Judge rules Newberg school district need not pay attorney fees in board lawsuit

Yamhill County Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Easterday ruled in late August that attorneys for the seven plaintiffs that filed suit against the Newberg school district are not entitled to the more than $370,000 in attorney fees they sought in the case.

State law gives judges great latitude in awarding attorney fees — Easterday deployed that latitude in denying the plaintiffs’ lead counsel, Lake Oswego attorney Judy Snyder, the bill she submitted to the court in May.

“Based on the totality of the circumstances, the court exercises its discretion to deny an award of attorney fees against the school district,” Easterday wrote, adding that a component of an earlier ruling played heavily in her decision. “The court finds that the above factors do not apply to support an award of attorney fees against the Newberg school district.”

Key to Easterday’s decision is her dismissal in May of three of the four complaints against the school district and the four current and former members of the school board at the center of the lawsuit. While Easterday ruled that the board members — Trevor DeHart, Dave Brown, Brian Shannon and Renee Powell — had violated public meeting laws by hiring outside counsel in the summer of 2021, she exonerated the school district itself, saying its officials “tried to mitigate the actions of the individual defendants.”

Therefore, Easterday ruled, the school district should not be responsible for paying the attorney fees beyond what state statute requires under its “prevailing party fee” of $105. Snyder said in submitting the large bill that it represented the work of three attorneys and a paralegal over the course of a year in preparing the case for court.

“Judge Easterday decided to exercise the court’s discretion not to award attorney fees to the plaintiffs in this case,” the district’s attorney, Robert Steringer, said in an email. “That is what we had requested on behalf of the district.”

Steringer added that Easterday’s Aug. 27 ruling does not affect her January decision ordering the four board members to reimburse the district the $27,894 it paid to Canby attorney Tyler Smith in 2021, although the defendants have filed notice to appeal that decision as well. Steringer declined any further comment on behalf of the district

Easterday’s decision could be forwarded to the Oregon Court of Appeals by the plaintiffs, but attempts to contact Snyder and cohort Melissa Hopkins for comment were unsuccessful as of press time Tuesday morning.

Should the plaintiffs choose not to appeal, that would be an end to the case, Steringer surmised.

Easterday’s latest ruling means the plaintiffs — Newberg residents Beth and Greg Woolsey, Jeff and Kathleen McNeal, Elizabeth Gemeroy and Meghan and Stefan Czarnecki — would be responsible for paying the attorney fees submitted by Snyder. Whether Snyder will seek the entirety of the $370,118 in fees or a reduced figure remains to be seen.

Events leading up to judge’s ruling

The plaintiffs filed the civil lawsuit in 2021 on allegations that then-school board chairman Brown, former vice-chairman Shannon, former board member Powell and current board member DeHart met outside of a public session for the purposes of hiring Smith as supplemental counsel. Easterday ruled against the four, saying they had intentionally flouted public meeting laws in forming a quorum outside of public view to hire Smith.

Steringer filed an objection to the decision and asked that Easterday re-examine the case. The four board members’ counsel, Portland attorney Chelsea Pyasetskyy, filed a similar motion.

On May 6, Easterday declined the objection, reaffirming her decision against the defendants and ordering that they pay the plaintiffs’ attorney fees and costs.

Steringer filed objections to the statement for fees and costs, which led to Easterday’s decision in August.

Appeals are costly

The plaintiffs’ notice that they intend to take Easterday’s May decision to the Court of Appeals could prove costly for both sides.

Snyder said in a previous story that the prospect of an appeal in the case could drive up the liability of the defendants beyond the nearly $28,000 they’ve already been ordered to pay.

“If this case is appealed, we will also seek our fees and costs on appeal,” she said.

If Easterday’s order is affirmed by the Court of Appeals, it is the school district that is liable for paying the lawsuit, Steringer said, adding, “Under the applicable law, the court can only award attorney fees against the district.”

However, should the district be found financially liable for the lawsuit, it can take aim at the four defendants under state law.

“The district can file a claim against the individual defendants under the statute,” Snyder said. “The district may seek to recover from the individual defendants whatever fees and costs the district needs to pay as the individual defendants have been found to have willfully violated the public meetings law.”

Steringer concurred: “Under the applicable law, if the court makes a finding that a violation has occurred and that the violation is the result of willful misconduct by any member or members of the governing body, that member or members are jointly and severally liable to the district for the amount paid by the district to the plaintiffs.”