California Supreme Court Rules On Costs/Attorney Fee Statutory Discrepancies In FEHA Cases.

Code of Civil Procedure section 1032(b) guarantees prevailing parties in civil litigation awards of the costs expended in the litigation, and Code of Civil Procedure section 1033.5 requires the costs be reasonably necessary to the conduct of the litigation. Government Code section 12965, subdivision (b) provides that in Fair Employment and Housing Act [FEHA; Government Code section 12900 et seq.] actions the court has discretion to award to the prevailing party reasonable attorney fees and costs. The California Supreme Court held:  “We conclude Government Code section 12965, subdivision (b), governs cost awards in FEHA actions, allowing trial courts discretion in awards of both attorney fees and costs to prevailing FEHA parties. We further conclude that in awarding attorney fees and costs, the trial court‘s discretion is bounded by the rule of Christiansburg [Garment Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Comm’n (1978) 434 U.S. 412, [98 S.Ct. 694, 54 L.Ed.2d 648]]; an unsuccessful FEHA plaintiff should not be ordered to pay the defendant’s fees or costs unless the plaintiff brought or continued litigating the action without an objective basis for believing it had potential merit.” (Williams v. Chino Valley Independent Fire Dist. (Cal. Sup. Ct.; May 4, 2015) 61 Cal.4th 97, [186 Cal.Rptr.3d 826, 347 P.3d 976].)