Plaintiff Had Won $113,830 In Compensatory Damages From a Jury Earlier.
As reported by Gary Klien and Erin Sherbert in respective January 13, 2011 posts of the Marin Independent Journal and SF Weekly, Marin County Superior Court Judge Lynn O’Malley Taylor tentatively ruled on Thursday, January 13 that Lucasfilm Ltd. should pay nearly $1.3 million (out of a requested $1.5 million) in attorney’s fees to the lawyers who won a pregnancy discrimination suit against the company. Plaintiff won $113,830 in past economic losses after a lengthy jury trial. The fees apparently were awarded under California’s private attorney general statute, with Judge Taylor observing that plaintiff’s lawyers risked hundreds of hours on a difficult case. A Lucasfilm spokesperson said the company will appeal the jury verdict and the fee ruling if the tentative stands. One blogger noted that the lawyers gained fees that were ten times the amount of the compensatory award, which is frequently the case in civil rights cases.