$1.282 Million Fee Award Went POOF!
The Flareback. 1911. Library of Congress.
Just to show you how the appellate court can giveth and taketh away (Job 1:21), in this case a taketh away, Hessler v. County of Los Angeles, Case No. B263088 (2d Dist., Div. 1 Oct. 27, 2016) (unpublished) is a situation where a FEHA plaintiff prevailed by winning $153,290 in damages and then being awarded prevailing party attorney’s fees to the tune of $1,282,810. However, the appellate court found that the action was barred by FEHA’s statute of limitations, requiring reversal of the damages judgment as a matter of law and—as an attendant consequence—reversal of the substantial fee award.