Martinez v. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority

[1040]Opinion

ROTHSCHILD, J. Plaintiff accepted defendant’s settlement offer under Code of Civil Procedure section 998.1 The offer expressly provided that each party would “bear their own costs” but contained no provision regarding “attorney fees.” The trial court denied plaintiff’s motion for statutory attorney fees on the ground they were part of the “costs” plaintiff agreed to bear. We affirm the trial court’s ruling.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

Plaintiff Jessica Martinez brought an action against defendant Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) after one of its drivers refused to allow her to ride a bus with her “companion dog,” Romeo. Her complaint alleged causes of action for disability discrimination under federal and state law.

The MTA made a settlement offer under section 998. The offer stated in relevant part that the MTA “hereby offers to Compromise the above-captioned matter for the total sum of $2,501.00, each side to bear their own costs.” Martinez responded that she accepted the MTA’s offer “to compromise in the amount of $2,501.00, with each party bearing their own costs.”

Several weeks after accepting the MTA’s compromise offer, Martinez filed a motion for attorney fees under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. §§ 12182, 12205) and California statutes protecting the civil rights of the disabled. (Civ. Code, §§ 52, subd. (a), 52.1, 54, 54.1, 54.3, subd. (a).) She argued that her acceptance of the MTA’s settlement offer did not preclude her from recovering her statutory attorney fees because the offer referred only to “costs” and did not mention “attorney fees.” The MTA argued that under section 1033.5, subdivision (a)(10)(B), the term “costs” included statutory attorney fees.

The trial court denied Martinez’s motion for attorney fees. The court reasoned that “statutory attorney’s fees are an item of costs pursuant to CCP [1041]section 1033.5(a)(10)(B) . . . and are therefore included in the defendant’s section 998 offer, which states ‘each side to bear their own costs.’ ”