$1.854 Million Fee Request Had To Be Reconsidered—Appellate Court Had No Opinion On Amount To Be Awarded.
Winston v. County of Los Angeles, Case No. B323392 (2d Dist., Div. 8 Dec. 13, 2024) (published) is a case where a plaintiff whistleblower eventually prevailed during a jury trial, awarded $257,000 in damages against employer. Employee moved for attorney’s fees of about $1.854 million which were denied on a procedural ground: the amended Labor Code whistleblower fee shifting statute (Lab. Code, § 1102.5(j), which allows for discretionary costs to a worker, was not applicable to the pending litigation which pre-dated the January 1, 2021 effective date where there was no authorization for fees—put another way, the amendment was not retroactive. The trial court denied fees entirely based on the retroactivity argument.
The 2/8 DCA reversed and remanded, although making no opinion on the propriety of any fee recovery with respect to amount. The reason was that the general rule dictated that fees/costs amendments were prospectively applicable, such that section 1102.5(j) applied to matters pending on January 1, 2021 even if filed earlier.