This appeal centered on a dispute over attorney fees and costs in a nine-year employment discrimination case that involved three trials. After the third trial, both parties appealed the trial court's post-judgment order, which awarded plaintiff Simers $3.26 million in attorney fees and $210,882.55 in costs. The Los Angeles Times argued that Simers should not recover attorney fees for the second trial due to misconduct by his counsel during closing arguments and also contested fees for work related to an unsuccessful appeal after the first trial.
Simers, in turn, argued that his attorney fees should not have been reduced due to his rejection of a CCP 998 settlement offer made before the third trial. The court of appeal upheld the trial court’s order, finding no abuse of discretion in awarding partial fees for the second trial despite the misconduct. The trial court reasoned that denying all fees related to the second trial would contradict the policy of awarding attorney fees to prevailing plaintiffs in employment discrimination and civil rights cases.
The appellate court also affirmed the trial court’s assessment of reasonable attorney fee rates and hours and upheld the denial of a multiplier requested by Simers. Additionally, the exclusion of post-settlement-offer fees and costs under CCP section 998 was affirmed, as Simers did not obtain a more favorable judgment after rejecting the defendant’s settlement offer.