A federal district court in California has ordered the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to pay $1,022,653.69 in attorney's fees and expenses to a Pasadena law firm it unsuccessfully sued for sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination. The award consists of $995,780.72 in attorneys' fees and $26,872.97 in additional expenses.

Ballard, Rosenberg, Golper & Savitt LLC, the firm that represented Robert L. Reeves & Associates in the case, said in a news release that the US District Court Judge Dickran Tevrizian said in his opinion that the lawsuit was "unreasonable, frivolous and without foundation."

Although the EEOC purported to sue Reeves on behalf of 7-10 people identified by Hanlon, Greene and Jacobson, the agency's investigator, Deborah Kinzel Barnes, admittedly never spoke with any of these individuals before filing suit, and Jacobson was the only woman Barnes interviewed with respect to alleged sexual harassment. Tevrizian concluded that "the EEOC basically sought to parlay a few isolated jokes and comments into bad-faith, exaggerated allegations of a hostile work environment."

In addition, Tevrizian found that the EEOC's conduct throughout the case, in discovery and at trial, made "improper use of the legal system to prosecute what it knew, or should have known, were groundless claims." As examples, Tevrizian cited the EEOC's requests for private information from third parties not involved in the case, its refusal to "provide 'even the most basic factual allegations' underlying the supposed claims" of three individuals, and its "flagrant disregard for the attorney-client privilege" in seeking discovery directly from Reeves' current and former attorneys, including Greene.

Tevrizian further ruled that "the EEOC's lawsuit was unreasonable and frivolous" as to all 12 individuals on whose behalf it purported to bring claims. He noted that the EEOC did not appeal from his earlier summary dismissal of claims on behalf of six of these individuals. Although a divided federal appellate court panel ruled that the EEOC had sufficient evidence to proceed to trial as to the other six "claimants," Tevrizian found "the testimony and jury verdict at trial" showed none of these claims was based on any credible evidence.

In particular, Tevrizian cited many inconsistencies in the individuals' testimony, the repeated use of the term "personal space" in witness testimony which had been coached by the EEOC, and the EEOC's "gross" exaggeration of several of the claims. Tevrizian pointed out that the testimony of Nikki Mehrpoo Jacobson was exaggerated and even fabricated. Tevrizian found "Jacobson's contradictions and distortions are particularly troubling because Jacobson provided the anonymous tip which initiated the EEOC's sexual harassment investigation and was the only woman the EEOC interviewed on this issue before rendering its 'cause' finding."

A copy of Judge Tevrizian's written order can be obtained from Linda Miller Savitt at Ballard Rosenberg Golper & Savitt, LLP.