• Home
  • About Us
    • JoinCalifornia
    • Use as a Reference
  • Political History
    • 2021 Senate to Assembly District Table
    • Term Limits in California
    • Legislative Committee Reports
    • Notable No Votes
    • Redistricting
    • Scott Lay’s Sofa Degree
    • Legislative Staff
  • Nelson S. Dilworth Collection
    • California’s Military History
  • Leroy F. Greene Collection
  • Covering the Capitol
  • Article Topics
    • Top Stories
    • 2014 Election
    • 2012 Election
    • Current Research
    • Constitutional Officers
    • Congress
    • State Senate
    • State Assembly
    • Deaths

One Voter Project

The Online Home of California's Political History

October 6, 2013 By rick Leave a Comment

Wage & Hour Litigation Just Became More Unfair for California Employers

Rick Morin, Sacramento Attorney
Rick Morin

The California Legislature recently passed, and the Governor enacted, Senate Bill 462 by Senator Bill Monning (D-Carmel) which disrupts the two-way street of fee shifting in wage and hour litigation.

SB 462 amends section 218.5 of the California Labor Code to preclude an employer from asking a court to award its reasonable attorney’s fees when it prevails in a lawsuit over the nonpayment of wages unless the court finds that the employee filed the lawsuit in bad faith.

The traditional “American Rule” when it comes to the payment of attorney’s fees is that parties to litigation typically pay their own attorney’s fees — it doesn’t matter who wins or who loses. This rule can be changed by contract or a provision of law.

Prior to the enactment of SB 462, the prevailing party in a wage and hour dispute was able to petition the court for an award of its attorneys fees on equal footing. With the enactment of SB 462, a prevailing employer may only ask for attorney’s fees if it can prove that an employee brought the wage and hour claim in “bad faith.”

SB 462 is unfair to business owners because it applies a different standard to the award of attorney’s fees depending on who asking: the standard is lower for employees, and the burden for a prevailing employer is much higher. What exactly constitutes “bad faith” is not defined in the legislation.

An award for attorney’s fees in a wage & hour dispute can often be many multiples more than the underlying damages. This has provided plaintiffs’ attorneys with a real incentive to bring numerous wage and hour claims to California courts because the attorney can make out like a bandit even if they only win $1 in court for their client.

Now that plaintiffs and their attorneys know that they will not likely be stuck paying a large attorneys’ fee award to a prevailing employer, they can bring even more meritless claims into California courts.

SB 462 will take effect January 1, 2014.

Please contact my office if you have any questions about SB 462 or wage and hour litigation. I can be reached at (916) 333-2222.

Filed Under: California law, Current Research, Editorial, State Senate, Top Stories

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent News

What Happened in the 2022 Election

November 13, 2022

[Updated 12/12] That was interesting. An election season that roared by in … [Read More...]

Running Unopposed in 2022

March 26, 2022

The California State Capitol According the Notice to Candidates, issued by … [Read More...]

Dilworth Video

October 8, 2021

An introduction to the story of State Senator Nelson Dilworth and the amazing … [Read More...]

NEW BOOK: California Lawmaker 2021

February 12, 2021

From confrontations in the tense years before the Civil War to the recent work … [Read More...]

Women in Statewide Office

January 29, 2021

As an update to a post from 2018, which noted that three was the highest number … [Read More...]

Latest Tweets

  • Just now
  • More Tweets by Alex Vassar

Fun Fact

Did you know that seven JoinCalifornia candidates have stars on the Hollywood Walk? They are; Mike Curb (Lt. Governor), Albert Dekker (Assemblyman), Helen Gahagan Douglas (Member of Congress), George Murphy (US Senator), Ronald Reagan (Governor & President), Arnold Schwarzenegger (Governor), and Shirley Temple (Congressional candidate).

California Lawmaker 2021

Now Available on Amazon

Recent Posts

  • Mike McGuire to be California’s next Senate pro Tem August 29, 2023
  • 2011 Senate District to Assembly District Conversion Table (2012-2024) August 14, 2023
  • State Medals February 7, 2023
  • What Happened in the 2022 Election November 13, 2022

Copyright © 2023 · Education Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in