Employment: Nonprevailing Employees May Not Be Assessed With Routine Costs Under California’s Fair Pay Act

Court Of Appeal Follows Analogous Reasoning Which Relates To Labor Code Section 1194.

            In Lohman v. City of Mountain View, Case No. H046681 et seq. (6^th Dist. Sept. 7, 2022) (unpublished), the Sixth District reversed a $10,082 routine costs award—a sixth of the ask—against a nonprevailing employee plaintiff under a California Fair Pay Act, Labor Code § 1197.5, claim.  It determined that only prevailing employees, not employers, are entitled to costs under the Fair Pay Act, accepting the reasoning of cases under Labor Code section 1194 (an analogous statute in the court’s view) which came to the same conclusion.