Civil Rights, Landlord/Tenant: Frivolous FEHA Case By Plaintiffs In Rental Dispute Justified $228,123.77 Attorney’s Fees, Expert Fees, And Costs Award In Favor Of Prevailing Defendant Owner

No Abuse Of Discretion Shown, With Prior Denial Of Summary Judgment Not Disqualifying Owner From Award Of FEHA Fees Under The Right Circumstances.

            FEHA has a pro-plaintiff fee shifting statute; however, under the right circumstances, a prevailing defendant can obtain fee shifting against a plaintiff where the case is shown to be frivolous in nature.

            That was the case in Bonhage v. Rawson, Case Nos. H047362 et al. (6^th Dist. July 18, 2022) (unpublished), which involved two plaintiff friends’ Unruh Act and FEHA case against defendant owners and brokers for failing to rent to them based on “unmarried persons” discrimination.  Brokers got out on a summary judgment motion, owner’s summary judgment motion was denied, and plaintiffs lost their case against owner after a full trial.  The lower court determined plaintiffs’ case was frivolous, awarding owner $228,123.77 in attorney’s fees, expert fees, and other costs under the FEHA statutory provision.

            The result was affirmed on appeal.  Under an abuse of discretion standard, the lower court could conclude that plaintiffs had no evidence of discrimination, especially given that the owner had rented to other unmarried couples before, and that the rental transaction fell out because the plaintiffs could not agree on a rental sharing agreement.  Finally, the caselaw in this area shows that a prior denial of a summary judgment to an eventually prevailing defendant does not disqualify that defendant from a frivolous FEHA fee recovery.