Civil Rights: $206,157.50 Attorney’s Fees Request By Defendant Prevailing On Summary Judgment Against FEHA Plaintiff Properly Denied

Action Was Not Frivolous And Was Not Prosecuted In Bad Faith.

            County of Los Angeles, in Shah v. County of Los Angeles, Case No. B291084 (2d Dist., Div. 3 Aug. 22, 2019) (unpublished), was not happy when the trial judge denied its attorney’s fees request of $206,157.50 after prevailing against plaintiff on FEHA claims. The problem is that a prevailing defendant must show the FEHA claims were frivolous under Government Code section 12965(d).  Unfortunately, even though County prevailed on a summary judgment motion, there was sufficient opposition and potentially triable factual issues to justify the denial of fees.  After all, simply losing the case does not mean plaintiff’s action was frivolous.  (Baker v. Mulholland Security & Patrol, Inc., 204 Cal.App.4^th 776, 784 (2012); Robert v. Stanford University, 224 Cal.App.4^th 67, 70 (2014).)