Opinion ID: 546101
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Attorneys' Fees for the Appeals

Text: 12 Alizadeh next contends that because Safeway did not prevail in the initial appeal on the section 1981 issue, the district court should not have granted Safeway the $6,500 in attorneys' fees it spent on that appeal. Citing Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983), she in essence maintains that the recent trial in which Safeway was victorious was a separate proceeding from the earlier appeal in which the summary judgment in its favor was partially reversed and remanded for trial, and that that fact is controlling. Hensley, however, asserts only that an award of attorneys' fees cannot include the amount expended by a party on an unsuccessful claim that involves different facts and theories from the one on which the party prevailed. Id. 103 S.Ct. at 1940. The two proceedings to which Alizadeh refers involved only two claims, the section 1981 claim and the 29 U.S.C. Sec. 185 claim. As to each of these claims, Safeway was ultimately the prevailing party in all respects. Alizadeh was never awarded any relief against Safeway. Therefore Hensley does not support Alizadeh's assertion. See Hanrahan v. Hampton, 446 U.S. 754, 100 S.Ct. 1987, 64 L.Ed.2d 670 (1980). 13 Reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard, Vaughner v. Pulito, 804 F.2d 873, 878 (5th Cir.1986), the court's fee award must be reasonable to survive appeal. Hensley, 103 S.Ct. at 1939. Even though Safeway did not prevail in the initial appeal itself, it did ultimately prevail on the merits in the litigation, an integral stage of which was the initial appeal. Consequently, the district court's determination that the prevailing party should receive an award that includes attorneys' fees for the entire course of the litigation of the section 1981 claim was not unreasonable and, therefore, not an abuse of discretion. 4 14