LIPEZ, Circuit Judge.
In May 2007, three days before plaintiff Elaine Joyce ("Joyce") expected to play golf with her father in a tournament at a town course in Dennis, Massachusetts, Joyce's father was told he would have to find another partner because women were not allowed in that "men's" tournament. The Town Administrator declined to reverse the course officials' decision, and Joyce subsequently brought federal and state claims alleging gender discrimination against the Town, the golf course, and several individuals. The district court granted summary judgment in her favor and thereafter held a trial on damages. This appeal addresses only the nature and extent of her remedy. Joyce claims that the district court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on punitive damages, denying injunctive relief, and awarding attorney's fees in an amount substantially less than her request. The defendants claim that the court erred in concluding that Joyce was a prevailing party entitled to any attorney's fees.
We find no error in the court's treatment of punitive damages, but must remand for further proceedings on injunctive relief and attorney's fees. We reject the defendants' contention that the court should not have awarded any attorney's fees and instead conclude that the court erred in reducing the requested award based on, inter alia, Joyce's rejection of a settlement offer. The district court also must revisit the issue of injunctive relief and explain its decision to grant or refuse such relief.
We recount in some detail the circumstances underlying Joyce's complaint of gender discrimination, as well as the procedural history of the case. Although appellees do not challenge the district court's finding of liability, the court's rulings on punitive damages, injunctive relief, and attorney's fees must be reviewed in the context of the litigation as a whole.
Elaine Joyce is an avid and proficient golfer who signed up with her father in April 2007 to play in a tournament at the Dennis Pines Golf Course the first weekend in May.
Canevazzi replied to Joyce later the same day. He reported that he had spoken to Champoux and members of the GAC, and he had decided to uphold Joyce's exclusion from the tournament because changing the rules so late "would not be fair to the 1600 plus members of the Dennis Golf Courses who may either desire or not desire to play in such a tournament." In addition, he noted that the Tournament Committee (a subcommittee of the GAC) had sought to schedule more women's tournaments "to allow greater opportunities for women to have such competitive events." He stated that he did not view the club's tournament policies to be discriminatory, but nonetheless had asked the chairman of the GAC to include discussion of the criteria for tournament participation at its May 14 meeting. Canevazzi did not expressly invite Joyce to attend that meeting, but he told her its time and location.
The GAC's chairman, Jim Horvath, sent Joyce an email on May 4, in which he apologized for "any confusion and inconvenience that you encountered in how you learned about your non-participation in this weekend's golf event." He explained that the GAC had voted in December to approve the schedule of tournaments set up by the Tournament Committee and the head golf professional. He wrote that, "[t]o me, it was clear then that there were balanced opportunities for both men and women to play in the first 3 events of this year," and noted, "I think that is still the case."
Horvath then thanked Joyce "for bringing this issue to our attention."
Joyce did not contact Horvath or attend the May 14 meeting. At that meeting, the GAC voted to ask the Tournament Committee to make a recommendation on the
Frustrated by the response to her concerns, Joyce filed a pro se complaint in July 2007 with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination ("MCAD") against the Town of Dennis and Canevazzi. After the filing, an attorney representing the Town, Kristin Harris, called Joyce twice and left messages asking her to call to discuss the dispute. Joyce did not respond. She also did not respond to a letter Harris sent her referencing the MCAD's mediation process, though Joyce asked the Commission if she was obliged to talk to the Town and was advised to wait until the Town filed its position statement.
The GAC again acted on the gender policy at its October 2007 meeting. After Horvath reported that the United States Golfing Association ("USGA") allows women to play in all events "as long as they play exactly the same as a man," the GAC voted unanimously to instruct the Tournament Committee to follow the USGA rules for all 2008 tournaments. This was the tournament policy that Joyce originally had sought, allowing women to play alongside men.
The Town filed its MCAD position statement on November 2, 2007, without mentioning the October vote. Canevazzi, who signed the document, testified that the statement had been prepared weeks earlier, and he had failed to realize that it did not reflect the October meeting when he signed it. The MCAD statement denied that the facts showed "discrimination of any kind," and noted that "once the Complainant's concern was brought to the Respondents' attention, the Respondents[] immediately evaluated the tournament schedule with the Golf Advisory Committee and agreed to modify the schedule, such that all tournaments would include a men's and women's division beginning in 2008."
Joyce then hired an attorney, who filed a rebuttal to the defendants' statement in early January 2008. After receiving the rebuttal, Harris, the Town's attorney, placed a call to Joyce's attorney and left a message requesting an opportunity to discuss the matter. Joyce's attorney later reported that she was unaware of that message.
On February 15, 2008, Joyce filed a complaint in federal court against the Town, its golf courses, Canevazzi, and three course professionals,
A few days later, an attorney for the Town called Joyce's attorney and noted that, as a result of the GAC vote the previous October, Joyce could play golf at Dennis Pines whenever and with whomever she chose. In a follow-up letter in mid-March, defense counsel suggested trying "to resolve this matter in the best interests of our clients" and stated that the Town was "prepared to notify all members explicitly that women are welcome to play in all events, as long as they play from the same tees as the other competitors and
Defendants filed their answer to the complaint on May 28, 2008, and the litigation proceeded.
In March 2010, the district court granted summary judgment for Joyce against the Town and its golf courses on her federal equal protection claim, brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, but granted judgment for the individual defendants on that claim. Joyce v. Town of Dennis, 705 F.Supp.2d 74, 81 (D.Mass.2010). The court noted that the tournament policy excluding women from certain events expressly discriminated based on gender, and thereby established a suspect classification that required justification. The defendants did not meet that requirement, the court held, having attempted to do so with a single "conclusory statement": "[T]he defendants offer that the justification for the men's only tournaments is the existence itself of equal opportunity for women golfers in terms of the women's only tournaments and the mixed gender tournaments." Id. at 80 (internal quotation mark omitted). The court further stated:
Id. The court emphasized, however, that "the holding in this case results from defendants' failure to advance a persuasive justification for their acts, not necessarily because no such justification exists." Id. at 82.
The court thus took pains to limit its finding of unlawful discrimination under federal law. Following the statement above, the court continued as follows in a footnote:
Id. at 82 n. 1.
The court also ruled for Joyce against all defendants on her state law gender discrimination claim, see Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 272, §§ 92A, 98,
The court thus held that the defendants had violated Joyce's right to equal protection under federal law when they excluded her from the men's only tournament in May 2007 and, in effect, ruled that women may not be barred from similar tournaments on the basis of gender without justification. As described above, the court also held that the defendants unlawfully discriminated against Joyce under Massachusetts law.
The court left for the jury the determination of Joyce's damages.
In January 2011, in advance of the damages trial, the district court ruled that Joyce could recover attorney's fees under both federal and state law. The court delayed setting an amount until after the damages verdict, however, because it viewed "the degree of success obtained" as "[a] major factor" in determining a reasonable fee. Joyce v. Town of Dennis, 770 F.Supp.2d 424, 427 (D.Mass.2011). At the same time, the court rejected Joyce's request that the jury be instructed on punitive damages. The court explained that an instruction on punitive damages "would be inappropriate because there is no evidence
In February 2011, the defendants offered Joyce a settlement of $35,001, inclusive of costs and attorney's fees. She did not respond, and a jury subsequently awarded her $15,000 in compensatory damages.
On attorney's fees, the district court endorsed the defendants' contention that any award of fees would be unjust in the circumstances of the case, but it nonetheless concluded that Joyce was entitled to "modest" fees as the prevailing party. Joyce v. Town of Dennis, 802 F.Supp.2d 285, 288 (D.Mass.2011). Among the factors cited by the court to support the sharply reduced award was the rejection of what the court considered a reasonable settlement offer. Although the court acknowledged that the defendants shared the blame for prolonging the case, it considered Joyce and her counsel as primarily responsible for the length of the proceedings. The court thus found it "fair and reasonable" to substantially reduce plaintiff's requested fee award. Id. at 291.
On appeal, Joyce challenges the district court's attorney's fee award and also claims error in the court's handling of punitive damages and injunctive relief.
Joyce argues that the district court improperly refused to give a punitive damages instruction. We review de novo whether the evidence was sufficient to warrant such an instruction. See McDonough v. City of Quincy, 452 F.3d 8, 23 (1st Cir.2006).
Under Massachusetts law, punitive damages may be awarded in the context of a discrimination claim "only where the defendant's conduct is outrageous or egregious." Haddad v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 455 Mass. 91, 914 N.E.2d 59, 75 (2009); see also Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 151B, § 9 (stating the availability of punitive damages for discrimination claims).
In rejecting the instruction in its January 2011 pre-trial ruling, the district court observed that gender separation in sports had been upheld by federal courts, and it pointed to the policy change made by the GAC in October 2007, before the lawsuit was filed, to allow women to play with men, not only in separate divisions, but in all tournaments starting in 2008. It also cited the defendants' invitation to Joyce to participate in discussions about changing the rules. The court concluded that the defendants' "rapid and considered response to the plaintiff's complaint" foreclosed a jury finding that punitive damages were justified. Joyce, 770 F.Supp.2d at 428. As noted above, the court reaffirmed that decision after hearing the evidence presented at trial.
We detect no error in the district court's ruling. It is of course undisputed at this point in the litigation that the defendants acted improperly. The district court found that they unlawfully discriminated on the basis of gender when they refused to let Joyce play in the May 2007 tournament. A jury reasonably could have concluded as well that the GAC acted indefensibly when it chose to delay implementing its newly adopted tournament policies until 2008. Moreover, the first change that was approved — to add women's divisions in tournaments that previously were designated for men only — did not eliminate the gender disparity challenged by Joyce. A jury also could condemn the defendants' failure to communicate their new gender-neutral policy to golf club members in a clear and timely way, and could infer from their grudging behavior a resistance to the change.
We must take into account, however, "all of the factors surrounding the wrongful conduct." Haddad, 914 N.E.2d at 75. Though the defendants did not immediately change their gender-based tournament policy, they did immediately move to reconsider it. As a result, they took action to increase gender equality twice within six months and ultimately adopted Joyce's desired policy, months before she filed her lawsuit. In so doing, the GAC went beyond what Town Counsel had told Canevazzi was necessary: "offering more women['s] divisions within the Tournaments." Indeed, Joyce acknowledged in her summary judgment memorandum that the Town's obligation to allow women to play in a tournament designated as "men's only" appeared to be a question of first impression.
Viewed against the backdrop of the actions the defendants did take in response to Joyce's objection to their gender policy, their censurable conduct cannot properly be characterized as "so offensive that it justifies punishment and not merely compensation." Id. Although the defendants arguably should have moved more quickly and more transparently to effectuate a policy change — rather than waiting until 2008 — they demonstrated a willingness from the outset to address Joyce's concern and conform to the law. In arguing to the contrary, Joyce relies heavily on her assertion that the GAC did not in fact vote in October 2007 to open all men's tournaments to women, a contention we have rejected based on our review of the record. See supra note 6. She also asserts that the defendants had understood for years before her objection that their tournament policy was discriminatory, citing minutes from a GAC meeting in August 2005. According to those minutes, a couple who spoke during a "Public Input" session observed that "this being 2005 it was very difficult to justify holding only `Men's' tournaments and not including women." The husband of the couple also noted that his club in Lowell allowed women to play in any club event "as it is discriminatory to exclude women."
There is more to this story, however. Both Horvath, the GAC chair in 2005, and Oman, his successor, testified that as a result of the 2005 discussion more women's tournaments and women's divisions were added to the schedule. Until Joyce challenged the gender restriction on men's-only tournaments in 2007, there was no other complaint. Particularly when viewed in light of the advice the GAC later received from Town Counsel, the Committee's response in 2005 — adding tournament opportunities for women — could have been thought sufficient to meet the concern expressed.
We thus find no error in the district court's refusal to instruct the jury on punitive damages.
Joyce's petition for injunctive relief asked the district court to order the defendants to take five actions: (1) issue an "affirmative directive" that play at the
In asserting that the district court erred in denying injunctive relief, Joyce emphasizes her view that the defendants had not changed the tournament rules by the time she filed her lawsuit. More fruitfully, she also complains that the court failed to perform the analysis prescribed by our precedent for assessing the need for injunctive relief. Under that four-part inquiry, injunctive relief may be ordered where (1) the plaintiff has prevailed on the merits, (2) the plaintiff would suffer irreparable injury in the absence of injunctive relief, (3) the harm to the plaintiff would outweigh the harm to the defendants from an injunction, and (4) the injunction would not adversely affect the public interest. See Asociación de Educación Privada de P.R., Inc. v. García-Padilla, 490 F.3d 1, 8 (1st Cir.2007).
We review denials of injunctive relief for abuse of discretion, considering any underlying legal issues de novo. Animal Welfare Inst. v. Martin, 623 F.3d 19, 26 (1st Cir.2010). Here, the absence of explanation by the district court hampers our review. It is possible that the court concluded that injunctive relief was unnecessary because the defendants had already adopted and disseminated the policy that Joyce had demanded, giving her equal access to all tournaments for which she has the requisite skills. However, despite the change in their tournament policy in October 2007, the defendants vigorously litigated the case, raising various legal arguments in asserting that they bore no obligation to include women in men's-only tournaments. Their initial dissemination of the October 2007 action was limited and, insofar as the change was presented as an adoption of the USGA guidelines, likely inscrutable to many of Dennis Pines' members. In addition, the hostile reaction Joyce received from some male members after she filed her MCAD complaint suggests that discriminatory behaviors may remain at Dennis Pines, notwithstanding the change in tournament policy. The court's reference to the possibility of contrary behavior in the future suggests some doubt on its part about the permanence and scope of the defendants' actions.
If the court in fact was concerned about grudging compliance with the October 2007 policy and thus perceived a risk of ongoing discrimination at the Dennis golf courses, its refusal to grant equitable relief would be less defensible because Joyce easily satisfies three of the four prerequisites for injunctive relief. She prevailed on the merits, no apparent harm would befall defendants from disseminating and following a policy that they already have adopted, and barring discrimination would plainly have no adverse impact on the public interest. Moreover, it is unclear how sanctions could be imposed in the event of future misconduct absent injunctive relief,
Hence, the key issue here in assessing the need for injunctive relief is the prospect of irreparable future harm. We have stated that, "[t]o be entitled to a forward-looking remedy, a plaintiff must satisfy the basic requisites of equitable relief — `the likelihood of substantial and immediate irreparable injury, and the inadequacy of remedies at law.'" Steir v. Girl Scouts of the USA, 383 F.3d 7, 16 (1st Cir.2004) (quoting O'Shea v. Littleton, 414 U.S. 488, 502, 94 S.Ct. 669, 38 L.Ed.2d 674 (1974)); see also Lopez v. Garriga, 917 F.2d 63, 67 (1st Cir.1990) (noting that "an injunction-seeker must show either that some past unlawful conduct has continuing impact into the future, or else he must show a likelihood of future unlawful conduct on the defendant's part" (citation omitted)). We decline to uphold the district court's rejection of injunctive relief in the absence of its considered evaluation of that factor. It should address that deficiency in its analysis by conducting on remand, on the basis of the existing record, the four-factor inquiry set out by our precedent.
Both parties challenge the district court's award of $30,000 in attorney's fees. Joyce complains that the court considered improper factors in awarding less than one-fourth of the fees that she requested, and the Town argues that the court should not have awarded any fees at all. Before addressing these contentions, we review the pertinent legal principles and the district court's rulings.
Although Joyce prevailed on both federal and state discrimination claims, she sought fees only under Massachusetts law. The applicable fee-shifting provision states:
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 151B, § 9. The amount of a reasonable fee under section 9 is "largely discretionary with the judge." Fontaine v. Ebtec Corp., 415 Mass. 309, 613 N.E.2d 881, 890 (1993). Hence, our review of the district court's award of fees under the provision is for legal error or "manifest abuse of discretion." Diaz v. Jiten Hotel Mgmt., Inc., 704 F.3d 150, 153 (1st Cir.2012).
In evaluating reasonableness, we may consider both federal and Massachusetts precedent, as "attorney's fees available in both fora should, for the most part, be calculated in a similar manner." Fontaine, 613 N.E.2d at 891. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ("SJC") has adopted the "lodestar" method commonly used by federal courts, observing that "[a] fair market rate for time reasonably spent preparing and litigating a case is the basic measure of a reasonable attorney's fee under State law as well as Federal law." Id.; see also Torres-Rivera v.
Haddad v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 455 Mass. 1024, 920 N.E.2d 278, 281 (2010) (Rescript) (quoting Linthicum v. Archambault, 379 Mass. 381, 398 N.E.2d 482, 488 (1979), overruled in part on other grounds by Knapp Shoes, Inc. v. Sylvania Shoe Mfg. Corp., 418 Mass. 737, 640 N.E.2d 1101, 1104-1105 (1994));
The United States Supreme Court has identified "results obtained" as "a preeminent consideration in the fee-adjustment process," Coutin v. Young & Rubicam P.R., Inc., 124 F.3d 331, 338 (1st Cir.1997) (citing Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 432, 440, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983)), but that factor has multiple facets:
Id. Consistent with this broad notion of the lawsuit's outcome, Massachusetts precedent emphasizes the need to consider, inter alia, "the interests that the statute in question is designed to protect and the public interest in allowing claims under that statute to proceed with competent counsel." Haddad, 920 N.E.2d at 281. Thus, "when a plaintiff's victory, although `de minimis as to the extent of relief[,] ... represent[s] a significant legal conclusion serving an important public purpose,' the fee award need not be proportionate to the damages recovered." Killeen v. Westban Hotel Venture, LP., 69 Mass.App.Ct. 784, 872 N.E.2d 731, 738 (2007) (alterations in original) (citation omitted) (quoting Díaz-Rivera v. Rivera-Rodríguez, 377 F.3d 119, 125 (1st Cir.2004)); see also De Jesús Nazario v. Morris Rodríguez, 554 F.3d 196, 207 (1st Cir.2009) (noting Supreme Court's rejection of the proposition that fee awards should be proportionate to the amount of damages recovered).
Indeed, section 9's explicit statement that the award of fees shall be made "irrespective of the amount in controversy" confirms the limited significance of a plaintiff's modest monetary success, including when the plaintiff had sought substantial damages. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 151B, § 9; see also Olmstead v. Murphy, 21 Mass.App.Ct. 664, 489 N.E.2d 707, 709 (1986) ("When the public ... has a particular
The district court's rulings on attorney's fees are briefly described in the procedural background section of this opinion. For the reader's convenience, we reprise that background here, with additional detail pertinent to our analysis.
In January 2011, in a written decision issued before the jury took up the question of compensatory damages, the district court ruled that it would award Joyce "reasonable attorney's fees" because she was a prevailing party. Joyce, 770 F.Supp.2d at 427. The court rejected the defendants' argument that Joyce had not prevailed because they had changed the tournament rules before her suit was filed. Although agreeing with the defendants that Joyce's success was "very limited and pyrrhic in nature," the court held that she was entitled to fees based on its finding that she had been a victim of discrimination. Id. The court stated that "[n]o special circumstances which would foreclose the award of fees are readily apparent and the defendants do not raise any." Id.
The court emphasized, however, that it would link the amount of fees to the amount of compensatory damages to be awarded by the jury, "if any." Id. The judge explained that, "[i]f only nominal or limited damages are awarded, the reasonable fee will be correspondingly limited." Id.
After the jury awarded Joyce $15,000 in compensatory damages, she sought reimbursement for $167,855 in attorney's fees and $4,993 in other costs. The Town objected on the ground that the amount sought was unreasonable and excessive, and it again asserted that special circumstances rendered any award of fees unjust. In arguing for a finding of special circumstances, the Town cited Joyce's last-minute notice of her desire to play in the May 2007 men's tournament and her failure to engage with the defendants about her concerns.
Although the district court found the defendants' arguments "compelling," it concluded that Joyce was entitled to "modest attorney's fees ... commensurate with the results she obtained and mitigated by the factors present in this case." Joyce, 802 F.Supp.2d at 288. In its analysis, the court described the degree of success obtained as "[t]he `most critical factor' in determining the reasonableness of a fee." Id. at 289 (quoting Farrar v. Hobby, 506 U.S. 103, 114, 113 S.Ct. 566, 121 L.Ed.2d 494 (1992)). It reiterated its view that Joyce had achieved limited results and stated that the lawsuit "could have easily been avoided or resolved well before trial." Id. at 290. The court deemed the results of the lawsuit "minimal" because the Town had changed its policy for 2008 before
The court also criticized the plaintiff and her counsel for refusing the defendants' "reasonable" settlement offer of $35,001, which, in the court's view, "obviated the need for a jury trial[,] which alone accounted for 60 hours billed by plaintiff's counsel." Id. at 291.
The court also found that the number of hours claimed by plaintiff's counsel was excessive for the case as a whole and for particular tasks, and it speculated that "a significant portion of the hours enumerated relate to the bickering between counsel over media coverage." Id. In the court's view, many of the hours spent on the litigation were unjustified because the "case involved a relatively simple and straightforward fact pattern and ... an uncomplicated legal theory." Id. at 291.
The court acknowledged that the defendants shared the blame for prolonging the case, noting that they had opposed summary judgment and failed to offer a formal settlement until just before the trial's start date. Nonetheless, the court placed most of the responsibility for the length of the proceedings on Joyce and her counsel:
On appeal, the Town continues to insist that Joyce was not a prevailing party and that, even if we conclude otherwise, the statutory "special circumstances" qualifier applies to render an award of attorney's fees "unjust" in this case. See Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 151B, § 9. The Town again relies primarily on the fact that the tournament policy was changed consistently with Joyce's demands before the lawsuit was filed, rendering the litigation unnecessary and largely inconsequential. It contends that Joyce insisted on proceeding with the case in the hope of obtaining "a financial windfall."
As an initial matter, we may not lightly disregard the district court's judgment that, despite its concerns about how the case was litigated, some award of fees was appropriate. Indeed, Joyce succeeded on her primary claims,
Joyce's litigation victory was thus neither "`purely technical [n]or de minimis,'" Coutin, 124 F.3d at 339 (quoting Farrar, 506 U.S. at 117, 113 S.Ct. 566 (O'Connor, J., concurring)).
Joyce asserts that the court made two legal errors in awarding her only $30,000 of the nearly $170,000 in fees that she requested: (1) linking the amount of compensable fees to the amount of damages, and (2) factoring in her refusal to accept the Town's settlement offer. We agree that the court's reduction of the fee award based on those rationales was improper and, hence, an abuse of the court's discretion. See Coutin, 124 F.3d at 336 (stating that an abuse of discretion occurs, inter alia, "`when a material factor deserving significant weight is ignored [or] when an improper factor is relied upon'" (quoting Foster v. Mydas Assocs., Inc., 943 F.2d 139, 143 (1st Cir.1991))).
The court's application of these principles, however, was flawed in multiple respects. First, in assessing the benefits achieved by the litigation, the court emphasized the Town's pre-litigation change of policy and its own "limited" finding of unlawful discrimination that it had declared applicable to "this case only." The court overlooked, however, the potential impact of its state-law rulings characterizing the golf tournament as a place of public accommodation, rejecting a "separate but equal" exception to the public accommodation law, and clarifying the plaintiff's burden of proof. It thus appeared to treat the damages award as the only significant result obtained. Indeed, it stated that, "[i]n accordance with the substantial body of case law cited herein, the award of attorney's fees here will be correspondingly circumscribed by the jury award of damages." Joyce, 802 F.Supp.2d at 290. This limited view of the litigation's impact was incorrect.
Relatedly, as the authorities described above make clear, even if Joyce's lawsuit had achieved nothing other than compensatory relief for her, it would have been an error of law for the district court to link the amount of recoverable attorney's fees solely to the amount of her damages. Fee-shifting provisions in general reflect a legislative judgment that "`the public as a whole has an interest in the vindication of the rights conferred by the statutes ... over and above the value of a ... remedy to a particular plaintiff.'" City of Riverside v. Rivera, 477 U.S. 561, 574, 106 S.Ct. 2686, 91 L.Ed.2d 466 (1986) (quoting Hensley, 461 U.S. at 444 n. 4, 103 S.Ct. 1933 (Brennan, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part)). With respect to § 9 in particular, the Massachusetts Attorney General has stated that "an `appropriate award of attorney's fees promotes Chapter 151B's policy of enlisting the help of private attorneys general in the fight against discrimination.'" Borne v. Haverhill Golf & Country Club, Inc., 58 Mass.App.Ct. 306, 791 N.E.2d 903, 917 n. 17 (2003) (quoting brief filed by Attorney General as intervenor); see also Stratos, 439 N.E.2d at 786 (noting the purpose of fee-shifting provision "to encourage suits that are not likely to pay for themselves, but are nevertheless desirable because they vindicate important rights").
The district court appeared to recognize that the amount of damages is only "one element in the constellation of factors" that must be considered in determining a reasonable fee. Coutin, 124 F.3d at 338. As we have described, the court discussed a number of reasons for its decision. Yet its pre-trial ruling on fees expressly stated that it would correlate the fee award to the jury's damages award: "If only nominal or limited damages are awarded, the reasonable fee will be correspondingly limited." Joyce, 770 F.Supp.2d at 427. The court confirmed its intent to draw such a link in its post-trial ruling, noting that it previously had advised the plaintiff that "any award of attorney's fees would be proportionate to her recovery at trial." Joyce, 802 F.Supp.2d at 291. Whether or not the district court ultimately relied exclusively on the amount of the damage award to calculate the appropriate fee, it is apparent that it gave too much weight to that element.
We have held that "it is a mistake of law to reduce an award of attorneys' fees in a civil rights case in response to a plaintiff's rejection of a defendant's settlement offer when the subsequent judgment exceeds that offer." Coutin, 124 F.3d at 341; see also id. (noting that the higher judgment amount "validates the appellant's rejection of the tendered settlement and immunizes her from detrimental consequences based upon that rejection"). It is plain that the district court committed such an error in this case and, hence, for that reason alone the fees must be recalculated. The court did not quantify the reduction it made on account of the rejected settlement, though it did not appear to entirely exclude payment for the post-offer fees.
Moreover, the court should clearly and fully explain the basis for its recalculation. See id. at 337 ("[T]he order awarding fees, read against the backdrop of the record as a whole, must expose the district court's thought process and show the method and manner underlying its decisional calculus."). That recalibration will not necessarily produce a fees award at or near the amount of Joyce's request. The district court referred to a number of factors that it could properly consider in evaluating the reasonableness of the time expended. These include "a relatively simple and straightforward fact pattern and ... an uncomplicated legal theory," Joyce, 802 F.Supp.2d at 291, and the attendance of two experienced litigators throughout the damages trial (representing sixty hours of billable time).
We emphasize that we are not endorsing these factors as justifications for the court's substantial reduction of the fee request, but note them only as considerations the court properly could take into account. On the other hand, the court could not properly ignore the Town's vigorous defense of the case. Although the court recognized that the defendants bore some responsibility for the nature and length of the litigation, its incorrect focus on the rejected settlement plainly colored its attitude toward the defendants' strategy. Not only did the defendants oppose
As we have observed, "the trial court is in the best position to gauge the bona fides of a request for fees." Spooner v. EEN, Inc., 644 F.3d 62, 70 (1st Cir. 2011). So long as the court relies on proper factors, and "offer[s] reasonably explicit findings ... to spell out the whys and wherefores," Coutin, 124 F.3d at 337 (internal quotation marks omitted), we will not second-guess its judgment on the "time reasonably spent preparing and litigating [the] case," Fontaine, 613 N.E.2d at 891. Here, because the court's calculation incorporated multiple mistakes of law, we have no choice but to remand for reconsideration of a reasonable fee.
For the reasons stated, we find no error in the district court's denial of Joyce's request for a jury instruction on punitive damages. We vacate the denial of injunctive relief and the award of attorney's fees, and remand both of those issues to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
So ordered. Costs to appellant.
Section 92A defines "[a] place of public accommodation" to include "any place ... which is open to and accepts or solicits the patronage of the general public."
Given these arguments, the court's ruling surely constitutes precedent for the general proposition that, absent some reason for an exception, tournaments at public golf courses are public accommodations.
Oman, the GAC chair after Horvath, also testified that Mr. Joyce "voiced his concerns and opinions [at the meeting] that the committee should have ... equal tournaments between men and women and more opportunities for women to play."
