OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - An attorney for Creighton University said Friday that the private Omaha school will fight a request to pay more than $600,000 in legal fees for a deaf medical student who successfully sued the school for discrimination.
Michael Argenyi sued Creighton in 2009, after taking leave from the institution’s medical school when it refused his requests for interpreters - even though he offered to pay for them himself.
Last year, a federal jury in Omaha found that Creighton had discriminated against Argenyi, and a federal judge ruled that Creighton must provide Argenyi with special equipment and interpreters to allow him to finish his last two years of medical school. The judge did not require the university to reimburse Argenyi for $110,000 he spent in his first two years of medical school for interpreters and special transcription equipment.
Last week, Argenyi’s lawyers filed a motion seeking nearly $621,000 in attorneys’ and expert fees.
An attorney for Argenyi, Mary Vargas, declined to comment on the request, referring instead to the brief she filed in support of the request.
That brief notes that the case has spanned nearly five years and that five attorneys - some from disability rights organizations - put more than 2,300 billable hours of work into the case. The attorneys’ hourly fees range from $150 to $325. Even with a 10 percent reduction in billable hours, the total for attorneys’ fees comes to $584,712.
Argenyi’s lawyers are seeking another $36,211 in expert fees and costs for travel and transcription services.
Michael P. Scott, an attorney for Creighton, said Friday that the school will fight the request.
“We think that request is more than inflated,” Scott said. “We believe that the court will not grant that amount in attorneys’ fees.”
Scott said he plans to file a reply brief opposing the fees in the coming weeks.
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