Moore v. Jackson Public Sch Dist ( 2023 )

Case: 23-60204 Document: 00516932791 Page: 1 Date Filed: 10/16/2023
United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit
____________ United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
No. 23-60204 FILED
Summary Calendar October 16, 2023
____________ Lyle W. Cayce
Clerk
Bessie Moore,
Plaintiff—Appellant,
versus
Jackson Public School District,
Defendant—Appellee.
______________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Mississippi
USDC Nos. 3:18-CV-817, 3:19-CV-883
______________________________
Before Jones, Southwick, and Ho, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam: *
Bessie Moore appeals the district court’s award of $4,843.50 in court
costs to Jackson Public School District (JPS), which arose from multiple law-
suits brought by Moore against her former employer. Moore argues that the
court costs should not have been awarded because the expenses included fees
_____________________
*
Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion
should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set
forth in 5th Circuit Rule 47.5.4.
Case: 23-60204 Document: 00516932791 Page: 2 Date Filed: 10/16/2023
No. 23-60204
for expediting deposition transcript turnaround time, which Moore charac-
terizes as optional added services. But Moore did not present this argument
to the district court in her response to JPS’s motion for costs As such, she
has forfeited her only argument and the district court’s order is AFFIRMED.
Moore, a former librarian at JPS, filed three separate lawsuits against
her former employer. The first two cases were consolidated and dismissed
on summary judgment by the district court and affirmed on appeal. The third
was dismissed by the district court pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure, and affirmed by this court as well. Following the
grant of summary judgment in the consolidated cases, JPS filed a motion for
expenses, attorney’s fees, and court costs, requesting over $180,000. Moore
filed multiple amended responses to JPS’s motion, opposing any award being
made to JPS on multiple grounds. None of the grounds cited in her operative
response to JPS’s motion, however, included any mention of expedited
transcript fees. The district court granted JPS’s motion only as to court
costs, awarding a total of $4,843.50.
Because Moore failed to present her only argument on appeal to the
district court, she has not preserved any error for this court to review. “A
party forfeits an argument by failing to raise it in the first instance in the
district court—thus raising it for the first time on appeal.” Rollins v. Home
Depot USA, 8 F.4th 393, 397 (5th Cir. 2021); see also United States v. Olano,
507 U.S. 725, 733 (1993) (“[F]orfeiture is the failure to make the timely
assertion of a right.”).
The order awarding court costs to the defendant is AFFIRMED.
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