Court Opinion

ID: 9471779
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 03:41:04.385622+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:42:34.747980
License: Public Domain

JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. The district court denied Dr. Premachandra’s request for a preliminary injunction on the ground that there was no likelihood that his suit would succeed on the merits. On appeal, this court denied his request for an injunction pending appeal, and his request for rehearing and rehearing en banc of this decision was also denied. Justice Blackmun then twice denied Dr. Premachandra’s application for an injunction pending appeal, and the full Supreme Court similarly denied him this relief.
In Nadeau v. Helgemoe, 581 F.2d 275, 281 (1st Cir.1978), relied upon by United Handicapped Federation v. Andre, 622 F.2d 342, 345-46 (8th Cir.1980), the court states:
Even if plaintiffs can establish that their suit was causally related to the defendants’ action which improved their condition, this is only half of their battle. The test they must pass is legal as well as factual. If it has been judicially determined that defendants’ conduct, however beneficial it may be to plaintiffs’ interests, is not required by law, then defendants must be held to have acted gratuitously and plaintiffs have not prevailed in a legal sense.
In Nadeau, the district court’s decision favorable to the plaintiff was reversed and remanded on appeal. Before a second trial began, the parties entered into a consent decree. Consequently, there was no judicial determination as to whether the defendants’ conduct was required by law. The court, in determining the plaintiff’s right to attorneys’ fees under these circumstances, decided that the defendants’ action was gratuitous if the plaintiff’s suit was “frivolous, unreasonable or groundless.” Nadeau, 581 F.2d at 281. The majority in this case awards Dr. Premachandra attorney’s fees on the ground that his suit met this standard.
This case is distinguishable from Nadeau, however, in that a judicial determination has been made. Dr. Premachandra’s request for a preliminary injunction was denied, and repeated requests for an injunction pending appeal were unsuccessful. I *734therefore believe that we need not consider the reasonableness of his suit. There has been a sufficient determination, for attorneys’ fees purposes, that the VA’s action was not required by law, and therefore gratuitous. In light of the above standard, Dr. Premachandra was not a prevailing party-
Dr. Premachandra was awarded a fee for his successful litigation before the Merit Systems Protection Board and has retained his employment. Insofar as it can be said that he prevailed, it was before the Merit Systems Protection Board, and not in this litigation. I would reverse the district court and deny a fee on Dr. Premachandra’s claim with respect to the dismantling of the laboratory.