Employee Must Pay Employer's Attorney's Fees in Retaliation Suit
In a case with some odd facts, and an even stranger theory of liability, an Eastern District of Virginia Court found that an employee’s claims were “frivolous, groundless, and unreasonable,” and assessed the costs of the litigation, including the employer’s attorney’s fees, against the employee.
The case, Basinger v. Hancock, Daniel, Johnson & Nagle, P.C., involved plaintiff Judith Basinger’s claim that she was retaliated against and fired from her job as a legal secretary based upon her involvement in a sexual harassment complaint at the law firm where she worked. The defendant law firm (“Hancock”) employed an associate named Paul Walkinshaw (“Walkinshaw”). Apparently, over the course of a several months, Basinger made several advances toward Walkinshaw, including inviting him on a number of occasions to meet her after work and to go for a drink with her after normal work hours. She told him, via e-mail, that she hoped there would be a right time and place when they could “get together.” Walkinshaw, who was some twenty years younger than Basinger, complained to his supervisor and Hancock’s human resource department regarding Basinger’s behavior and her harassing e-mails. After investigation, and complaints about Basinger continuing to work in Hancock’s Fairfax office, the firm offered her a job transfer to its Richmond office. When she declined the transfer, Hancock terminated Basinger’s employment.
For some unknown reason, based upon these facts, Basinger actually filed a lawsuit against Hancock claiming she was retaliated against under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for opposing unlawful conduct in the workplace and for participating in the investigation of such unlawful conduct. The Court granted Hancock summary judgment as Basinger never complained to her employer that she was being sexually harassed, and her only “participation” regarding sexually harassing conduct was when she was interviewed by Hancock’s HR department for her alleged sexually harassing behavior.
Hancock also sought payment of its attorney’s fees and costs for defending the lawsuit. After reviewing the legal standard set out by the applicable caselaw, the Court found that the defendant law firm was entitled to recover its attorney’s fees and costs for defending the case because Basinger’s lawsuit “was based on a blatant misrepresentation of events, and totally lacking in evidentiary support.” Op. at 4-5. As such, the defendant was awarded $25,650 in attorney’s fees and $2,586.84 in costs.
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