Dist. Ct. did not err in awarding plaintiffs-prisoners $52,357.50 in attorney's fees and $1,741.35 in costs incurred in seeking to enforce settlement with defendant-Dept. of Corrections in class action lawsuit alleging that defendant unlawfully denied hard-of-hearing inmates assistance they needed to communicate and participate effectively in prison programs and services. Settlement required defendant to screen inmates and refer them to licensed audiologists, and defendant admitted to incorrectly sending 700 inmates to hearing-aid salesmen instead of audiologists. As such, Dist. Ct. could properly find that defendant was in substantial non-compliance with settlement agreement so as support instant fee award, where agreement allowed fee award for "any work" expended by plaintiffs' counsel in litigating any noncompliance with settlement terms. Dist. Ct. erred, though, in finding that defendant must ensure that audiologist evaluations be completed within specific timeframe, where no such obligation was contained in agreement. Ct. rejected plaintiffs' argument that deadline could be implied where no deadline was specified in agreement, and fact that there was no timeframe in agreement did not render agreement absurd, where plaintiffs eventually will receive their evaluations, and where plaintiffs received other benefits under agreement.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Attorney Fees