Raub Middle School
ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Add about $1 million to the check for a Pennsylvania school district that suspended a teacher for being in Washington, D.C., during the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
A June 6 ruling gives lawyers $972,000 for their work on the case of Jason Moorehead, who sued the School District for the City of Allentown in 2022 after posting on social media he was attending the "Stop the Steal" rally in support of President Trump following his loss to Joe Biden.
Though the rally descended into chaos on Jan. 6, Moorehead never got within one mile of the U.S. Capitol. Still, he was told not to show up to work the next day.
An investigation, conducted while Moorehead was still being paid and suspended, concluded Moorehead wasn't present at the Capitol. Along the way, he was bashed on Facebook and at board meetings by community members.
The district's reinstatement letter said he would be removed from his position at Raub Middle School and sent elsewhere not yet determined, as long as he take "cultural competence" classes on African American and Hispanic identity.
These conditions showed the district's political motivations, he said. He refused to take the classes, saying he'd done nothing wrong, and had to quit because he would be "returning to the most hostile working environment imaginable in the current political climate."
He sued for constructive discharge, saying it was clear the district was trying to force him to resign. A jury last year found members of the Allentown School Board had violated his First Amendment rights, awarding him $131,500.
In some civil rights cases, the prevailing party can ask for attorneys fees from the loser. Alfred Fluehr and Francis Malofiy did just that, and Judge John Gallagher said that while he won't give them everything they want, they are entitled to $972,000.
"While the amount claimed by Plaintiff's counsel far exceeds what is reasonable here, Plaintiff will nevertheless be awarded fees and costs," Gallagher wrote.
Allentown School District argued it wasn't much of a success to win a $131,500 verdict. Plaintiff lawyers had asked for as much as $5 million to settle the case and at one point rejected a $2.5 million offer from the district.
But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has said settlement negotiations are only one factor in measuring success. Gallagher wrote Moorehead's claim was "vindicated by the jury's verdict" and that a large amount of the attorneys fees had already been incurred by the time the settlement offers were made by the defendant.
"Hindsight is always 20/20," Gallagher wrote. "Perhaps with the benefit of hindsight, Plaintiff wishes he could turn back the clock and accept the defendant's eve-of-trial offer. But he did not.
"Instead, he chose to bring his claims before a jury of his peers, and the panel determined that Defendants retaliated against Plaintiff in violation of his First Amendment rights... Plaintiff argues that he was determined to vindicate his rights, and Section 1988 recognizes awarding fees in furtherance of this important goal."
However, the fees requested were way too high, Gallagher wrote. For starters, Fluehr and Malofiy billed at a rate of $1,000 per hour, which the judge reduced to $395 and $250, respectively.
Malofiy was once punished for his conduct while suing Led Zeppelin. "As a disbarred attorney, attorney Malofiy's role in this litigation was necessarily limited," Gallagher wrote.
The lawyers also sought $200 an hour for a video editor, cut in half by Gallagher. Malofiy's hours were cut by 20%.
Gallagher took a hatchet to the costs request, which was $265,000. He cut the reimbursement of an American Express bill in its entirety, with many of the charges for food. A $700 valet bill at a hotel was also struck, putting the costs award down to $157,717.
