Considered Costs, Fees Do Not Have To Be Expressly Pled.
In Dept. of Fair Employment and Housing v. FloraTech Landscape Mgt., Inc., Case No. A139762 (1st Dist., Div. 4 June 30, 2016) (unpublished), DFEH filed an administrative charge of disability discrimination against defendant, which transferred the matter to superior court and lost a monetary award obtained by DFEH on behalf of the alleged discrimination victim. The lower court then awarded attorney’s fees to DFEH.
Defendant appealed, contending that DFEH did not plead for express fee recovery in its complaint so that this omission prevented it from making a CCP § 998 offer. The appellate court was not persuaded. Starting January 1, 2013, DFEH can be awarded fees under Government Code section 12965(b), so that defendant was on notice of this and could have made a 998 offer at any time. Besides, fees are considered as costs, so that no specific fee entitlement needs to be alleged in a complaint. (Faton v. Ahmedo, 236 Cal.App.4th 1160, 1169 (2015).)