Cases: Employment

Employment/Section 998:  Individual Plaintiff’s Acceptance of 998 Offer And Dismissal Of Individual Claims With Prejudice Meant He Could Not Continue To Prosecute PAGA Claim

Cases: Employment, Cases: Section 998

Plaintiff Was Not An “Aggrieved Employee” For PAGA Standing Purposes.             In Kim v. Reins International California Inc,., Case No. B278642 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Dec. 29, 2017) (published), plaintiff alleging both individual and class action wage/hour violations (including a PAGA claim) accepted a CCP § 998 offer and dismissed his individual claims with prejudice.  The […]

Employment:  Plaintiff Legal Secretary Prevailing On Overtime Claims Awarded Fees Of $277,000 In Los Angeles County Superior Court

Cases: Employment

Compensatory Award Was About $121,000; Plaintiff Had Requested $830,000 In Fees.             As reported by Debra Cassens Weiss in a November 28, 2017 post on the ABA Journal, a former legal secretary Noemi Bernal—plaintiff in an overtime dispute with her former law firm—obtained a jury compensatory award against former employers (J.J. Little & Associates, Law

Civil Rights/Employment:  FEHA Individual Supervising Employee Defendant Still Must Meet Frivolousness Standard For Purposes Of Obtaining FEHA Fee Shifting Award

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Employment

Employer Standard Also Applies To Supervising Employee Defendant.             In Lopez v. Routt, Case No. B269345 (2d Dist., Div. 3 Nov. 29, 2017) (published), the Second District, Division 3 DCA decided that a supervising employee FEHA defendant had to meet the same frivolousness standard as applicable to employer defendant with respect to recovering fees from

Employment:  Prevailing Former Employee Not Entitled To Labor Code Section 218.5 Fees Because School District Is Immune From 218.5 Fee Recovery

Cases: Employment

Labor Code Section 220(b) So Provides.             In Allyn v. Fallbrook Union Elementary School Dist., Case No. D068325 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Sept. 29, 2017) (unpublished; opinion following order vacating prior opinion), former school district employee won a $1,194,000 jury verdict against school district for retaliation based on her objections to e-mail retention policies.  Emboldened

Class Action, Common Fund, Employment, Lodestar, Multiplier:  N.D. Cal. District Judge Ilston Awards Wage/Hour Class Action Counsel $15,200,002.90 In Hybrid Statutory Fee/Common Fund Case Against Wal-Mart

Cases: Class Actions, Cases: Common Fund, Cases: Employment, Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Multipliers

District Judge Confronts Multiple Issues In Reaching Fee Award.             U.S. District Judge Susan Ilston in Ridgeway v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Case No. 08-cv-05221-SI (N.D. Cal. Sept. 14, 2017 Doc. #606) confronted numerous issues in deciding the appropriate award to class counsel in a truck driver employee class action case against Wal-Mart for wage hour

Employment:  Trial Judge’s Fee Award Based On Percentage Of Plaintiff’s Recovery Attributable To Wages Under Labor Code Section 218.5 Was Erroneous

Cases: Employment

Lodestar Method Should Have Been Used And Will Be On Remand.                    In Chen v. M&C Hotel Interest, Inc., Case Nos. B266461/B267622 (2d Dist., Div. 5 Aug. 11, 2017) (unpublished), a trial judge was faced with a prevailing plaintiff bringing an attorney’s fees motion under Labor Code section 218.5, which allows fees

Employment, Indemnity, Reasonableness Of Fees, Requests For Admissions: Four Unpublished Decisions On July 11, 2017 Highlight These Issues

Cases: Employment, Cases: Indemnity, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees, Cases: Requests for Admission

Fee Reasonableness—Neman Real Estate Investments, LLC v. Oken. Case Nos. B263196/B263718 (2d Dist., Div. 4 July 11, 2017) (unpublished).             In this first one, defendants won a commercial property dispute and were awarded costs/fees of $619,566.75 based on a “blended” $495 hourly rate to L.A. real estate litigators that happened to be “below market.”  The

Employment: Lack Of Specific Allegations In Initial And Amended Complaints Doomed Labor Code Section 218.5 Fee Recovery Later On By Plaintiff

Cases: Employment

Specific Facts Sealed The Deal In This Decision.             Shames v. Utility Consumers’ Action Network, Case No. D070141 (4th Dist., Div. 2 June 29, 2017) (published) should be a decision of interest to employment litigation attorneys when it comes to Labor Code section 218.5 fee recovery, although its specific facts dictate the result and counsel

Appeal Sanctions/Employment/Indemnity:  Intermediate Appellate Courts Confront Hodgepodge Of Issues

Cases: Appeal Sanctions, Cases: Employment, Cases: Indemnity

  Employment—Nicolosi v. Cooper, Case No. B264459 (2d Dist., Div. 6 May 17 2017) (Unpublished)–$64,000 In Fees Just Fine In $80,933.75 Back Wages Case.               This one is not hard to fathom.  Employee obtained $80,933.75 in back wages and $64,000 in attorney’s fees (out of a requested $130,000).  Employee appealed, arguing not enough was

Employment: 2/7 DCA Reverses $129,000 Fee Award Against Unsuccessful Plaintiff In Wage/Hour Case Based On Retroactivity Of Amendment To Labor Code Section 218.5(a)

Cases: Employment

  2/7 DCA Panel Agreed With The Reasoning In the USS-Posco Industries Case.       In Jakiel v. Impresa Aerospace, LLC, Case Nos. B261175/B264508 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Mar. 8, 2017) (unpublished), the appellate court reversed a grant of over $129,000 in attorney’s fees in favor of an employer winning summary judgment in a wage/hour case.

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