Multipliers Also Correctly Denied.
After a decades long FEHA litigation involving multiple appeals and four litigation phases, partially winning plaintiff in Fotheringham v. Avery Dennison Corp., Case No. B238282 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Feb. 13, 2013) (unpublished) must have felt dismayed when the lower court awarded her only $165,781 in fees (out of a requested $2.169 million, inclusive of requested 2-3 multipliers) and $7,047.05 in costs. She appealed.
No abuse of discretion here, said the appellate panel. The trial court had discretionn to award a much lower lodestar and correctly denied the multiplier requests because the two germane litigation phases were not that complicated in nature.
As far as costs, the lower court also cut a 4,800 page “printing/reproduction” costs request of $5,848.81 down to $875.50. This, too, was just fine because the record showed plaintiff was also seeking impermissible paralegal time rather than just out-of-pocket printing/reproduction expenses.
The red snapper’s dream: Ebisu using an abacus. Toyohiru Utagawa. 1805. Library of Congress.