A former U.S. attorney in Puerto Rico who sued for employment discrimination will get a chance to recoup additional attorneys’ fees after the First Circuit ruled on Friday that the fee calculation didn’t evaluate necessary factors.
Nelson Jose Perez-Sosa alleged discrimination and retaliation under Title VII after he was passed over for reappointment to chief of the appellate division of the office, a job he had done for more than 20 years. Perez-Sosa believed he was overlooked because he testified on behalf of two colleagues who had sued the office in other employment cases.
In February 2020, the parties reached a settlement under which Perez-Sosa received $450,000 plus attorneys’ fees. He had sought more than $385,000 in attorneys’ fees, but the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico awarded $170,331 instead.
The trial court erred when it excluded 13.75 hours of time spent negotiating the settlement, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit said in partially reversing the judgment. Time “reasonably spent” pursuing settlement is worthwhile and is “generally fit for inclusion in a fee award,” the court said in an opinion by Judge Bruce M. Selya.
The appeals court said the lower court also wrongly withheld compensation for 43.75 hours spent preparing Perez-Sosa to participate in the cases brought by his two co-workers. The work on those separate...
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