United States District Court, S.D. Indiana, Indianapolis Division
ENTRY ON DEFENDANT'S BILL OF COSTS
TANYA
WALTON PRATT, JUDGE
This
matter is before the Court on Defendant Franciscan Alliance
Inc.'s (“Franciscan”) Bill of Costs
(Filing No. 59). Plaintiff Mary Rose
(“Rose”) brought this action against Franciscan,
alleging employment discrimination based on disability under
the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Franciscan moved
for summary judgment, which the Court granted on June 4, 2018
(Filing No. 57). That same day, final judgment was
entered in favor of Franciscan and against Rose (Filing
No. 58). As the prevailing party, Franciscan requested
an award of its costs incurred in defending this action in
the amount of $10, 876.47 pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 54(d)(1). Rose objects to a portion of the costs
sought. For the reasons explained below, an adjusted amount
of $5, 392.71 in costs is awarded.
I.
LEGAL STANDARD
Rule
54(d) creates “a strong presumption that the prevailing
party will recover costs, with the ultimate decision resting
within the district court's discretion.” Weeks
v. Samsung Heavy Indus. Co., 126 F.3d 926, 945 (7th Cir.
1997). “The presumption in favor of awarding costs to
the prevailing party is difficult to overcome, and the
district court's discretion is narrowly confined--the
court must award costs unless it states good reasons for
denying them.” Id. Absent a showing of clear
abuse of discretion, a district court's award of costs
will not be overturned “[a]s long as there is statutory
authority for allowing a particular item to be taxed as a
cost.” Id.
“Statutory
authority exists for the award of costs in this case.”
Cengr v. Fusibond Piping Sys., 135 F.3d 445, 454
(7th Cir. 1998). Under 28 U.S.C. § 1920, a federal court
may tax as costs:
(1) Fees of the clerk and marshal;
(2) Fees for printed or electronically recorded transcripts
necessarily obtained for use in the case;
(3) Fees and disbursements for printing and witnesses;
(4) Fees for exemplification and the costs of making copies
of any materials where the copies are necessarily obtained
for use in the case;
(5) Docket fees under section 1923 of this title;
(6) Compensation of court appointed experts, compensation of
interpreters, and salaries, fees, expenses, and costs of
special interpretation services under section 1828 of this
title.
28 U.S.C. § 1920.
II.
DISCUSSION
The
costs in the amount of $10, 876.47 requested by Franciscan
consist of: $28.30 for copying charges and fees relating to
discovery and defense; $894.75 for expenses associated with
the deposition of Rose; $5, 613.02 for electronic discovery
service and storage costs related to the electronic discovery
sought by Rose; $428.00 for expenses associated with
depositions of Franciscan's representatives; $1, 000.00
for the fee associated with the deposition of Dr. Kenneth
Young; $61.52 for the fee associated with the deposition of
Regina Wessic; $901.31 for the services of Stewart Richardson
for expenses associated with the depositions of Dr. Kenneth
Young, Robin Maluck, and Regina Wessic; $96.25 for charges
and fees relating to the request and production of Rose's
health records; $1, 832.62 for Westlaw charges and fees
relating to legal ...