Supreme Court Decision Alert - May 19, 2016

Today, the Supreme Court issued one decision, described below, of interest to the business community.

Title VII—Attorneys' Fees for Prevailing Defendants

CRST Van Expedited, Inc. v. EEOC, No. 14-1375

A defendant defeating a Title VII action is entitled to attorneys' fees when the plaintiff's claim was "frivolous, unreasonable, or groundless," or if "the plaintiff continued to litigate after it clearly became so." Christiansburg Garment Co. v. EEOC, 434 U.S. 412, 422 (1978).

Today, in CRST Van Expedited, Inc. v. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, No. 14-1375, the Supreme Court held that Title VII defendants may still be eligible for attorneys' fees even if they won dismissal of the case on procedural grounds. In the particular case at issue, the district court awarded approximately $4 million in attorneys' fees against the EEOC after concluding that the agency had wholly failed to satisfy its statutory obligation to engage in pre-suit investigation