In Roadway Express, Inc. v. Piper, 447 U.S. 752, 100 S.Ct. 2455, 65 L.Ed.2d 488 (1980), attorneys for plaintiffs in a civil rights class action against a Louisiana corporation failed to comply with district court orders relating to discovery and the filing of briefs. The district court read "costs" in section 1927 as including the award of attorney's fees "as part of the costs" of litigation contemplated by 42 U.S.C.A. Secs. 1988 and 2000e-5(k). The Fifth Circuit reversed, and the Supreme Court held that attorney's fees are not includable as "costs" under 28 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1927. The Court held, nonetheless, that in certain circumstances, a district court has the inherent power to award attorney's fees: The general rule in federal courts is that a litigant cannot recover his counsel fees. See Alyeska Pipeline Co. v. Wilderness Society, 421 U.S., at 257, 44 L.Ed.2d 141, 95 S.Ct. 1612. But that rule does not apply when the opposing party has acted in bad faith. In Alyeska we acknowledged the 'inherent power' of courts assess attorneys' fees for the 'willful disobedience of a court order ... as part of the fine to be levied on the defendant ... or when the losing party has 'acted in bad faith, vexatiously, wantonly, or for oppressive reasons.... Alyeska Pipeline, 421 U.S. at 258-259 95 S.Ct. at 1622 .... The bad faith exception for the award of attorney's fees is not restricted to cases where the action is filed in bad faith. " '(B)ad faith' may be found, not only in the actions that led to the lawsuit, but also in the conduct of the litigation." Roadway Express, 447 U.S. at 765-66, 100 S.Ct. at 2464.