Howell v. State Dep’t of State Hosps., 107 Cal. App. 5th 143 (2024)
After three years of litigation and a two-week trial, a Napa County jury found Ashley Howell’s former employer (the Department of State Hospitals) liable for disability discrimination and awarded her $36,751 in lost earnings and health insurance benefits but nothing for her alleged emotional distress/pain and suffering. In addition, the trial court awarded Howell $135,102 in fees and costs. The trial court denied Howell’s motion for a new trial on her claim for noneconomic (emotional distress) damages. The Court of Appeal held that the trial court had not abused its discretion by failing to grant a new trial based in part on the fact that Howell had previously been diagnosed with major depressive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder following a sexual assault she suffered three years before she began employment with the Department. Some of the physicians who testified at trial attributed Howell’s mental distress largely to the pre-employment sexual assault and concluded that by February 2020 (less than a month after the termination) Howell “presented essentially the best [her qualified medical evaluator] had ever seen her” notwithstanding her “continued… mild to moderate PTSD.” The appellate court also held that the trial court properly struck the jury’s award for lost health insurance benefits because Howell failed to prove she suffered a loss (e.g., paid insurance premiums or out-of-pocket costs related to the loss of insurance). Finally, the appellate court affirmed the trial court’s award of $135,102 in fees and costs despite Howell’s request for $1.8 million on the ground (according to the trial court) that the fee request was “striking” and “unsupportable” and the time spent on various matters was “shocking” and “beyond all reason.” The Court of Appeal did, however, remand the case to the trial court to consider Howell’s unopposed request for prejudgment interest. Cf. Pollock v. Kelso, 2025 WL 47533 (Cal. Ct. App. 2025) (employee was properly awarded $493,577 in prevailing-party attorney’s fees after application of 1.8 multiplier).