Only A Quarter Of Fee Request Awarded.
Mariano v. United Parcel Service, Inc., Case No. D071055 (4th Dist., Div. 1 May 21, 2018) (unpublished) was a situation where a trial judge eventually found plaintiff’s associational disability discrimination theory was deficient because plaintiff had no specific relationship with a disabled person or and no such association was causally related to plaintiff’s complaint about using a disabled access ramp. UPS moved for an award of $234,982 in fees for prevailing on plaintiff’s complaint or, alternatively, sought a proportionate award of $70,494 for prevailing on plaintiff’s FEHA claims. The trial judge awarded less than a quarter of fully requested fees to UPS, to the tune of $52,870.50.
The 4/1 DCA, in a split decision, affirmed. The majority found no abuse of discretion in the award. The apportionment arguments raised for the first time on appeal were waived, with the trial judge actually using a two-step allocation process. In dissent, Justice Dato would have reversed the entire award because he believed plaintiff was arguing for a good faith extension of the law such that ultimately unsuccessful FEHA plaintiffs should not be penalized for such advocacy.