Rogers v. RGIS, LLP

213 P.3d 583, 229 Or. App. 580, 2009 Ore. App. LEXIS 1016
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJuly 15, 2009
Docket050606727, A134466
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 213 P.3d 583 (Rogers v. RGIS, LLP) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rogers v. RGIS, LLP, 213 P.3d 583, 229 Or. App. 580, 2009 Ore. App. LEXIS 1016 (Or. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

*582 WOLLHEIM, J.

Plaintiff in this wage and hour case appeals following the trial court’s entry of general and supplemental judgments. On appeal, plaintiff asserts that the court incorrectly concluded that she was an unsuitable class representative and that it improperly denied class certification. She further contends that the trial court erred when it awarded her attorney fees of $880 and when it awarded defendant attorney fees of $180,854.09. 1 Defendant cross-appeals, arguing that the trial court erred by excluding from its attorney fee award time that defendant spent defending plaintiffs meal and rest break claims. We reject plaintiffs assignments of error related to class certification without further discussion, and write only to address the issues relating to attorney fees. We affirm the trial court’s judgments.

The relevant facts are procedural and few. Plaintiff, who is defendant’s former employee, filed this case as a purported class action seeking damages for various alleged violations of state wage and hour laws. Specifically, she brought claims relating to unpaid overtime wages, unpaid wages for rest and meal breaks, unpaid minimum wages, and late payment of final wages. 2 Eventually, she sought to have her case certified as a class action. The trial court denied her petition for class certification but permitted the case to proceed as to plaintiffs individual claims. Ultimately, plaintiff prevailed on her claims for unpaid wages pursuant to ORS 652.120 and late payment of wages and penalties under ORS 652.140 and ORS 652.150, obtaining a general judgment for damages of $2,630. All of plaintiffs remaining claims were disposed of in defendant’s favor.

After the general judgment was entered, both parties filed petitions for attorney fees. Plaintiff sought attorney fees under ORS 652.200(2) 3 and defendant sought attorney *583 fees pursuant to ORS 653.055(4) 4 as the prevailing party on plaintiffs ORS chapter 653 claims.

The court, having determined that plaintiff prevailed on wage claims under ORS chapter 652, awarded plaintiff reasonable attorney fees pursuant to ORS 652.200(2). In determining the amount of attorney fees to award, the court found:

“5. Plaintiffs statement of fees provides no basis for distinguishing between time spent on claims on which Plaintiff was successful and time spent on claims on which Plaintiff was not successful. There is no way for the court to allocate accurately.
“6. Plaintiff requested substantial compensation for time spent on claims and issues for which she was not successful.
“7. Plaintiff did not properly comply with ORCP 68.”

In light of those circumstances, and because plaintiffs attorney fees retainer agreement was contingent, the court concluded that an award of $880 (an amount equal to approximately one third of plaintiffs damages) was a reasonable award of attorney fees.

With respect to defendant’s petition for attorney fees, the court found that defendant had “prevailed on all ORS chapter 653 claims raised by Plaintiff’ and defendant could seek an award of discretionary attorney fees pursuant to ORS 653.055(4). The court considered the relevant factors listed in ORS 20.075 and concluded that it would exercise its discretion to award defendant attorney fees. However, the trial court declined to award defendant attorney fees for time spent defending plaintiffs meal and rest break claims, due to *584 the uncertain state of the law at that time. The court awarded defendant $180,854.09 in attorney fees.

We first address plaintiffs assertion that the trial court improperly awarded defendant attorney fees pursuant to ORS 653.055(4) because defendant was the prevailing party. 5 Specifically, plaintiff contends that, although defendant prevailed on all the claims brought under ORS chapter 653, defendant was not entitled to attorney fees, because plaintiff recovered damages on some of her ORS chapter 652 claims and, therefore, defendant did not prevail in the whole action. Plaintiff argues that

“ORS 653.055(4) states that the court ‘may award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party in any action brought by an employee under this section.’ The court has discretion to award fees to either side, but that side must prevail in the ‘action.’ Here, defendant prevailed on the ORS Chapter 653 claims but not in the action. The court entered a judgment in plaintiffs favor.”

(Boldface in original.) Defendant responds that, pursuant to ORS 20.077, “attorney fees are to be awarded on a claim-by-claim basis.” We agree with defendant.

As noted, ORS 653.055(4) provides that “[t]he court may award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party in any action brought by an employee under this section.” 6 *585 Thus, pursuant to statute, where an employee brings an action as permitted by ORS 653.055, the prevailing party may obtain an attorney fee award. ORS 20.077(1) and (2), in turn, provide:

“(1) In any action or suit in which one or more claims are asserted for which an award of attorney fees is either authorized or required, the prevailing party on each claim shall be determined as provided in this section. The provisions of this section apply to all proceedings in the action or suit, including arbitration, trial and appeal.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Donald B. Bavely v. AV Automotive, L.L.C.
Court of Appeals of Virginia, 2025
AV Automotive, L.L.C. v. Donald B. Bavely
Court of Appeals of Virginia, 2025
Lemus v. Timberland Apartments, L.L.C.
876 F. Supp. 2d 1169 (D. Oregon, 2012)
Fadel v. EL-TOBGY
264 P.3d 150 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2011)
Rogers v. RGIS, LLP
222 P.3d 710 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
213 P.3d 583, 229 Or. App. 580, 2009 Ore. App. LEXIS 1016, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rogers-v-rgis-llp-orctapp-2009.