SHASE LELAND HERNANDEZ VS. SAN FRANCISCO CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC ET AL

Matter on the Law & Motion / Discovery calendar for Monday, June 23, 2025, Line 3. PLAINTIFF SHASE HERNANDEZ's Motion For Attorney's Fees.

Plaintiff's motion for attorney's fees is denied. Plaintiff seeks post-settlement attorney's fees pursuant to Labor Code section 1102.5(j) for prevailing in this action. The award of such fees is discretionary. (Winston v. County of Los Angeles (2024) 107 Cal.App.5th 402, 408.) The court concludes that plaintiff is not entitled to any fees.

The post-settlement dispute centered on how to characterize a portion of the settlement and whether defendant may file an IRS Form 1099. Both the court and mediator determined that there was no basis to preclude defendant from filing the form. As the court noted, "caselaw indicates that such a proscription should be expressly stated in the settlement. (See Ward v. American Family Life Assur. Co. of Columbus (D.S.C. 2006) 444 F.Supp.2d 540, 542-544; Duse v. International Business Machines Corp. (2d Cir. 2001) 252 F.3d 151, 158." (Order Granting Defendant San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Motion to Enforce Settlement, 2:13-15.) The court adopted defendant's position regarding enforcement of the judgment and the form of judgment. The requested fees were not reasonably incurred, there is no basis for their recovery, and the motion is denied.

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Any party who contests a tentative ruling must send an email to contestdept301tr@sftc.org with a copy to all other parties by 4pm stating, without argument, the portion(s) of the tentative ruling that the party contests. The subject line of the email shall include the line number, case name and case number. The text of the email shall include the name and contact information, including email address, of the attorney or party who will appear at the hearing.

Counsel for the prevailing party is required to prepare a proposed order which repeats verbatim the substantive portion of the tentative ruling and must email it to contestdept301tr@sftc.org prior to the hearing even if the tentative ruling is not contested.

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