Section Allows Fee Recovery Against Either Losing Employee or Employer.
Labor Code section 98.2(c) is a two-way fee-shifting fee provision which mandates a lower court to award fees against either an employer or employee bringing an unsuccessful appeal from a Labor Commissioner ruling. The legislative purpose of this section is to discourage meritless appeals of such rulings, with the fee-shifting provision also applying to appellate work. Plaintiff winning a Labor Commissioner ruling of a little over $19,348 was not satisfied, appealed to the superior court, lost in the superior court such that judgment was entered in employer’s favor, and then appealed unsuccessfully from the superior court loss.
Employer then moved to recover $87,444.10 for prior appeal work, with the lower court awarding employer $77,400 in attorney’s fees under section 98.2(c).
Plaintiff’s appeal challenging the fee award was rejected in Lan v. Comcast Corp., LLC, Case No. A147025 (1st Dist., Div. 5 Sept. 30, 2016) (unpublished).
Given that section 98.2(c) also covers appellate work, plaintiff was unable to overcome the deferential abuse of discretion standard governing the amount of fees awarded by the lower court.
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