Connecticut Employment Law Blog Insight on Labor & Employment Developments for Connecticut Businesses

Tag Archives: attorneys fees

Court Rules Plaintiffs’ Attorneys Entitled to More Than Just Contingency Fee After Jury Awards Nominal Damages

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, Litigation

Suppose you just defended against a discrimination and harassment lawsuit by two former female employees. The jury found that discrimination and harassment had occurred. But the jury awarded one employee only $1600 in economic damages and nothing for emotional distress. For the other employee, the jury did not award any damages. Most employers would take… Continue Reading

Quick Hits: Dog Days of Summer Edition with NLRB, OFCCP, EEOC, SEBAC, FMLA

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Discrimination & Harassment, Labor Law & NRLB, Laws and Regulations

The noise in the employment law arena has been loud lately. Kind of like that annoying Gary Glitter song that often gets played at sports games. But the noise is hiding the fact that, in my view, the news in the employment law is relatively minor.  There are no significant legislative or regulatory developments to… Continue Reading

Conn. Supreme Court Grants Attorneys Fees To Town Based on “Groundless” Suit by Former Employee

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Litigation

In the court system, we typically follow the "American Rule" which means that each party to the lawsuit pays their own attorneys fees. In employment discrimination matters (and some others), there are exceptions to that which allow a plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees to be paid by the Defendant-employer if the employer loses the case. But there… Continue Reading

More on True Cost of Litigation: Opponent’s Attorneys Fees May Trump Damages

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Litigation

Last week, I talked about how the time spent litigating an employment discrimination case can be a big part of the cost of the defense of such a matter. That "time" has another consequence as well: It increases the amount of attorneys’ fees that an employee has to spend litigating a case. As a result,… Continue Reading

The “Brown Paper Bag” of Appellate Court Decisions: Court Affirms Sexual Harassment Verdict

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Discrimination & Harassment, Litigation

I’m sometimes asked how I report on employment law cases in such a prompt manner.  There’s no magic formula but I will let you in on a little shortcut I use to skim a series of new cases. Instead of reading an entire case, my eyes first glance at the listed attorneys in the case…. Continue Reading

Attorneys Fees in Discrimination Cases: What Rate Can an Employee/Plaintiff’s Attorney Recover?

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Discrimination & Harassment

In discrimination cases, when a plaintiff (which is a fancy legal term for employee) wins he or she is often entitled to have the defendant (typically the employer) pay his or her attorneys’ fees.  There are lots of cases out there that discuss formulas for such fees . But the basic assumption that some employers… Continue Reading