Ferguson v. Waid, No. 2:2017cv01685 - Document 40 (W.D. Wash. 2018)
Court Description: ORDER granting Defendant's 25 Motion for Sanctions. Plaintiff shall pay $10,000 to Defendant as a fee imposed under RCW 4.24.510. Defendant to file separate motion for reasonable fees and costs incurred in this case no later than ten (10) days from the date of this Order. Signed by Judge Ricardo S Martinez. (PM)
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Rule 11 by asserting claims previously rejected by this Court. Defendant cites Knipe v. United States, 151 F.R.D. 24, 25 (N.D.N.Y. 7 1993), aff’d, 19 F.3d 72, 77 (2d Cir. 1994) for the proposition that “[w]hen an attorney advances 8 legally groundless arguments, and has previously advanced the same arguments in other 9 lawsuits without success, Rule 11 sanctions are appropriate.” Dkt. #25 at 8 n.34. In Knipe, 10 plaintiffs filed a complaint challenging the enforcement authority of the Federal Aviation 11 12 Administration (“FAA”). 151 F.R.D. at 25. The court found that plaintiffs’ counsel violated 13 Rule 11 because the suit advanced legally baseless arguments already rejected in two previous 14 lawsuits counsel had filed, and appeared to be a “back door attempt to further his personal 15 agenda against the FAA.” Id. at 25-26. As Defendants point out, the plaintiffs in Knipe had 16 previously filed a case based on the same set of facts, but under a different legal theory. The 17 18 Knipe court found that Rule 11 sanctions were appropriate because plaintiffs’ counsel was 19 pursuing the same previously rejected arguments under a different cause of action, and because 20 “at no time prior to the dismissal of the first action did plaintiffs’ counsel advance this new- 21 found theory of liability, nor did he ever seek to amend the first complaint to include this novel 22 23 approach.” 151 F.R.D. at 26. The Court concluded that “[t]hese facts, along with the fact that 24 counsel’s arguments have been repeatedly rejected by district courts and circuit courts alike, 25 lead the court to conclude that the instant complaint was filed with an improper purpose.” Id. 26 27 28 Defendant compares Knipe to the present case: Ms. Ferguson never advanced her “new-found” legal theory of intentional discrimination or moved to add Mr. Waid as a ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SANCTIONS - 3 16 defendant prior to dismissal of the Caruso/Ferguson complaint even though she had knowledge of the underlying facts. Ms. Ferguson, as pro se counsel, moved to vacate the prior judgment and amend the complaint after dismissal; however, the court rejected her proposed second amended complaint. In filing her motion to vacate and amend, Ms. Ferguson sought to add the same claims and factual allegations she asserts in the present matter. Like the pending Complaint, the “rejected” proposed amended complaint in Caruso/Ferguson included Mr. Waid as a defendant based on his communications to the WSBA related to its investigation of Ms. Ferguson. This Court denied Ms. Ferguson’s motion to amend, noting that “even if it were procedurally proper to review the evidence and argument presented by Ms. Ferguson, such would likely not be sufficient to change the outcome of this case for the reasons articulated by Defendants in their Response.” Caruso/Ferguson, No. C17-00003, Dkt. no. 57, at 4 (reported at 2017 WL 3236606, at *2 (emphasis added). The dismissal of the Caruso/Ferguson complaint with prejudice, the sanctioning of Ms. Ferguson’s attorney for filing the Caruso/Ferguson complaint, and the Court’s denial of Ms. Ferguson’s motion to amend that complaint were, or should have been, warnings to Ms. Ferguson to not file the pending Complaint. Like the counsel in Knipe, Ms. Ferguson’s filing of the pending Complaint after it was rejected as deficient by this Court demonstrates that she filed it for an improper purpose in violation of Rule 11. 17 Dkt. #26 at 10–11. Defendant also points out that Plaintiff has appealed both the dismissal of 18 her complaint and the denial of her motion to amend in the Caruso/Ferguson case, and that this 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 19 20 21 should stand as further evidence that the instant separate lawsuit on the same facts was brought without reasonable and competent inquiry. Id. at 11. 22 Plaintiff has failed to file any opposition to this Motion. “Except for motions for 23 summary judgment, if a party fails to file papers in opposition to a motion, such failure may be 24 considered by the court as an admission that the motion has merit.” LCR 7(b)(2). 25 26 The Court is typically reluctant to award sanctions under Rule 11. Rule 11 sanctions are 27 not to be awarded in every case where frivolous claims are brought by an attorney. However, 28 the Court agrees with Defendant that this case is not typical, and matches the fact pattern of ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SANCTIONS - 4 1 Knipe. Plaintiff’s silence on this issue does not help. The Court has conducted the two-prong 2 inquiry contemplated by Christian v. Mattel, supra, and concludes that Plaintiff’s Complaint is 3 legally baseless from an objective perspective, and that she did not conduct a reasonable and 4 competent inquiry before signing and filing it. Given the particular and peculiar facts of this 5 6 7 case, Rule 11 sanctions are warranted. B. Statutory Fees 8 Defendant previously requested attorneys’ fees, expenses, and statutory damages under 9 RCW 4.24.510 and 42 U.S.C. § 1988. See Dkt. #16. Plaintiff failed to file a valid response to 10 the Motion containing those requests. See Dkt. #35. The Court now finds that attorneys’ fees 11 12 and expenses available under those statutes are duplicative of those awarded above, and that 13 any further analysis by the Court is moot. 14 damages available under RCW 4.24.510 are warranted given the Court’s prior Order finding in 15 favor of Defendant based in part on the immunity granted under that statute. See Dkt. #39. 16 However, the Court concludes that statutory These damages are mandatory rather than permissive. See Hayfield v. Ruffier, 187 Wn. App. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 914, 920, 351 P.3d 231, 234 (2015). Accordingly, the Court will also award $10,000. Having reviewed the relevant briefing and the remainder of the record, the Court hereby finds and ORDERS that: 1) Defendant Brian J. Waid’s Motion for Sanctions (Dkt. #25) is GRANTED. 2) Plaintiff shall pay $10,000 to Defendant as a fee imposed under RCW 4.24.510. 24 3) Defendant shall file a separate motion for reasonable fees and costs incurred in this 25 case no later than ten (10) days from the date of this Order, and shall note such 26 Motion under Local Rule 7(d). 27 supporting both the attorney’s hourly rate and hours expended. Such motion shall be supported by evidence 28 ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SANCTIONS - 5 1 4) This case remains open. 2 DATED this 13th day of March 2018. 3 4 5 6 A RICARDO S. MARTINEZ CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SANCTIONS - 6
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