Costs, Employment: $17,274.23 Costs To Prevailing Defendant In FEHA Case Affirmed Because Plaintiff’s Case Was Frivolous

Rosenman Written Finding Requirement Did Not Apply To Statutory Costs Award, With 2/1 DCA Articulating A Split In Thinking On The Written Requirement Dictate of Rosenman.

            In Schoensiegel v. Abbott Laboratories, Inc., Case Nos. B312628/B314633 (2d Dist., Div. 1 May 24, 2022) (unpublished), plaintiff lost her FEHA action based on a successful summary judgment motion, with the trial court awarding the defense $17,274.23 in statutory costs based on the perception that plaintiff’s case was frivolous.  (If a case is deemed frivolous, this is a ground upon which to award costs to a prevailing FEHA defendant.)

            On appeal, plaintiff principally argued that the lower court failed to issue written predicate findings before awarding costs as required by Rosenman v. Christensen, Miller, Fink, Jacobs, Glaser, Weil & Shapiro, 91 Cal.App.4^th 859, 868 (2001).  The 2/1 DCA held that the Rosenman requirement only applied to attorney’s fees, not statutory costs.  Further, it did note that Rosenman was disagreed with by Robert v. Stanford University, 224 Cal.App.4^th 67, 72 (2014), which found that the failure to issue findings should not give rise to an automatic reversal in the absence of prejudice.  The 2/1 DCA panel did not take a position on this difference in appellate thinking, but its overall reasoning seems to suggest it liked the conclusion reached in Robert.