If Not, Default Judgment Is Void; If So, Then Inefficiency/Lodestar Factors Must Be Considered On Remand.
Although unpublished, Alshamlan v. Arabian Restaurants, Inc., Case No. G057543 (4th Dist., Div. 3 May 12, 2020) (unpublished) is must reading for disabled rights plaintiffs’ attorneys seeking a default judgment against a target defendant.
There, a balance-challenged plaintiff, after being refused lunch service at a restaurant which would not allow him to have his service dog Geo with him, filed a single-incident complaint under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, Disabled Persons Act, American with Disabilities Act, and Business and Professions Code section 17200. The complaint did not specify any amount of damages, with plaintiff making a prayer for an injunction and “general, compensatory, and statutory damages” under the California disability statutes, trebled according to statute. Plaintiff also prayed for an award of statutory attorney’s fees. Plaintiff then filed for entry of a default judgment, requesting issuance of a permanent injunction and $40,311.33 in monetary damages--$25,000 in damages, $14,680 in fees, and $631.33 in costs. The injunction request was based on the ADA and the damages/fees/costs based on the California disability statutes and ADA (fees and costs under the ADA, because only an injunction could be issued under that statute). At the prove-up hearing, the trial court refused to award the requested $25,000 damages because no specific amount was alleged in the complaint. However, it did award $5,000 in statutory minimum damages. The trial judge further declined to issue the proposed injunction on the basis it was overbroad. It rejected plaintiff’s request for over $14,000 in fees, finding $1,800 to be the reasonable fee award—expressing worry that the requested amount was way over the local rule default judgment guidelines.
The 4/3 DCA, in a 3-0 decision authored by Justice Goethals, reversed and remanded. The principal basis for the reversal/remand was the fact that plaintiff may not have served a notice/statement of damages under CCP § 425.11 to impart actual notice of the amounts of special and general damages being sought. If one had not been filed, the default judgment was directed to be vacated on the basis it was void. If the statement had been filed, the appellate court provided some additional guidance to the trial judge on the fees issue, given plaintiff had appealed on the ground that the fee award was too low. The lower court should consider plaintiff’s limited success and other lodestar/reduction factors in fashioning a fee award if the statement of damages had been filed.
BLOG COMMENT—Justice Goethals also discussed how the damages calculations under the state disability statute are confusing in the default judgment context, providing a good roadmap on how they are to be calculated. A good primer for plaintiff disability attorneys seeking default judgments.
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