Civil Rights: $819,335 FEHA Fee Award Stood After Appellate Court Affirmed $250,000 Emotional Distress Compensatory and $1.95 Million Punitive Damages Awards In Favor Of Plaintiff

Case Illustrates How FEHA Fee Awards Can Be Substantial For Prevailing Plaintiffs.

            FEHA has a pro-plaintiff fee shifting statute.  When plaintiffs prevail under this statute, the fee awards can be quite substantial.

            Albarracin v. Fidelity National Financial, Inc., Case No. B292895 (2d Dist., Div. 3 Aug. 13, 2020) (unpublished) illustrates this point well.  There, a plaintiff suing predominantly on FEHA sexual harassment charges won a $250,000 compensatory damages jury verdict (mostly for emotional distress) and a $1.95 million punitive damages verdict.  (The main defendant had $662 million in after-tax profits for the relevant year.)  The trial judge later awarded plaintiff $819,335 in attorney’s fees under the FEHA fee-shifting statute.  The defense unsuccessfully contested the merits on appeal, such that the substantial fee award stood also—again demonstrating how the fee awards for successful FEHA plaintiffs can be quite large in nature.