Shames v. Utility Consumers’ Action Network

Plaintiff Michael Shames appealed an order pertaining to attorney fees. Shames filed this lawsuit against Defendant Utility Consumers' Action Network (UCAN) and two individual plaintiffs, alleging multiple causes of action, after UCAN terminated his employment. The case proceeded to trial, and Shames prevailed on three causes of action, including one in which he sought unpaid wages in the form of bonus payments that were due to him pursuant to an incentive program. After judgment was entered, Shames sought to recover the attorney fees that he incurred in litigating his claims. Shames relied on two statutes for his request for attorney fees, but only one of those statutes was at issue in this appeal: Labor Code section 218.5. The trial court denied Shames's request for attorney fees under section 218.5, concluding that he had failed to request attorney fees "upon the initiation of the action" because he did not request attorney fees in his initial complaint. In the alternative, Shames's request for attorney fees in his amended complaint was not sufficient to permit him to recover attorney fees as costs pursuant to section 218.5. Shames's amended pleading did not request attorney fees generally, nor did it request attorney fees under section 218.5 with respect to the cause of action in which Shames alleged that UCAN had failed to pay him his full wages. Rather, the amended pleading included a reference to section 218.5 only as to a cause of action that was not brought on account of the nonpayment of wages, and one on which UCAN, not Shames, prevailed. The Court of Appeals affirmed the order of the trial court. View "Shames v. Utility Consumers' Action Network" on Justia Law