Opinion
09 C 7591.
October 12, 2010
STATEMENT
DOCKET ENTRY TEXT
Defendant's bill of costs [32] is granted in part. Defendant is awarded $1,903.55 in costs. SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS.
[] [For further details see text below.] Notices mailed by Judicial staff. Dawn Wagner sued her former employer, the University of Illinois Medical Center ("the hospital"), for race discrimination and breach of contract after she was terminated from her job as a nurse. On August 26, 2010, the court granted summary judgment to the hospital. See Dkt. Nos. 30-33. The hospital now seeks costs of $1,936.05 pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d)(1) and 28 U.S.C. § 1920.Prevailing parties are presumptively entitled to an award of those costs that are allowed by statute. FED. R. CIV. P. 54(d)(1); U.S. Neurosurgical, Inc. v. City of Chicago, 572 F.3d 325, 333 (7th Cir. 2009). Although Wagner raised no objections to the hospital's bill of costs, the court must still ensure that each of the proposed costs is allowed under § 1920, is reasonable, and is necessary to the litigation. Little v. Mitsubishi Motors N. Am., Inc., 514 F.3d 699, 701-02 (7th Cir. 2008).
The hospital requests $1,936.05 for costs associated with the deposition of Dawn Wagner. Although transcripts costs are available under § 1920(2), only part of the hospital's submitted costs are recoverable. The $1,583.55 fee for the 459-page original transcript is fully recoverable. The record supports the hospital's need for Wagner's deposition to defend against her claims, and the charged rate, $3.45 per page, is below the $3.65 page limit set by the Judicial Conference of the United States for an original transcript. Gen. Order 07-0024, N.D. Ill.,
http://www.ilnd.uscourts.gov/CLERKS_OFFICE/CrtReporter/tfee0203.pdf (updated Oct. 29, 2007). Similarly, the $320 fee for the court reporter's 8-hour appearance is recoverable. Held v. Held, 137 F.3d 998, 1002 (7th Cir. 1998). The rate of $40 per hour is reasonable. See Buffone v. Rosebud Rest., Inc., No. 05 C 5551, 2006 WL 3196931, at *2 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 31, 2006) (Conlon, J.) ($55 per hour reasonable court reporter attendance fee). Courtroom Deputy AIR Initials:The remainder of the hospital's transcript costs are denied. The $7.50 fee for delivery and handling is an ordinary business expense and not recoverable. Bogan v. City of Chicago, No. 09 C 3852, 2010 WL 2635789, at *2 (N.D. Ill. June 28, 2010) (Kennelly, J.). The $25 charge for an ASCII file is denied because the hospital offers no explanation for why an ASCII file was reasonably necessary to the litigation. BCS Ins. Co. v. Guy Carpenter Co., No. 04 C 3808, 2006 WL 1343218, at *3 (N.D. Ill. 2006) (Der-Yeghiayan, J.); Harkins v. Riverboat Servs., Inc., 286 F. Supp. 2d 976, 980 (N.D. Ill. 2003) (Denlow, Mag. J.).