Opinion ID: 492411
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Bad Faith in Continuing the Case Against the Individual Defendants

Text: 57 Soon after the case was filed, all defendants except Haas, Hudock, and Bernie Wilson 7 moved to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction on the ground that the complaint indicated on its face that Rathbun filed her action one day after the statutory ninety-day period. Rathbun subsequently amended the complaint twice, establishing that she filed within ninety days of receipt of the right-to-sue letter. The school board members later moved for summary judgment on the ground that they were not employers under Title VII and that the district court lacked jurisdiction over them because Rathbun failed to name them in the EEOC charge. These motions were denied in January of 1983. Bernie Wilson was subsequently dismissed because of his death. Defendants Pegues, Berarducci, and Nicholas Angelo also moved for summary judgment on the ground that they were not named in the EEOC charge. Pegues and Berarducci were granted summary judgment on this ground in June of 1984, twenty days before trial. Nicholas Angelo was mentioned in the EEOC charge and, thus, was not granted summary judgment. 58 Ruben argues that denial of the above motions precluded the district judge from later imposing a sanction, since the denials gave him reason to believe that the case had merit. See Jones, supra, 789 F.2d at 1231 n. 4 (suggesting sanction precluded where district court failed to grant individual employees' motion to dismiss on legal grounds). The school board members, however, continue to argue on appeal that there was no legal justification for naming them as defendants. They argue that under Ohio law they were not Rathbun's employers so as to create liability under Title VII. They also reassert that they were not named in the EEOC charge. 59 The denial of the motions for summary judgment precludes a sanction on the ground that the claims against them were legally insufficient. Where a complaint contains glaring legal deficiencies, the deficiencies and any ambiguities can be so easily resolved by motion that it is not unduly burdensome to defend. See Jones, supra, 789 F.2d at 1231-32. A sanction is generally improper where a successful motion could have avoided any additional legal expenses by defendants. Oliveri, supra, 803 F.2d at 1280; Obin, supra, 651 F.2d at 588 & n. 15; Browning, supra, 560 F.2d at 1088. Such motions were filed and denied. 8 To the extent defendants now argue Rathbun included legally groundless claims of mental anguish, emotional distress, and medical treatment, their failure to promptly file a motion to dismiss these prayers for relief precludes a determination that Ruben acted in bad faith in joining the prosecution of the complaint as a whole. 60 Since none of the above motions was predicated on the underlying facts, the denial of the motions did not preclude the district judge from imposing sanctions if the case was factually frivolous. The order imposing sanctions makes it clear, in fact, that it was not the legal insufficiency of the complaint that led to the sanctions but the lack of factual support for the case. We have, however, already rejected a factual predicate for sanctioning Ruben. 61