Hunter v. General Motors Corp. , 161 F. App'x 502 ( 2005 )

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION
File Name: 05a1005n.06
Filed: December 22, 2005
No. 03-3883
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
ROBERT L. HUNTER, )
)
Plaintiff-Appellee, )
)
v. ) ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED
) STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, ) NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
)
Defendant-Appellant. )
Before: NORRIS and DAUGHTREY, Circuit Judges; MARBLEY,* District Judge.
PER CURIAM. In our previous opinion in this case, Robert L. Hunter v. General
Motors Corporation, UAW Local 549, and Ron Willis, No. 03-3797 (6th Cir. August 24,
2005), we affirmed the district court’s judgment memorializing the jury verdict entered in
favor of the defendant, General Motors Corporation (GMC). In this separate appeal by the
defendant, we are asked to reverse the district court’s denial of GMC’s motion, as the
prevailing party, for an award of costs pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54.
Upon review, we find that the district court erred in determining that the case was so “close
and difficult” that a denial of costs was justified.
*
The Hon. Algenon L. Marbley, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio, sitting
by designation.
No. 03-3883
Hunter v. GMC
The plaintiff, Robert Hunter, sued his employer, GMC, claiming that he had been the
victim of race and age discrimination when he was denied admission to a training program
that, upon successful completion, would have qualified Hunter for a new position with the
company at a higher hourly wage. The problem Hunter had in attempting to establish a
case of discrimination at trial was that he was one of 85 applicants for the training program
and that, out of the 27 finalists, he scored the lowest of all those actually interviewed during
the selection process. Reduced to its essentials, the case simply was no more complicated
than that. As we noted in our prior opinion, there was “overwhelming evidence” to support
the jury’s verdict in favor of the employer. In reviewing the legal sufficiency of the evidence,
we held that“[t]he plaintiff’s own lack of qualifications, not improper racial animus on the
part of the defendants, prevented him from attaining the position he desired.”
As the district court noted in ruling on the defendant’s motion for costs, Rule 54(d)
creates a presumption in favor of awarding costs to the prevailing party (“costs . . . shall be
allowed as of course to the prevailing party unless the court otherwise directs”). In this
case the court did direct otherwise, exercising its discretion to deny costs based on our
opinion in White & White, Inc. v. American Hospital Supply Corp., 786 F.2d 728 (6th Cir.
1986). There we held that it may be appropriate to deny costs in cases that are “close and
difficult.” Id. at 730 (quoting United States Plywood Corp. v. Gen. Plywood Corp., 370 F.2d
500 (6th Cir. 1966)). But, as we also noted in White & White, the exercise of discretion
authorized by Rule 54(d) is “intended to take care of a situation where, although a litigant
was the successful party, it would be inequitable under all the circumstances in the case
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No. 03-3883
Hunter v. GMC
to put the burden of costs upon the losing party.” Id. (quoting Lichter Found., Inc. v. Welch,
269 F.2d 142, 146 (6th Cir. 1954) (emphasis in original). Moreover, “[t]he exercise of such
discretion is not beyond review . . . .” Id.We respectfully disagree with the district court’s description of this case as a “close
and difficult” one. Indeed, comparing the altogether straightforward issues litigated in this
action with the complexity of the antitrust dispute that was involved in White & White makes
this point abundantly clear. The latter case “requir[ed] protracted litigation” that “consumed
80 trial days, requiring 43 witnesses, produced 800 exhibits, generated almost 15,000
pages of transcript, and begat a 95 page opinion” by the district judge. Id. at 732. The
district court characterized this case as involving “close factual questions” meriting denial
of the defendant’s motion for summary judgment and observed that “[n]othing since that
time has changed the way this Court would characterize the facts of this case.” However,
the standard used to determine whether to grant summary judgment is simply not
appropriate in determining whether the losing party has presented sufficient grounds to
overcome the presumption in favor of an award to costs under Rule 54(d). We conclude
that the use of the summary judgment standard to deny the defendant’s Rule 54 motion in
this case constituted an abuse of discretion on the part of the district court.
For this reason, the district court’s order denying the defendant’s Rule 54 motion for
costs is VACATED, and the case is REMANDED to the district court for a determination of
allowable costs to be awarded to the defendant.
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