Cases: Civil Rights

Civil Rights: EEOC Stung With $4,560,285.11 Fee/Costs Award In Title VII Section Suit Found To Be Groundless By Iowa U.S. District Judge

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Costs, Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

Court Discusses Substantive Fee Shifting Statute, Lodestar Factors, and Non-Cost Expense Reimbursement Issues in Recent Decision.       EEOC v. Boot, Case No. 07-CV-95-LLR (N.D. Iowa Feb. 9, 2010 Order), is an unusual decision where a United States district judge awarded $4,560,285.11 in fees and costs (broken down as $4,004,371.65 in fees, $463,071.25 in “non-cost” […]

Civil Rights: Appellate Court Affirms Slashed FEHA Prevailing Party Fee Award Where Plaintiff’s Success Limited After Prior Appeal and Attorney Fee Substantiation Was Unreliable

Cases: Civil Rights

  Plaintiff Appeals $500,000-Plus Fee Award, But Gets Nothing Better.      Mnaskanian v. 21st Century Insurance, Case No. B211757 (2d Dist., Div. 1 Feb. 11, 2010) (unpublished) shows that both trial and appellate courts will apply lodestar analysis in FEHA fee award situations, discounting for limited success and unreliable attorney fee substantiation when awarding “bottom

California Disabled Persons Act: State Appellate Decision Finds That ADA Does Not Preempt, So Prevailing Defendant Entitled To Fee Award Without Showing Action Was Frivolous, Unreasonable, Or Groundless

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Preemption, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

First District, Division 4 Disagrees with Ninth Circuit’s Hubbard Decisions.      In our July 3, 2008 and January 12, 2009 posts, we discussed the Ninth Circuit’s Hubbard decisions (Hubbard v. SoBreck, LLC, 531 F.2d 983 (9th Cir. 2008) and Hubbard v. SoBreck, LLC, 554 F.3d 742 (9th Cir. 2009)), which held that a mandatory award

Civil Rights: Nominal Damages In Civil Rights Case Involving Novel Issue and Deterrence Justifies $136,687.35 Fee Recovery Under Section 1983

Cases: Civil Rights

Ninth Circuit Affirms District Judge’s Fee Award In One Dollar Award Case.      The circumstances of a case often dictate its result. This is the hallmark of jurisprudence, highlighted in the next fee case that we review.      In Mahach-Watkins v. Depee, Case No. 08-15694 (9th Cir. Feb. 1, 2010) (for publication), estate of a

Civil Rights: CCP § 1038 Does Not Apply To Unsuccessful 1983 Civil Rights Claims

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Deadlines, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

First District, Division 4 So Decides, Also Denying Fees on a Different Theory Raised After Losing the § 1038 Request—Counseling to Seek Fees on Multiple Grounds the First Time Around.      State entities eventually defended against a civil rights claim brought by a peace officer organization under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. State entities then moved

Civil Rights: Student Obtaining Eligibility Category Determination Under IDEA Entitled to Attorney’s Fees Recovery

Cases: Civil Rights

Ninth Circuit Also Determines that Student’s Representation By Paternal Grandmother Did Not Disqualify Him From Seeking Fees.      The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3)(B) allows lower courts to award reasonable attorney’s fees as part of the costs to a prevailing party who is the parent of a child with a

Civil Rights: $9,649 Fee Award Affirmed Where Plaintiffs’ Civil Rights Claims Found To Be Frivolous, Unreasonable Or Without Foundation

Cases: Civil Rights

1st District, Division 4 Sustains Award in Entirety.      Under 42 U.S.C. § 1988(b), a trial court can award reasonable attorney’s fees to a prevailing defendant if the court finds the plaintiff’s action was frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation, even though not brought in bad faith. (County of Butte v. Bach, 172 Cal.App.3d 848, 869

Civil Rights: ADA Total Fee Recovery Denial Reversed Where Trial Court Incorrectly Concluded That Plaintiff’s Fee-Driven Recovery Required Altogether Fee Denial

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

Fourth District, Division 3 Reverses and Remands, But Does Allow Consideration of How Fee-Driven Motivation Impacts Reasonableness of Fee Request.      In the civil rights area, the American Disabilities Act (ADA) does have a mandatory fee-shifting provision in favor of prevailing plaintiffs, although it has the important caveat that only reasonable fees should be awarded.

Fee Substantiation: Plaintiff’s Declaration About Hourly Rates And Small Law Firm Survey Deemed Sufficient Substantiation For Fee Request, Especially Given No Challenge By The Defense

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Third District Also Addresses Clerical Time and Multiplier Issues.      Plaintiff won a jury verdict of $16,536 on a failure to accommodate discrimination claim. Under the fee-shifting provisions of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA; Government Code section 12965(b)), the trial court awarded plaintiff $189,503.40 in fees, after lodestar deductions for clerical tasks, duplicative

Civil Rights: Court Of Appeal Affirms Lower Court’s Award of $6,659.15 To Plaintiff Who Had Limited Success And Recovered Only $5,000 In Disability Case

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Costs, Cases: Multipliers

Second District, Division 6 Rejects Plaintiff’s Request for Award of $114,895 in Fees and $27,441.35 in Costs.      Although the courts will award appropriate attorney’s fees to prevailing plaintiffs in civil rights disability cases, they will also discount for limited success and overinflated claims of complexity in litigation of the case.      Molski v. Evergreen

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