Local 60-471 of the American Federation of Musicians, AFL-CIO (Local 60-471) and the American Federation of Musicians, AFL-CIO (AFM) have moved for the assessment of attorney's fees against plaintiffs, the Black Musicians of Pittsburgh (Black Musicians), additional named individual plaintiffs and intervenor-plaintiff, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), pursuant to Title VII, Section 706(k) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(k). Local 60-471 and the AFM have been successful in their defense against plaintiffs' claims in this court, on appeal to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, and finally, in the Supreme Court, by denial of the Black Musicians' Petition for Certiorari. They now seek attorney's fees alleging that plaintiffs' assertion of their claims was with "vexatiousness, bad faith, abusive conduct, or an attemptdefendant under the United States Steel standard.
Our conclusion is buttressed by subsequent interpretations of United States Steel. In Kutska v. California State College *857 Department of Education, 549 F.2d 795 (3d Cir., filed July 15, 1977), an award of attorney's fees was affirmed by the Circuit in favor of a successful state agency defendant. No evidence of discrimination was introduced at the trial in Kutska, even though a necessary part of the plaintiff's claim. The discharge complained of was made solely as the result of the plaintiff's failure to acquire adequate qualifications for the position he held. Because the plaintiff was aware of the inadequacy of his claim, fees were awarded against him, even though he had, from the commencement of his action, proceeded pro se. In Copeland