Allentown School District must pay some legal fees of a former teacher who successfully sued the school district after he was fired following his attendance at the “Stop the Steal” rally Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, though the amount awarded was considerably less than he was seeking.
A jury in August awarded Jason Moorehead $131,500 in damages, finding the district violated his constitutional rights following a roughly two-week trial in federal court.
A month after the judgment, Moorhead’s attorneys filed a motion seeking $3.1 million in attorney fees and costs.
District Court Judge John M. Gallagher, in an order filed Friday, granted Moorehead’s motion in part, and determined he should be awarded $972,597.48 — $814,879.50 for attorney fees and the remaining $157,717.98 for costs.
Moorehead sued the district, members of the district’s then-board and former Superintendent Thomas Parker, alleging they violated his constitutional rights and opened him up to threats. He taught social studies at Raub Middle School and attended the Jan. 6 rally in Washington, but maintained he only went there to watch speeches. He never participated in rioting and was never within a mile of the Capitol.
Moorehead was suspended with pay while the district reviewed the situation, and after he was cleared to return to work, he refused and said he did not feel safe. The district said the school board had no choice but to fire him.
The district was ordered to pay $125,000, while board member Lisa Conover and former board member Nancy Wilt were ordered to pay $6,000 and $500, respectively. Parker and school board member Phoebe Harris did not violate Moorehead’s rights, the jury found.
The $3.1 million in attorney fees and costs that Moorehead sought included $1.5 million for work attorney AJ Fluehr did on the lawsuit, roughly $1.16 million for work attorney Francis Malofiy did on the case, $156,750 for work by another attorney and paralegals, and $265,795.74 in additional costs.
Attorneys for the district claimed the attorney fees were excessive, with both Malofiy and Fluehr claiming an hourly rate of $1,000.
Gallagher wrote in his order that he agreed with the district, and that an appropriate rate is $395 an hour. The judge said that Fluehr, who had been practicing law for just under 11 years, is in the category of attorneys with six to 10 years of experience who receive hourly rates between $320 and $415.
Gallagher also determined Malofiy, who had a limited role in the litigation, should receive $250 an hour.
In total, the judge found that $545,139.50 should be awarded for Fleuhr’s time and $225,100 should be awarded for Malofiy’s time. Attorney fees should total $814,879.50, according to the filing.
Gallgher determined that Moorehead should receive $157,717.98 in costs. The judge wrote that expert reports, totaling about $80,000, should not be reimbursed, and that only $2,000 of the roughly $25,785 requested for travel and miscellaneous costs should be reimbursed. That $2,000 accounted for travel expenses related to Moorehead’s family members who traveled to the area as potential witnesses.
Fluehr, of Francis Alexander LLC, said that because the district was found to have violated Moorehead’s civil rights, the law requires it to compensate Moorehead for the costs he incurred in seeking vindication.
“When the government violates the civil rights of its employees and refuses to admit they were wrong, the law says they have to pay for the time, energy, and effort it takes for the employee to vindicate his rights,” Fluehr said. “The court’s decision simply recognizes this fact.”
Attorneys for the district had said that Moorehead was offered settlements of $1 million and $2.5 million leading up to the trial, but he rejected those offers and sought $5 million. They had said the request for additional money suggested a “surreptitious” motive to get what his attorneys thought they would get in the trial.
A message left for the district’s attorney was not immediately returned Wednesday.
Moorehead, being represented by Malofiy, also is suing СŷƵ over its coverage of the school district’s suspension announcement.
