Frivolous Appeal and Attorney Fees

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Melvin D. Reed v. PF of Milwaukee Midtown, LLC,

Case No.: 20-3057

Officials: EASTERBROOK, KANNE, and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Frivolous Appeal and Attorney Fees

Melvin Reed applied for a job at Planet Fitness of Milwaukee. When it did not hire him, he filed with the EEOC a charge of age discrimination. After the agency found a lack of support for that charge, Reed sued under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 621–34.

The clerk of court returned Reed’s complaint, unfiled. In 2012 the district court had issued a litigation-bar order based on Reed’s history of frivolous suits. Reed v. Lincare, Inc., No. 11-C-221 (E.D. Wis. Nov. 21, 2012). The judge concluded that Reed sent off many employment applications every year. If hired, he worked for a short time before giving the employer cause to fire him, then asserted discrimination. If not hired, he asserted that this, too, was discriminatory. After suing, Reed made settlement demands based on the cost to defendants of defending the suit rather than a plausible estimate of the likelihood that he would prevail. The judge directed Reed to pay a sanction of $5,000 and enforced it by preventing further litigation in federal court until the money had been paid. We affirmed both the order dismissing the suit and the sanction. Reed v. Lincare, Inc., No. 12-3782 (7th Cir. July 30, 2013) (nonprecedential disposition). An earlier decision of this court tallied at least 16 of Reed’s frivolous suits. Reed v. Ewald Automotive Group, Inc., No. 10-3186 (7th Cir. May 11, 2011) (nonprecedential disposition). Less-extensive records of abusive litigation have led to bar orders. See, e.g., Support Systems International, Inc. v. Mack, 45 F.3d 185 (7th Cir. 1995).

Reed must understand that continued frivolous suits and contentions will lead to a new bar order. In the meantime, we conclude that his history of frivolous litigation—including frivolous arguments in this very suit—justifies an order that he prepay all fees to file new suits in the district court and appeals to this court. In other words, by a sustained course of conduct, Reed has forfeited the privilege of litigating in forma pauperis under 28 U.S.C. §1915.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is Corporate Counsel, at Salesforce.