Chavez v. City of Los Angeles

• Decision Date: 22 February 2008
• Docket Number: No. B192375.,B192375.
• Citation: 160 Cal.App.4th 410,72 Cal.Rptr.3d 783
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: Robert CHAVEZ, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. CITY OF LOS ANGELES et al., Defendants and Respondents.

72 Cal.Rptr.3d 783

160 Cal.App.4th 410

Robert CHAVEZ, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. CITY OF LOS ANGELES et al., Defendants and Respondents.

No. B192375.

Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 8.

February 22, 2008.

Law Office of Rochelle Evans Jackson and Rochelle Evans Jackson, Orange, for Appellant.

Rockard J. Delgadillo, City Attorney, and Paul L. Winnemore, Deputy City Attorney, for Respondents.

FLIER, J.

SUMMARY

After five years of litigation in the superior court, district court, and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, a jury awarded appellant Robert Chavez $11,500 in a statutory retaliation action brought against his employer and a supervisor. Chavez then filed a motion seeking approximately $871,000 in attorney fees under the fee provisions of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Government Code section 12965, subdivision (b). Ignoring that statute, and instead exercising its discretion under Code of Civil Procedure section 1033, subdivision (a)¹ to deny costs because Chavez's recovery was below its jurisdictional minimum, the trial court denied the motion. Chavez appeals from the denial of the motion, contending the court applied the wrong statutory standard and abused its discretion by denying him fees. We agree and reverse the order.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Chavez, a Los Angeles Police Department officer, sued his employer, the City of Los Angeles (City), and three supervisors for violation of FEHA. Chavez alleged he was subjected to discrimination based on a perceived disability and in retaliation for complaining about harassment and discrimination. Chavez sought recovery for five days' lost pay and benefits, emotional distress, and punitive damages. Before trial, the parties participated in five mediation sessions. According to Chavez, the City made no offer to settle except to waive its costs in full satisfaction of Chavez's claims. Neither side made a statutory offer to compromise. (§ 998.)

At the conclusion of trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Chavez on his claim of retaliation. The jury awarded him economic damages of $1,500 for lost overtime and cash detail, and noneconomic damages of $10,000 for mental suffering and emotional distress against the City and one individual defendant.² No punitive damages were awarded.

Following trial, Chavez moved for $870,935.50 in attorney fees as the prevailing plaintiff under FEHA. The fees consisted of $435,467.75 in hourly fees, enhanced with a multiplier of 2.0. (Gov. Code, § 12965, subd. (b).) Chavez's motion was supported by an expert witness's declaration attesting to the reasonableness of his fee request. The City opposed the motion. It argued Chavez had (1) failed to establish a reasonable hourly rate for sole practitioners with experience comparable to that of his attorney, Rochelle Evans Jackson, (2) submitted inflated bills based on questionable billing practices, (3) unreasonably sought a positive multiplier, and (4) sought recovery of fees for time spent litigating claims on which he had not prevailed. The City urged the trial court to exercise its discretion to deny or at least substantially reduce Chavez's fee request.³ Based on Chavez's modest recovery, the court exercised its discretion under section 1033, subdivision (a) to deny fees as costs under section 1033.5, subdivision (a)(10)(B), and denied the motion. This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

The issues before us are whether the trial court erred in failing to consider the motion in light of Chavez's status as the prevailing plaintiff under FEHA and in applying section 1033 to deny him fees.

1. Standard of review.

Under FEHA, a prevailing plaintiff is entitled to recover attorney fees and costs absent circumstances rendering the award unjust. (Gov.Code, § 12965, subd. (b); Stephens v. Coldwell Banker Commercial Group, Inc. (1988) 199 Cal.App.3d 1394, 1406, 245 Cal.Rptr. 606 (Stephens), disapproved on other grounds in White v. Ultramar, Inc. (1999) 21 Cal.4th 563, 574, fn. 4, 88 Cal.Rptr.2d 19, 981 P.2d 944.) We review an order denying attorney fees to a prevailing plaintiff under FEHA for abuse of discretion. (Steele v. Jensen Instrument Co. (1997) 59 Cal.App.4th 326, 330, 69 Cal.Rptr.2d 135 (Steele); Vo v. Las Virgenes Municipal Water Dist. (2000) 79 Cal.App.4th 440, 445, 94 Cal.Rptr.2d 143.) But the determination whether the criteria for a fee award are met is a legal question subject to de novo review on appeal. (Akins v. Enterprise Rentr-A-Car Co. (2000) 79 Cal.App.4th 1127, 1132-1133, 94 Cal.Rptr.2d 448.) While the court is vested with discretion to deny attorney fees to a prevailing plaintiff, its discretion "is narrow." (Stephens, supra, 199 Cal.App.3d at p. 1405, 245 Cal.Rptr. 606.) Two cost-shifting and attorney fees statutes—each advancing different public policies—are involved: FEHA's fee provision (Gov.Code, § 12965, subd. (b)), and section 1033, subdivision (a). In its ruling, the trial court made no reference to FEHA's fee provision. Instead, it focused on Chavez's modest recovery to justify its exercise of discretion under section 1033, subdivision (a), to deny attorney fees outright as costs under section 1033.5, subdivision (a)(10).

2. Section 1033, subdivision (a).

Section 1033, subdivision (a) is a cost-shifting statute designed to encourage a plaintiff to pursue litigation in the appropriate forum, and to deter the plaintiff from exaggerating the value of a case. (2 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (4th ed. 1996) Jurisdiction, § 30, p. 576.) To encourage the filing of minor grievances as "limited civil cases," section 1033 vests trial courts with the discretion to deny costs to a plaintiff who files an action as an unlimited action but recovers a judgment in an amount which could have been rendered in a court of limited jurisdiction.⁴ (Steele, supra, 59 Cal.App.4th at p. 330, 69 Cal.Rptr.2d 135.) Under section 1033, "costs" include attorney fees if authorized by a statute, such as FEHA. (§ 1033.5, subd. (a)(10)(B).)

Classification of limited civil case turns largely on whether the amount in controversy exceeds $25,000. (§ 85, subd. (a).) That classification has significant consequences in terms of the quantity of discovery the parties may conduct. In a limited civil action, discovery is typically limited to one deposition and a combined maximum of 35 interrogatories, document requests or requests for admission. (§ 94; but see § 95, subds. (a) & (b) [permitting additional discovery by stipulation or on showing of need].) Neither statutory nor contractual attorney fees are part of the equation when the trial court determines whether a judgment is one that could have been rendered in a court of limited jurisdiction. (Dorman v. DWLC Corp. (1995) 35 Cal.App.4th 1808, 1815, 42 Cal.Rptr .2d 459.)

3. Attorney fees under FEHA.

FEHA authorizes an award of attorney fees to the prevailing party. (Gov. Code, § 12965, subd. (b).) According to that statute, "[T]he court, in its discretion, may award to the prevailing party reasonable attorney's fees and costs, ... except where the action is filed by a public agency...." (Ibid.) A key objective of FEHA is to preserve the civil rights of Californians to seek and maintain employment without discrimination. (Gov.Code, §§ 12920, 12921.) Notwithstanding FEHA's neutral language, courts award attorney fees to a prevailing plaintiff as a matter of course unless special circumstances render an award unjust; but a prevailing defendant recovers fees only if an action is found to be "`unreasonable, frivolous, meritless or vexatious.'" (Cummings v. Benco Building Services (1992) 11 Cal.App.4th 1383, 1387, 15 Cal.Rptr.2d 53, quoting Christiansburg Garment Co. v. EEOC (1978) 434 U.S. 412, 421, 98 S.Ct. 694, 54 L.Ed.2d 648; Jersey v. John Muir Medical Center (2002) 97 Cal.App.4th 814, 830-832, 118 Cal.Rptr.2d 807.)

A plaintiff who brings a discrimination suit acts as a private attorney general, vindicating a vital legislative policy. (Cummings v. Benco Building Services, supra, 11 Cal.App.4th at p. 1387, 15 Cal. Rptr.2d 53.) The statutory fee provisions are meant to ease the burden on plaintiffs of limited means so they can bring meritorious suits to vindicate key public policies. An award of fees to a prevailing plaintiff under FEHA provides "`fair compensation to the attorneys involved in the litigation at hand and encourage[s] litigation of claims that in the public interest merit litigation.'" (Flannery v. Prentice (2001) 26 Cal.4th 572, 584, 110 Cal.Rptr.2d 809, 28 P.3d 860, quoting Weeks v. Baker & McKenzie (1998) 63 Cal.App.4th 1128, 1172, 74 Cal.Rptr.2d 510.)

4. The interplay of the cost-shifting statutes in this action.

The trial court's three-page ruling denying Chavez's motion for attorney fees ignored FEHA. The court made no express finding of any "special circumstance" to justify its denial of fees under that statute. Instead, it relied on Chavez's modest recovery and the "sparse" evidence he presented at trial regarding damages to justify its denial of fees under section 1033. The court noted its decision was "guided" by the holding in Steele, supra, 59 Cal. App.4th 326, 69 Cal.Rptr.2d 135, where the court's "discretion to deny fees was upheld in a case where the verdict was twice the amount of the instant one." Steele is not persuasive.

In Steele, the plaintiff sued her employer and two individuals in superior court for pregnancy discrimination under FEHA. Defendants made an offer to compromise under section 998 of $40,000, which the plaintiff rejected. Plaintiff was awarded just over $21,000 by a jury. The trial court denied plaintiffs request for attorney fees and costs. Plaintiff appealed, arguing the court erred in denying her fees under section 1033; she was entitled to fees under FEHA; and, under section 998, when her fees and costs were added to the jury's award, the judgment exceeded defendant's statutory offer. (Steele, supra, 59 Cal.App.4th at p. 329, 69 Cal.Rptr.2d 135.) The court...