Fee Recovery Carved Out Under Labor Code Section 1194.
Justice Fybel, as the 3-0 panel author in Arreola v. One More Productions, Case No. G047467 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Feb. 5, 2014) (unpublished), affirmed denial of an attorney’s fees request of $27,265 to the defense under Labor Code former section 218.5.
Once the underlying predicate claims were analyzed, the problem was that section 218.5 carved out wage nonpayment claims, which the state supreme court in Kirby decided could not give rise to fee recovery for the similar claims at issue in this matter.
BLOG OBSERVATION—The appellate court, as would we, observed that Labor Code section 218.5 was amended effective January 1, 2014 to provide that an award of fees to a non-employee is contingent upon a judicial finding of bad faith.