Civil Rights: Plaintiff Obtaining One Special Verdict Favorable Response But Losing Based On Other Responses Was Not Entitled To FEHA Fee Recovery

Plaintiff Did Not Prevail On His Monetary Claims, And No Injunction/Declaratory Relief Found Against Defendants. 

            After obtaining a jury’s favorable answer to whether plaintiff’s physical condition was a substantial motivating reason for his termination, the jurors found against plaintiff on whether the conduct was a substantial factor in causing harm to plaintiff.  Plaintiff then moved to recover $454,857.90 in attorney’s fees under the FEHA fee-shifting statute from the defense, a request denied by the trial judge.

            That conclusion was sustained on appeal in Bustos v. Global P.E.T., Inc., Case No. E065869 (4^th Dist., Div. 2 Dec. 22, 2017) (unpublished).  The problem is that a FEHA award is discretionary, and plaintiff never prevailed--although the defense did.  No injunction or declaratory relief was entered against the defense, such that the one favorable verdict answer did not justify a fee award in these circumstances.