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In Allyn v. Fallbrook Union Elementary School Dist., Case No. D068325 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Sept. 29, 2017) (unpublished; opinion following order vacating prior opinion), former school district employee won a $1,194,000 jury verdict against school district for retaliation based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 by this result, she then sought a recovery of attorney’s fees under Labor Code section 218.5, the wage/hour fee-shifting provision, based on the theory that some of the jury verdict was for lost income. The trial judge denied the fee award based on the perception the school district was “exempt” from fee recovery under section 218.5. The appellate court agreed, finding that the school district was an “other municipal corporation” within the ambit of Labor Code section 220(b) which indeed provides that section 218.5 does not apply to those entities listed in 220(b), inclusive of a school district.