Barahona v. Automotive Creations CA4/3

Filed 8/17/16 Barahona v. Automotive Creations CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

WALTER BARAHONA,

Plaintiff and Respondent, G052354

v. (Super. Ct. No. 30-2013-00694317)

AUTOMOTIVE CREATIONS, INC., et OPINION al.,

Defendants and Appellants.

Appeal from a postjudgment order of the Superior Court of Orange County, Ronald L. Bauer, Judge. Affirmed. Del Mar Law Group and JL Sean Slattery for Defendants and Appellants. Law Offices of Steven A. Alexander and Steven A. Alexander; Law Offices of Nicholas J. Cochran and Nicholas J. Cochran for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Walter Barahona sued his former employers, Automotive Creations, Inc. and Expert Automotive Reconditioning, Inc. (collectively referred to as Employers), for unpaid wages and other items. Barahona filed the suit as an unlimited civil case. He recovered damages in the amount of $24,488; $512 shy of the unlimited jurisdiction threshold. While it was within the trial court’s discretion to deny attorney fees pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1033, subdivision (a),1 the court awarded Barahona $40,000 in attorney fees. Employers contend the trial court improperly exercised its discretion to award fees under section 1033, subdivision (a), because Barahona did not have a good faith basis to bring his lawsuit in unlimited jurisdiction and the ultimate recovery fell short of the jurisdictional minimum. We find no error and affirm the postjudgment order.

I Barahona worked for Employers for approximately a year and a half performing automotive detailing work. Employers terminated Barahona on November 25, 2013. The following month, Barahona filed an unlimited civil complaint in Orange County Superior Court alleging Employers owed him $19,320 in compensatory damages for unpaid overtime and rest breaks. Barahona also sought a $1,733 penalty under Labor Code section 203, $2,250 in additional damages under various Labor Code provisions, $2,898 in interest, and $15,000 in attorney fees pursuant to Labor Code section 218.5. Employers’ counsel sent a letter to Barahona’s counsel asserting the lawsuit should have been filed in limited jurisdiction and the maximum recovery was $23,303. Employers offered to stipulate to transfer the case to limited jurisdiction, and the record does not show a response from Barahona. The case proceeded in unlimited jurisdiction.