A federal appeals panel upheld an award of about $127,800 in attorney fees and costs to the manufacturer of fire engine sirens after finding the plaintiffs’ firm had failed to investigate claims of hearing loss among firefighters while voluntarily dismissing similar cases across the country.

In an order on Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit cited a “failure to conduct a meaningful pre-suit investigation” and a “repeated practice of bringing claims and dismissing them” in affirming the award against Joseph Cappelli, a lawyer at Bern Cappelli, the Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, office of New York’s Marc J. Bern & Partners.