred in defending the case.

Questions Presented

1. Whether defendant could obtain Rule 11 sanctions when its motion was served and filed after the underlying action had been dismissed.
2. Whether the court could impose compensatory sanctions under its inherent authority based on counsel's bad-faith conduct in bringing and litigating the ADA action.
3. Whether defendant was entitled to recover all reasonable attorney fees incurred in defending the action.

Disposition

other