Opinion ID: 3159184
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Good Faith and Bad Faith

Text: 2 Long argues that the Supreme Court’s decision in Buckhannon Board and Care Home, Inc. v. West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources abrogates this precedent. 532 U.S. 598 (2001). Buckhannon addressed the question of whether a plaintiff who is the catalyst for change can be a prevailing party even if he does not obtain a judgment in his favor; the court rejected the “catalyst theory” for plaintiffs to be prevailing parties. 532 U.S. at 601, 605. (That holding as to the specific statute in question was later abrogated when Congress amended the statute to encompass the catalyst theory. 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(E)). The Court did not address the longstanding principle that “a dismissal with prejudice is tantamount to a judgment on the merits,” Schwarz, 767 F.2d at 130, entitling a defendant to an award of costs. 3 Case: 14-11049 Document: 00513289942 Page: 4 Date Filed: 12/01/2015 No. 14-11049 Long asserts that the district court should have denied GSD&M costs because GSD&M purportedly acted in bad faith by waiting until just before trial to notify the district court about Long’s bankruptcy and failure to disclose his FCA claim, thus incurring litigation costs for longer than necessary. Long also argues that his good faith in failing to disclose the FCA claim, his indigence, and the closeness and difficulty of the issues involved weigh in favor of denying the claim for costs. Even if we assume arguendo that Long acted in good faith, we have held that a losing party’s “good faith is alone insufficient to justify the denial of costs to the prevailing party.” Pacheco, 448 F.3d at 795. Long also complains that GSD&M acted in bad faith by failing to move for judicial estoppel sooner, though it knew of his pending bankruptcy. However, Long does not point to any evidence that GSD&M knew about Long’s failure to disclose his FCA claims in his bankruptcy, the key fact that led GSD&M to move for judicial estoppel. 3