Opinion ID: 532783
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Sanctions and Attorney's Fees.

Text: 17 Following trial, the district court awarded the appellees sanctions and attorney's fees in the amount of $20,000 under Fed.R.Civ.Pro. 11 and 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1988. 18 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1988 provides that the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party ... a reasonable attorney's fee. The standard under which fees are awarded differs if a defendant rather than a plaintiff prevails. White v. South Park Independent School District, 693 F.2d 1163 (5th Cir.1982). A prevailing defendant should be awarded attorneys' fees only upon a finding that the plaintiff's action was frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation. Id. (adopting the Title VII standard expressed in Christiansburg Garment Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 434 U.S. 412, 417, 98 S.Ct. 694, 698, 54 L.Ed.2d 648 (1978)). The court must make specific findings to support its conclusions. Id. 19 Here, the district court made only one specific finding to support its conclusion that Dr. Coats's suit was frivolous, stating, [y]our allegations regarding sexual misconduct regarding grades are totally unsupported by any of the people you called from the university. In the record before us, Dr. Coats had asked several witnesses questions regarding sexual misconduct, to which relevancy objections were properly sustained. Having denied Dr. Coats the opportunity to bring out his purported evidence of sexual misconduct at Prairie View, however, the district court could not properly impose attorney's fees upon him on this ground under Section 1988. 20 The district judge also based the imposition of attorney's fees upon Fed.R.Civ.Pro. 11. Rule 11 declares that the signature of a party on a pleading is a certificate by the signor 21 that to the best of the signer's knowledge, information, and belief formed after reasonable inquiry it is well grounded in fact and is warranted by existing law or a good faith argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law, and that it is not interposed for any improper purpose, such as to harass or to cause unnecessary delay or needless increase in the cost of litigation. 22 The Advisory Committee Notes indicate that the rule builds upon and expands the equitable doctrine permitting a court to award expenses, including attorney's fees, to a party whose opponent acts in bad faith in instituting or conducting litigation. Although the district court failed to make specific findings as to its conclusion that Dr. Coats's lawsuit was groundless, it was specific as to a Rule 11 violation, stating: 23 I think the language you used in your motion for sanctions and a new trial--or summary judgment on page twenty-two against counsel personally are worse than outrageous. They are unconscionable. I would be perfectly within my rights to hold you in contempt. I will not do so, however I will simply assess the sanctions. 24 The language referred to above--and which was indeed outrageous--was contained in a post-trial motion filed by Dr. Coats which stated that opposing counsel acted like a little nasty dumb female Mexican pig in heat, and that she was nothing but garbage. Abusive language toward opposing counsel has no place in documents filed with our courts; the filing of a document containing such language is one form of harassment prohibited by Rule 11. 25 Although the granting of sanctions under Rule 11 is clearly justified in the present case, we are somewhat troubled that such a large award was assessed against Dr. Coats, a pro se litigant. Although the record on appeal is incomplete, it does contain copies of Dr. Coats's employment contracts for his years at Prairie View, which disclose that his annual income from teaching over the seven year period ranged between $22,200-28,657. Under such circumstances we conclude that a $20,000 sanction is excessive. We now reduce the amount to $1,800. Although we feel compelled to reduce the amount of the sanctions in the present case, we do not intend to set a limit on the amount a pro se litigant may be fined, nor do we imply that the amount of a litigant's income should be determinative in the assessment of sanctions. We have simply determined that, given the conduct involved and Dr. Coats's economic circumstances, $1,800 is sufficient. 26 The order of the district court granting the defendants' motion for a directed verdict is AFFIRMED. We REMAND the case with instructions that the award of sanctions and attorney's fees be reduced from $20,000 to $1,800.