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)

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 B261175/B264508 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Mar. 8, 2017) (unpublished), the appellate court reversed a grant of over $129,000 in attorney’s fees in favor of an employer winning summary judgment in a wage/hour case.

    The reversal sprang from a 2013 amendment to Labor Code section 218.5(a), which only allows fee recovery only if the employee brought such a case in bad faith. The Court of Appeal decided that this amendment was retroactive, even though it was not in effect at the time of the complaint filing but was in effect before entry of judgment. In doing so, it accepted the reasoning from a sister court, the First District, Division One, as articulated in USS-Posco Industries v. Case, 244 Cal.App.4^th 197 (2016).