Goldstein v. Professional Staff Congress/CUNY

Background

Avraham Goldstein and five other professors sued the Professional Staff Congress/CUNY, the City University of New York, and the City of New York. Their complaint asserted three claims. Counts One and Two challenged their compelled association with the union and with the bargaining unit under the First Amendment. Count Three challenged deductions from some plaintiffs’ paychecks for union dues and interest after they had resigned from the union.

The court dismissed Counts One and Two based on settled Supreme Court precedent. The court later resolved Goldstein’s claim against the City under the City’s offer of judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68. Goldstein then sought attorney fees and costs under that offer. The remaining part of Count Three involving other plaintiffs was voluntarily dismissed, and the court entered final judgment. The opinion states that Goldstein’s appeal of the dismissal of Counts One and Two remained pending in the Second Circuit.

Fee request and legal standard

The City did not dispute that Goldstein was entitled to a reasonable award under the offer of judgment, but disputed the amount. Goldstein initially sought $36,546.75 in fees and costs and later reduced his request to $26,181.75. The City proposed an adjusted total of $3,364.86.

The court used the lodestar method, which calculates a presumptively reasonable fee by multiplying the reasonable hours worked by reasonable hourly rates. The court also considered the degree of success obtained and the litigation’s procedural history.

Hourly rates

The court reduced the requested hourly rate for lead attorney Nathan J. McGrath from $500 to $400. It found that the claim was relatively straightforward and did not justify the higher rate. The court reduced Danielle Acker Susanj’s requested rate from $400 to $300, finding that rate more consistent with rates awarded to senior associates handling uncomplicated matters. The court accepted the proposed rates for Milton L. Chappell, William L. Messenger, and paralegal Lindsey Wanner: $650, $600, and $150 per hour, respectively.

Using those rates, the court recalculated the lodestar—the hours multiplied by the approved rates—as $20,970.

Reductions for limited success and work for other plaintiffs

The court found that Goldstein’s successful claim was only a small part of the lawsuit. Counts One and Two, which the court described as the heart of the case, were unsuccessful, while Count Three involved a relatively simple dispute about post-resignation dues deductions. The court also found no meaningful overlap between the work on Counts One and Two and the work on Goldstein’s Count Three claim.

Because the billing records did not allow the court to separate work on Goldstein’s successful claim from work on unsuccessful claims, the court reduced the lodestar by 70% to account for Goldstein’s limited overall success. The court then applied another 25% reduction because the records did not isolate work performed for Goldstein from work performed for the other plaintiffs. The court treated Goldstein’s share of the Count Three work as one-sixth of the relevant work.

These reductions resulted in an award equal to 5% of the recalculated $20,970 lodestar: $1,048.50 in attorney fees.

Costs and disposition

The court awarded costs but did not resolve the City’s line-item objections to the amount of those costs. Under the local rule, Goldstein must submit a bill of costs to the Clerk within 30 days after the pending Second Circuit appeal is finally resolved. The Clerk will initially decide which costs are taxable, subject to a party’s right to appeal that determination to the district court. The court stated that only costs incurred in serving Goldstein’s successful Count Three claim against the City may be compensated.

The court therefore granted $1,048.50 in attorney fees, as well as costs.