Ninth Circuit OKs Eye-Popping Attorney Fees In A $30,000 Case

In a case brought under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), a plaintiff employee suing UPS prevailed on one of three discrimination claims and was awarded less than $30,000, a small fraction of the alleged damages. But the district court awarded $700,000 in attorneys’ fees, and the award was upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. This case provides two important lessons about how companies sued under FEHA should proceed, starting at the very earliest stage of the case, according to Seyfarth Shaw attorneys Nicholas R. Clements and David D. Kadue.