A federal judge in Los Angeles has ordered the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to pay a hefty $1,022,653 in attorney’s fees and expenses to a Pasadena law firm that the EEOC unsuccessfully sued last year for pregnancy bias and sexual harassment. In issuing the order, the judge stated that the EEOC’s lawsuit “was unreasonable, frivolous and without foundation.” The million dollar-plus award is believed to be the largest ever issued against the EEOC.
The bias suit filed by the EEOC ended on Nov. 2, 2005, with a jury verdict in favor of the law firm. The law firm being sued, Robert L. Reeves & Associates, maintained that the EEOC knew or unreasonably failed to learn that the lawsuit was part of a scheme to destroy the firm by two of the firm’s former law associates who, several years earlier, were found liable for trade secrets violations and ordered to pay Reeves almost $200,000.
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