Case Summary

5001 A terminated employee who sued his employer for unpaid wages and discrimination in a federal diversity action prevailed on his unpaid wage claim but not on his discrimination claims. California law entitled the plaintiff to attorneys' fees for his wage claim, but the defendant was not entitled to attorneys' fees under FEHA because the plaintiff's claims were not “unreasonable, frivolous, meritless or vexatious.” Also, Federal law applied to costs other than attorneys' fees because costs were not an element of the employee's damages under applicable California law.

DRUMM v MORNINGSTAR (Fees in Federal Court) 695 F Supp2 1014 [See Chavez v City of L.A. 47 C4 970; Cal Lab Code § 218.5]